OT: ESPN announces a member of their NHL broadcast team...
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I wouldve liked to see them get more guys who might speak their mind, Colby Armstrong, Ryan Whitney, Sean Avery...
Honestly he was great in his day, but I heard an interview with him on Sirius XM recently and you could tell that he hadn’t been following hockey for the last 15 years. Literally had no clue. That said, I read an interview on The Athletic with the guy at ESPN responsible for hiring and he said they were still in communication with Thorne.
I’m curious to hear Sean McDonough call hockey. I’m a fan of his, but for him to be anointed the top announcer is risky. Overall, their PxP guys are meh. John Buccigross is a good studio guy, but his college hockey call is terrible.
I can already see that TNT will have a better stable of play-by-play guys but ESPN did well with game analysts with Boucher, Ferraro and Cassie Campbell.
Based on recent current events, when I read the title of this thread before I opened it, I expected the announcement to be that a member of their broadcast team was coming out as gay.
Frankly, I'm disappointed.
I'm not surprised Thorne hasn't focused on hockey, but I could live with that since he was the voice of the NHL on ESPN for so long. McDonough has top announcer potential, but they need McDonough at his best, not the MNF version because that version was bad. Levy is better at hockey than he is at football. You are right about the rest, though. Not a stellar pbp staff. The NHL is badly missing a true No. 1 hockey announcer. The playoffs felt blah this year and it doesn't help the Penguins have some of the worst in the league.
Yeah without Doc Emrick around there definitely was a lack of a top voice. I do like Kenny Albert, but he isn't #1 material. John Forslund is just a really good regional announcer who got to call big games. Jim Hughson on Hockey Night in Canada/SportsNet is by far the best NHL network announcer, but even big American hockey fans probably don't even know him.
Trying to figure out how they'll split the TV time. Turner got 75 regular season games and ESPN 100 (25 for ESPN/ABC, 75 for ESPN+/Hulu.
Figuring a 25 week regular season, maybe something like
Monday
ESPN+
Tuesday
Hulu doubleheader
Wednesday
TBS
Thursday
ESPN (or weekend on ABC)
Friday
TBS doubleheader
Figuring a 25 week regular season, maybe something like
Monday
ESPN+
Tuesday
Hulu doubleheader
Wednesday
TBS
Thursday
ESPN (or weekend on ABC)
Friday
TBS doubleheader
I think Mess will be a good addition. If anybody on the panel disagrees with him...he'll crack a skull or two.
It’s too bad Mike Tirico left ESPN but I really liked him doing games on NBC. Would’ve been a natural fit that top play-by-play role.
Edit: I also thought it was interesting they added Bob Wischusen. Always enjoy him calling football games, though I have no idea how he’ll do calling hockey. Have to think he has potential, though.
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I have no idea how some of those folks will do, but as a fan it certainly seems like an underwhelming lineup to me.
True on Tirico. NBC is a rare channel that gets to move from a legendary announcer to another true No. 1 to replace him when Al Michaels decides to retire.
Yeah. I mean some of the additions, Kevin Weekes is very good, so is Ferraro, Boucher isn't bad, Linda Cohn is really passionate and opinionated about hockey, so she will be good. Melrose yeah. But....surprised they didn't take a few more. Need some strong personalities, not League Lackeys. Say what you want about the NBA, but Chuck, Kenny and Shaq aren't shills for the league and the players and they tell it like it is.
Well, Don Cherry was (is) still available. Would’ve definitely filled the “strong personality” quota.
When he comes on I change the channel.
Listen to him often enough and it becomes obvious how he took a team to the Stanley Cup Finals to missing the playoffs to getting fired in 2-1/2 seasons, and then when he finally got hired again he got fired after 16 games. He might not be Mike Milbury level bad (I mean who is?), but there is a reason that when ESPN spent a decade not giving a crap about hockey Barry Melrose was their guy.
Yeah Melrose is token at this point. Kevin Weekes should be the main studio analyst and crossover guy you see representing the NHL on First Take, PTI, SportsCenter, etc.
Seriously they should utilize Chuck (Barkley) some. Really. Hockey needs to remove some of its "whiteness". It is not cool to be all white in this nation. I am saying this without sarcasm. So in our ever expanding diverse nation, they need to reach new audiences, have more grassroots programs to get more involved with the younger kids.
One other thing.....a problem (and attribute) of hockey, is mostly the very best players are and have been.....boring. Sidney Crosby is very articulate and good looking, but he is as exciting and controversial as a stop sign. Wayne Gretzky wasn't that good looking, but well spoken and again, as exciting and as opinionated as a stop sign. Mario is famously private. Bobby Orr is too. Patrick Kane when he retires would be good, Brett Hull would have been I think. But most hockey guys are pretty humble. Ovy has personality......Jagr did. Your best guys are unknowns like Weekes, Rupp, Boucher is okay, or they are shills for the league and will never say anything controversial.
Again, dubious on ESPN's interest in growing the game. But what they need to do is make it a bit more familiar to the urban population (ie NBA crowd) and capitalize on the fact that women's hockey is pretty good and pound for pound, there may not be any more exciting and closely contested sporting event than USA/Canada in women's international hockey.
Again, dubious on ESPN's interest in growing the game. But what they need to do is make it a bit more familiar to the urban population (ie NBA crowd) and capitalize on the fact that women's hockey is pretty good and pound for pound, there may not be any more exciting and closely contested sporting event than USA/Canada in women's international hockey.
