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

[Perennial]

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.

Thanks for posting it...

I listened until the Kopitar goal... it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting

As you say, she's clearly intelligent, and has a good grasp of the language and the game

Honestly, she's better than a lot of announcers I've heard watching highlights over the years...

I just think hearing a female voice during the game may be too drastic a change for some viewers, and will automatically be seen as a negative...

 

[brentashton]

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

Your in a line of one. It starts over there…

 

[DVon Du Nord]

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

None of that is hockey play by play so my comment still holds full merit.

 

[Flair Hay]

She's the Harnarayan Singh of female commentators.

I kind of like him, he grew on me a lot last summer. Probably explains why I'm so against the grain in the thread...

 

[LosPollosHermanos]

She’s just not good. Some people are good at certain things and not good at others. Leah is not good at broadcasting.

 

[XX]

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.

Listening to it... she just doesn't have the right cadence or tone for a live heavy action sport like hockey. It's a problem for a lot of male broadcasters too, so this isn't a sexist thing. She might be great at something like the Olympics, where her more understated approach would fit a lot better.

 

[jkrdevil]

Buccigross is worse, far worse. The entire ESPN broadcast come off looking like a cheap production.

 

[Hughes86Hischier13]

Buccigross is worse, far worse. The entire ESPN broadcast come off looking like a cheap production.

100%

 

[Paperbagofglory]

Listening to it... she just doesn't have the right cadence or tone for a live heavy action sport like hockey. It's a problem for a lot of male broadcasters too, so this isn't a sexist thing. She might be great at something like the Olympics, where her more understated approach would fit a lot better.

Shes learning and was way better in this game. But she toned it down too much because of her worry about people complaining about her pitch during a goal call. I applaud the effort and willingness to adapt. We dont all start great at our jobs.

 

[Sean Garrity]

Shes learning and was way better in this game. But she toned it down too much because of her worry about people complaining about her pitch during a goal call. I applaud the effort and willingness to adapt. We dont all start great at our jobs.

100%, she was much better. She's a professional, and is acting like that. People act like she's doesn't realize that she's not performing to her abilities, she just simply was not ready for this type of spotlight and the pace of the NHL. PBP is f***ing hard, try it yourself for 5 minutes, it's exhausting. Not necessarily her fault that she took a job that she wasn't necessarily ready for but couldn't turn down. This falls 100% on ESPN, who as a company is turning more and more in to a mickey mouse company in the sports world.

 

[Dr Beinfest]

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.

Defense minister Dimitri Mishkin?

 

[Devils090]

Buccigross is worse, far worse. The entire ESPN broadcast come off looking like a cheap production.

he’s not even close to being as bad as Hextall but Buccigross tries way too hard to sound cool and use slang some 15 year old hockey player would. ESPN’s whole production is a joke compared to NBCSN.

 

[Reaser]

he’s not even close to being as bad as Hextall but Buccigross tries way too hard to sound cool and use slang some 15 year old hockey player would. ESPN’s whole production is a joke compared to NBCSN.

100%

That style works as a host but brutal as pbp but he's still nowhere near as bad as Hextall. Really, ESPN's five pbp announcers haven't been good. Which makes the nostalgia pick Thorne not happening even stick out more.

Levy is still in football mode so can give him a pass until the second half of the season. Bucci and Hextall have been covered. McDonough is just phoning it in, like he doesn't want to be there or something, or he is also just still in football season and hockey is just something he has to do in-between what he's excited about doing. Wischusen actually has been the best of them, so far. Nothing special but not horrible, not annoying, not ridiculous, not trying too hard, not boring. Just your typical average broadcaster, which right now makes him look good when in reality nothing special either.

 

[Summer Rose]

I've watched some college hockey games she's done in the past (at least I think it was her) and don't really remember having any strong opinions either way. I watched the Coyotes-Ducks game tonight so got to listen to her tonight for the first time with her on ESPN. She's not as bad as this thread would lead me to expect (I read most of it before the game started because I have no life). I didn't think she was that bad. She's got some things to work on. Mostly, it often felt like she wasn't driving the commentary anymore, which is what a play-by-play commentator should do, so Kevin Weekes had to take over to avoid dead air. Some of her descriptions of the action were also very bland, or just... on a level of "why would you say that?" These are things that experience can fix. I see no reason why she can't get better over time. That's my basic analysis of her as a play-by-play commentator in a nutshell.

I'll speak of two other things about her. It's perfectly reasonable to find it unfair that she has the job in the first place, because having the last name "Hextall" automatically opens doors for you that others have to work pretty hard to open. I could opine all day about it, but I just don't feel strongly enough to. The second is, while listening to a woman call a hockey game was very different and not at all what I'm used to hearing, it didn't bother me in the slightest. Perhaps I'm biased because I'm a woman, but other than being "just different" it made no difference to me.

 

[SharksCyclops]

Renee Paquette is killer on the mic, so I do think some of the people saying it's not possible to have a strong, compelling female voice as color commentary are smoking crack, and just being sexist. This is unfortunately just the reality of nepotism and some people are using her sex as a cop out. I really don't want to listen to Connor McDavid do play-by-play or color ever in his post hockey career.

 

[hockeyisgud]

100%, she was much better. She's a professional, and is acting like that. People act like she's doesn't realize that she's not performing to her abilities, she just simply was not ready for this type of spotlight and the pace of the NHL. PBP is f***ing hard, try it yourself for 5 minutes, it's exhausting. Not necessarily her fault that she took a job that she wasn't necessarily ready for but couldn't turn down. This falls 100% on ESPN, who as a company is turning more and more in to a mickey mouse company in the sports world.

People are not mad at her, people are mad at the fact she is getting these opportunities and the reasons why. Merit should be the only qualifier. f*** equity to the moon.

 

[Summer Rose]

People are not mad at her, people are mad at the fact she is getting these opportunities and the reasons why. Merit should be the only qualifier. f*** equity to the moon.

Can't agree with you more. As a woman, I don't want equality for women, I want fairness for women. There's a big difference.

 

[hockeyisgud]

Can't agree with you more. As a woman, I don't want equality for women, I want fairness for women. There's a big difference.

I mean personally I advocate for equality for women it's the demented "equity" push I take issue with but I agree with your sentiment.

 

[execwrite1]

Worst radio play-by-play - by far - Chris Kerber, St. Louis. You have no idea where the play is because he talks about everything else except the game in front of him.

 

[Grover]

She's absolutely terrible.. and if what she needs is practice then she should be practicing in the minors..not at the highest level of hockey in the entire world

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I was listening to her on the Sabres/Oilers game and my god was she awful. After the first Cozens goal she's literally scrambling her words.

But again, I don't know that it's her considering I believed her to be the only female PBP in the NHL. But the one for the Sabres/Oilers game was bloody terrible. I know it's not an easy job as you get to be on your feet, but if she wants to be good at least call a few AHL/ECHL games.

 

[txpd]

Jeff Rimer and Tripp Tracy are worse. That is all. I am a broadcaster by trade. I have hired and designed programming and talent for a long time.

There is nothing wrong with her. She is a she when you are used to hearing a male. Campbell Pascall has always sounded to me like they pushed her to this level before she was ready, but Hextall is fine.

It takes some getting used to. For sure, but my instincts tell me that she being female and a really unfamiliar sound is what you are having trouble with. Watch Jeff Rimer on the Blue Jackets games. That is what bad sounds like

 

[Setec Astronomy]

She has the same voice

 

[Artorius Horus T]

She sucked ass in Hawks game tonight.

 

[crassbonanza]

I would rather listen to Leah Hextall than Alex Faust, She at least calls the game and understands the sport. However, it seems like she is playing a part with her call and I feel like if she relaxed a little bit she could be a decent broadcaster. As is though, it does feel like I'm listening to a local cribbage match at times.