A new contender for worst broadcaster of all time (Leah Hextall)

[Dr Pepper]

LOL, have you ever listened to Mishkin cast a game or are you basing that off of a 3 second goal call?

Seeing as how the majority of this thread is judging her based off of HER goal calls, I'll repeat that I still find her easier on the ears than Mishkin's whiny shrieks.

I mean it's cool for a local PBP guy to have a "thing", and I guess that's his.

 

[Rcknrollkillnmachine]

Jamie Hirsch is the best female ice hockey journalist, studio host, etc. etc. in the world
she has worked for long time for NHL Network.

She has learned so much just while working for the Network, obviously knew about hockey before, her voice is beautiful, its not annoying, also, how she uses her voice is great, its balanced + her personality is awesome...and yeah she is really pretty too
+ knows how to say the players names correctly

If there was one woman, who should call games in mens games, it should be Hirsch. She def has earned a promotion.

One more thing; she is mom of 3, which is a huge job as it is, has had years a job in mens sport, super woman really.

I hope she see's this, Man.

 

[SaltNPeca]

You can hear her in the Condensed Game highlights here.

You can tell she's intelligent in understanding the game and she pronounces every name correctly but agreed that her voice, the cadence and how she ties it all together just isn't good at all.

ngl I didn't find it that bad. With experience she'll get better.

 

[Cup or Bust]

I am not familiar with this broadcaster, could she possibly be worse than Cassie Campbell?

 

[Channelcat]

I am not familiar with this broadcaster, could she possibly be worse than Cassie Campbell?

I realize I may in the minority, but I actually like Cassie.

 

[TheRarestDangles]

Open minded about her improving her goal calls. Not about being a woman in general...

Why do you hate me so?

 

[McOvechking]

She's the Harnarayan Singh of female commentators.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

There is a TSN reporter here in Canada by the name of Kate Bierness. She does what every good sports anchor does, they use their radio voice, they make their pitch lower and it sounds more clear and pleasant to listen to. I am sure most of us have weird ass regular voices that we would never dream of using on a professional broadcast. The trick is to use your own voice but alter it so you don't make our ears bleed.

She would be a good play by play person, Jennifer Hedger might have been a good one too, same style of speaking.

 

[winnipegger]

You have to have a powerful voice to be a commentator. Confident and powerful. These are two words I would not use to describe Leah.

Is Bob Cole still kicking? Even with his age related dementia he is probably a better choice. Has anyone seen my shoes?..... I swear I put them over.... agy35gf#_+SCORES!!!!

 

[Stony Curtis]

Sounds AWFUL when getting excited / scoring a goal.

Commentary isn't bad, but that super pitch word salad thing after goals go in? Really, really bad.

Hopefully that's something that she can work on with some coaching and experience

Someone getting one of the prime national PxP gigs should already be at the top of his or her game.

 

[Tak7]

Someone getting one of the prime national PxP gigs should already be at the top of his or her game.

Very fair comment.

In her defense, she does have prior commentary experience so they aren't just throwing her into the deep end.

But the standard should be much higher than it currently is

 

[DVon Du Nord]

Someone getting one of the prime national PxP gigs should already be at the top of his or her game.

My thoughts exactly, national broadcasters should be the best at their job. They should have plenty of experience and be capable for the job. She can gain experience in juniors, college, minors, an NHL team and then be a national pbp broadcaster. The national broadcast is not the place to learn the ropes.

 

[Stony Curtis]

I think you're projecting a lot here man. A lot.

I'm just saying her goal calls can improve. Give her 1000 hours of play by play and I bet she will be twice as good and the goal call a lot more natural. Play by play is a very hard thing to nail down.

Correct, and that's why PxP talent usually hones his or her skills in the minors or NCAA. Giving her this gig when she is clearly not ready may make it more difficult to hire women in the future. I really don't care who does PxP in games I watch...as long as I'm not constantly thinking about how awful the commentary is instead of paying attention to the game.

 

[Lt Dan]

She is brutally bad.

She did one Kings game and Boucher kept having to correct her on who scored the goal, etc.

 

[Shakey Rustie]

...
The layoff hit hard, as Hextall was unable to land another gig in broadcasting and wound up taking a job with the office of Manitoba premier Brian Pallister.

But she was not done with the profession she had been learning for 20 years and decided to turn her focus to the craft of hockey play-by-play.

She started by calling Manitoba Moose AHL games for no one but herself and later made professional recordings of herself doing Winnipeg Jets playoff games in 2018.

“I jumped into a booth and I just recorded myself, calling a game out loud,” Hextall recalled. “I was horrible, but I thought, ‘You know what, this is fun.’ I loved doing it so much because it was difficult and you are so involved with every step of the game and you’re telling the story and you’re narrating it.”
...

Manitoban Leah Hextall proud to become first female play-by-play announcer in NHL history with ESPN | Winnipeg Sun

 

[Paperbagofglory]

Manitoban Leah Hextall proud to become first female play-by-play announcer in NHL history with ESPN | Winnipeg Sun
...
The layoff hit hard, as Hextall was unable to land another gig in broadcasting and wound up taking a job with the office of Manitoba premier Brian Pallister.

But she was not done with the profession she had been learning for 20 years and decided to turn her focus to the craft of hockey play-by-play.

She started by calling Manitoba Moose AHL games for no one but herself and later made professional recordings of herself doing Winnipeg Jets playoff games in 2018.

“I jumped into a booth and I just recorded myself, calling a game out loud,” Hextall recalled. “I was horrible, but I thought, ‘You know what, this is fun.’ I loved doing it so much because it was difficult and you are so involved with every step of the game and you’re telling the story and you’re narrating it.”
...

Self awareness is very important.

 

[Flair Hay]

Correct, and that's why PxP talent usually hones his or her skills in the minors or NCAA. Giving her this gig when she is clearly not ready may make it more difficult to hire women in the future. I really don't care who does PxP in games I watch...as long as I'm not constantly thinking about how awful the commentary is instead of paying attention to the game.

Now that is a pretty fair point. I dont think it will lead to other women not getting an opportunity. Sports Sportscentre demographics have changed wildly and I imagine play by play will slowly get towards 50/50.

But yeah the point about refining your craft in the minors is a fair one for sure.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

At first thought she won a "be a broadcaster for 5 minutes" contest. After realizing she was the actual announcer I felt bad for Stars fans since they gotta listen to it all the time. It's like she's not watching the game but reading from a script; like she's trying too hard or something. It's weird. No one can be as bad as Jack Edwards so at least she'll never be the worst.

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

I actually didn't mind it. Probably will get better over time with more practice.

 

[ArchAngel55]

Sounds like it to me as well, but isn't that expected to start? Most announcers I've heard have been there for YEARS, I'm sure it takes a couple years to get comfortable.

She's been on tv for years. She does sound better than she did 10 years ago if you check out her youtube channel. Maybe another 40 years and she might be there at this rate.

 

[beedee]

Suffered through her broadcast watching the Ducks game the other night, brutal.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

She needs to throw in a few boom goes thy dynamite

Haven’t watched that in years, it’s aged beautifully.

 

[Wolf357]

My thoughts exactly, national broadcasters should be the best at their job. They should have plenty of experience and be capable for the job. She can gain experience in juniors, college, minors, an NHL team and then be a national pbp broadcaster. The national broadcast is not the place to learn the ropes.

She has plenty of Sports Media Experience as The Sports Anchor for CTV Winnipeg from 2005- 2012, worked for New England Sports from 2012-14 and then worked for Sportsnet Calgary Flames Games as host from 2014-16…
But that being said calling games may be well a different game…But she definitely does have experience in sports media

 

[GrumpyKoala]

But that being said calling games may be well a different game…But she definitely does have experience in sports media

I read somewhere that she was the pxp for the woman hockey league on Sportsnets and called games in the MJHL

 

[Rschmitz]

Seeing as how the majority of this thread is judging her based off of HER goal calls, I'll repeat that I still find her easier on the ears than Mishkin's whiny shrieks.

I mean it's cool for a local PBP guy to have a "thing", and I guess that's his.

It's not just her goal calls that are being criticized. I get the hot-cold reception on Mishkin's goal calls but he's amazing at calling the game.