John Buccigross talks the NHL’s return to ESPN, how it’s reenergized him, and why teams give him chicken parm in the booth
"It's nice when teams copy other teams when I benefit with chicken parm. Broadcasting makes you hungry, let me tell you."
"It's nice when teams copy other teams when I benefit with chicken parm. Broadcasting makes you hungry, let me tell you."
The remixed versions will roll out over the postseason, and you can listen to the first one below.
ESPN and Turner will have lots of live playoff sports over the next few weeks, between the NHL and NBA.
The NHL's new TV deals seem to be working well so far, with audience growth compared to its previous years on NBC and NBCSN.
Both of ESPN's first-night matchups performed well.
After seventeen years away, the NHL made a welcome return to ESPN on Tuesday.
ESPN has hired Tortorella, tied for 12th in all-time NHL regular-season wins (and tied for the lead amongst American coaches), but also famed for a lot of run-ins with the media over the years.
ESPN has landed a lot of hockey talent, including from TSN, Sportsnet, and NHL Network.
After the 2020-21 season didn't feature outdoor games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL is bringing two of those games back for 2021-22.
A lot of ESPN talent will be featured on these feeds, which will be seen on ESPN2 in the U.S. and on Sportsnet in Canada.
Mark Messier is taking his talents to the NHL on ESPN studio.
We now have the next wave of names we'll see on national NHL broadcasts this fall.
Last year, Hextall became the first woman to do cross-Canada play-by-play of a NHL game in English, serving as the play-by-play voice for Rogers Sportsnet's International Women's Day all-female Flames-Golden Knights broadcast.
Ferraro and Boucher are both long-time NHL media figures.
"Whether Gretzky, an alternate governor for the Edmonton Oilers, is interested is unknown, but at this point ESPN hasn’t been given a 'no.'"
It sounds like ESPN will be taking on part of the NHL's national rights package, including four Stanley Cup Finals over seven years.
"The TV ratings don't do anything. It's not one of the four major team sports."
Each of the three networks is showing a new special, and NHLN (six times) and ESPN (once) are also re-airing 2004's Miracle. And there's a lot more coverage on the way as well.