NHL back on ESPN?

[AdmiralsFan24]

Imagine having Nantz & Romo calling big games?

lmao

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Stay off the weeeeeeeeeeeeed

 

[GindyDraws]

Hell no. Have you ever watch CBS Sports Network? There's a reason it's America's Least Watched Sports Network™.

 

[Hockeyholic]

I changed the title.

 

[Ms Maggie]

Guessing if NHL decided to move, they would sign seasoned announcers, maybe some of the current crew. Not sure what advantages/disadvantages a move would bring? More a matter of where they can negotiate the best deal.

 

[LeftWingLocked]

Why move? Be on both networks like every other sport does.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

NBC treats NHL well

ESPN treated NHL like pure trash and will bury it on ESPN 91 or some nonsense. The fact they dont show highlights or discuss it is enough for NHL to not consider going back

And CBS Sports is obscure network with little to no viewers. NHL moving there would be disaster

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Why do we need another thread on this topic?

NHL back on ESPN?

 

[Harvey Birdman]

I can’t stand ESPN for the most part. But as long as they got a few commentators that actually knew the game and didn’t wedge in know nothing people about the sport that just want to push an agenda. I’d be fine with a game here or there from them.

 

[StreetHawk]

I can’t stand ESPN for the most part. But as long as they got a few commentators that actually knew the game and didn’t wedge in know nothing people about the sport that just want to push an agenda. I’d be fine with a game here or there from them.

Issue with ESPN is that they have a lot of other properties that rank ahead of the NHL. Between NFL, NCAAF, NBA, NCAAB, etc. where would hockey land for them in their priority list?

Last night on NBC's post game wrap of the SEA/SF game, Mike Tirico mentioned that it was the end of an era for people such as Eli, Rivers, LA Coliseum. When he remembered the Oakland Raiders, Rodney Harrison asked is it the Vegas or LV? Tirico said it was a good point by Rodney, as the Golden Knights of the NHL go by Vegas only, then made an off hand comment that Rodney is a big hockey guy and Dungy and Florio laughed. Rodney clearly had no idea about the Golden Knights. But Tirico doing his job about promoting NBC's property. Would you get that with ESPN?

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

I will only be on the NHL/ESPN train if they got the band back together: Steve Levi, Bill Clement and importantly Gary Thorne

 

[Lt Dan]

I will only be on the NHL/ESPN train if they got the band back together: Steve Levi, Bill Clement and importantly Gary Thorne

 

[gotyournose]

I do hope ESPN gets a game of the week, but what about fox or Turner?

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I will only be on the NHL/ESPN train if they got the band back together: Steve Levi, Bill Clement and importantly Gary Thorne

Clement just turned 69. Thorne is 72 in June. Throw them back together in the broadcast booth, and a lot of you are going to be really disappointed. Quit going for nostalgia; find someone new.

Levy? OK, I'd get behind that. He's 54, but he's clearly a hockey fan and he's got experience with it. Not going to sound polished, but you'll know he cares. Not sure who does color with him.

But again, this all presumes ESPN can land the package. If SEC football is going to ESPN, that's even less room for the NHL unless something is leaving ESPN. Perhaps MNF will be it, but I expect ESPN to either throw even more stupid money at it or go hard after one of the conference contracts in 2022. And as I keep pointing out, for all the money ESPN is throwing at some of the sports deals it's really difficult to see where the NHL (a) lands on the premier network for much more than perhaps the SCF, and (b) gets notable attention during the regular season while there.

 

[Deadpool8812]

Why move? Be on both networks like every other sport does.

You need to have multiple channels wanting the broadcast rights to have that. It's unlikely that stations are going to want to share the rights as it cuts down on the revenue they could make. It's likely that having the exclusive rights is the only way a station can make good cash

 

[Deadpool8812]

NBC treats NHL well

ESPN treated NHL like pure trash and will bury it on ESPN 91 or some nonsense. The fact they dont show highlights or discuss it is enough for NHL to not consider going back

And CBS Sports is obscure network with little to no viewers. NHL moving there would be disaster

Well, wasn't OLN/Versus pretty obscure as well when the NHL first moved to NBC?

 

[Adam Fox Time]

Clement just turned 69. Thorne is 72 in June. Throw them back together in the broadcast booth, and a lot of you are going to be really disappointed.

Not necessarily. Al Michaels is 75 and he's the best in the business. Gary Thorne is still a great baseball commentator.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Not necessarily. Al Michaels is 75 and he's the best in the business. Gary Thorne is still a great baseball commentator.

"I'm going to use one (1) or maybe two (2) data point(s) and extrapolate to draw a conclusion about everything I want, ignoring that even that data point(s) I'm relying on isn't nearly as strong as I want to believe."

 

[gotyournose]

Clement just turned 69. Thorne is 72 in June. Throw them back together in the broadcast booth, and a lot of you are going to be really disappointed. Quit going for nostalgia; find someone new.

Levy? OK, I'd get behind that. He's 54, but he's clearly a hockey fan and he's got experience with it. Not going to sound polished, but you'll know he cares. Not sure who does color with him.

But again, this all presumes ESPN can land the package. If SEC football is going to ESPN, that's even less room for the NHL unless something is leaving ESPN. Perhaps MNF will be it, but I expect ESPN to either throw even more stupid money at it or go hard after one of the conference contracts in 2022. And as I keep pointing out, for all the money ESPN is throwing at some of the sports deals it's really difficult to see where the NHL (a) lands on the premier network for much more than perhaps the SCF, and (b) gets notable attention during the regular season while there.

Not necessarily. Al Michaels is 75 and he's the best in the business. Gary Thorne is still a great baseball commentator.

Doc Emrick would just continue on with Eddie O and Regis McGuire no matter what network. Gary throne would be nice but unlikely, Al Michaels hasn't called a hockey game in decades. Steve levy is not who I would want. Maybe Kenny Albert would be a good replacement for doc

 

[Adam Fox Time]

"I'm going to use one (1) or maybe two (2) data point(s) and extrapolate to draw a conclusion about everything I want, ignoring that even that data point(s) I'm relying on isn't nearly as strong as I want to believe."

I literally just said not necessarily and gave you an example to show that you are not necessarily correct. Gary Thorne, the person we're talking about, is also still a great commentator in another sport.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I literally just said not necessarily and gave you an example to show that you are not necessarily correct. Gary Thorne, the person we're talking about, is also still a great commentator in another sport.

Thorne is 72 in June and his regular gig is calling Baltimore Orioles games. He's calling baseball games - which are slower in pace than hockey games. Guys can do PBP in a slower-paced sport much longer because there's not a constant demand for attention and detail. He's also said he prefers to spend more time with family now and he's not interested in a full slate of hockey games. If there's opportunities that fit his schedule, he'll consider them. You might get him for a few games, if they're close to where the Orioles are during the season/ You're not getting him for 30 or so games, including much of the playoffs and all of the Finals.

Thinking he's still going to have it at 72 like he did at 52 is silly. He'll be mostly OK, but you're going to notice he's not total vintage 2001-on-ESPN Thorne. If you're OK with ~80% of his prime years with that percentage declining every year, fine. I'd like to have better than "well, he's still OK" or "well yeah, he's slipping - but I still remember ________" as an excuse to keep the guy around until he keels over dead [and then still perhaps keep him propped up against the wall while splicing old tapes to create new calls for warm fuzzies for everyone].

And that's just Thorne. You think Clement is going to be razor-sharp too on color? If you've heard him in the last couple of years, it's evident he's still capable but he's not like he was 20 years ago. He'll be OK, but he'll be even less than he was in his prime. It won't stop people from thinking they're fantastic, even as they increasingly commit gaffes. Fortunately, people won't notice for a while and they'll think everything is fine because they'll excuse what's going on. They want to remember all the good stuff, they change reality to fit their rose-colored views so they don't have to acknowledge reality, and they'll gladly do it for the sake of nostalgia.

Jack Buck was a fantastic broadcaster. Could call a whole slew of sports. Absolutely revered in St. Louis. At 72 or so, it was also painfully evident his broadcast days were numbered and he was only doing it because he wanted to and no one was about to tell him no. Hearing him call Cardinals games was great for nostalgia, but increasingly painful as he struggled with basic details and was increasingly late reacting to action.

But hey, who am I to stop the nostalgia tour. Hell, let's drag Bob Cole and Harry Neale out of retirement and have them doing hockey games too. Maybe even ask John Madden to bring his cruiser out of the garage and drive around the country as he mumbles and stumbles through analyzing football games. Put Vin Scully and Marty Brennemann back behind the mic for baseball games. After all, what's age and declining skills when you were once great and people think you'll be great forever, reality be damned?

Plus, it'll go great on ESPN. Young males will love it. No better way to attract new viewers to the sport than have a couple of 70+ guys stumbling on calling a game on a semi-nightly basis. How could it possibly not work?

 

[Preds Partisan]

I was watching the LendingTree bowl game on ESPN last night and it took about 45 minutes for the Laviolette firing to make the news crawl. Cowboys head coach news was on about a 3 minute cycle. Tell me again how badly some people want the NHL back on ESPN?

 

[jkrdevil]

Well, wasn't OLN/Versus pretty obscure as well when the NHL first moved to NBC?

do you think the league wants to revisit that experience? Especially when they are going to have three better options at their choosing.

OLN happened because the league needed to break ESPN’s monopoly at the time over the cable sports landscape. There are options now to leverage against each other

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I was watching the LendingTree bowl game on ESPN last night and it took about 45 minutes for the Laviolette firing to make the news crawl. Cowboys head coach news was on about a 3 minute cycle. Tell me again how badly some people want the NHL back on ESPN?

It will be different if ESPN lands the NHL. ESPN will have spent so much money on the NHL, it's guaranteed to get prime attention on the main network - above even the NBA, MLB, college football, and college basketball.

 

[M88K]

I was watching the LendingTree bowl game on ESPN last night and it took about 45 minutes for the Laviolette firing to make the news crawl. Cowboys head coach news was on about a 3 minute cycle. Tell me again how badly some people want the NHL back on ESPN?

Badly want it on ESPN, even treated as a second rate sport on ESPN, the coverage was 100x better quality than anything NBC/NBCSN has done.
ESPN never had clowns like McGuire either