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

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

She shouldn’t be calling if she doesn’t know the player names that match the jersey numbers. It’s a fundamental part of the job.

 

[HyperX]

She used to host a show on NESN a little awhile back. Thought she was fine back then


She’s certainly not great but I don’t really understand the consternation. She ain’t 26 pages bad. She’s pretty new at it, I expect her to get better with familiarity. If it seriously impacts your joy of the game I suggest turning on any football game that had Dan Fouts doing the color work. THATS pain.

You must not have listened to her

she hasnt even gotten half the players names right

she should immediately be let go because shes giving other women in sports a bad name; she comes off as extremely ignorant

 

[Legionnaire11]

She shouldn’t be calling if she doesn’t know the player names that match the jersey numbers. It’s a fundamental part of the job.

How many games is she doing each week? She ought to have time to prepare and get this stuff right. Other than Hischier I heard once, I can't say completely for the Devils. But for the Preds, between Hextall and Weekes tonight they've already mispronounced...

Tommy Novak (Toe-Mahs)
Eeli Tolvanen (Tol-vain-en)
Juuse Saros (Juice)
Dante Fabbro (Fay-bro)
Mattias Ekholm (Ek-ulm)
Alex Carrier (Carry-er)

 

[Barry Tallackson]

She’s also mixing up Vesey and Bratt

 

[Barry Tallackson]

Weekes tried to help her out but she didn’t catch on

 

[goonybird]

This is becoming not okay

 

[ecemleafs]

if shes the one doing the devils preds game tonight, her tone of voice sucks the life out of watching the game. pretend like ur excited to be calling the game.

 

[Xirik]

I didn't know there was a Novak on the Devils until tonight.

 

[brentashton]

I find this thread frustrating because it forces me to agree with a lot of people with whom I probably agree on very little politically.

People who say that this is just an example of 'wokeness being more important than ability' really fail to recognize the obstacles to comfortable existence that women and people of colour experience just about everyday. From being hit on inappropriately, to having racists mean mug you while you're trying to buy milk. Trying to level the playing field a little bit isn't 'wokeness', it's human empathy.

With that said, I can't get over how bad Leah Hextall is. She is terrible at every part of announcing.

Look, I have been a hockey nerd with encylopedic hockey knowledge since I was 10 years old. Not once did I think I could be a play-by-play announcer. I don't have the voice for it. It requires, ideally, a unique voice, a capacity to speak without 'ums' and 'ah's for 3 hours, really astute observational skills, deep hockey knowledge, an innate sense of the energy of the game (when to be excited, etc) and I could go on and on.

Leah has none of those things. The games are full of dead air, big things will happen and she won't say anything, she doesn't seem to know a lot of the player's names, she has no sense of occasion, and her voice oscillates between dull and shrill.

When people say 'give her a chance to learn', it's like maybe she shouldn't be 'learning' at the highest level.

Honestly, rooting for her is like rooting for some unskilled wealthy kid who gets their own show because their parents own the tv studio.

It's cool that there is a movement towards getting more women in hockey media, but that wasn't being cultivated before. So let's be intentional about cultivating it instead of pretending that making the decision is the same as having had the infrastructure for the last decade.

Let her, and others, cut their teeth in junior, college, and the minors. You know, like a real hockey announcer.

We both agree she’s not a good (let alone adequate) PBP announcer. Serious ask though, what does that have to do with agreeing or not with other peoples politics who are posting here?Seems like a weird caveat to put on your statement. Her ability to do TV PBP has zero to do with politics methinks.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Weekes tried to help her out but she didn’t catch on

Weekes did nothing. Probably didn’t want to embarrass her.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

We both agree she’s not a good (let alone adequate) PBP announcer. Serious ask though, what does that have to do with agreeing or not with other peoples politics who are posting here?Seems like a weird caveat to put on your statement. Her ability to do TV PBP has zero to do with politics methinks.

What I meant by that, is that I am very leftist, and this particular argument has me agreeing (on this topic) with a lot of misogynist troglodytes who happen to be correct on this particular issue.

 

[Channelcat]

This is becoming not okay

Maybe that's why I m starting to like her.

 

[Armourboy]

Tonight was my first night hearing her on a broadcast. I'll never complain about Willie Daunic again. She should be in the ECHL calling games just trying to figure things out, not on an NHL broadcast.

 

[Eggtimer]

Why is it that people immediately play the sexist card if you say that Leah is a terrible PxP person? She is garbage . Plain and simple and people should have the right to say so and not have to feel like they have to apologize for saying so .

 

[Chimpradamus]

What a relief it would be if you could watch hockey games without any commentators lowering the entertainment value of the game. Unfortunately, the producer is just as bad as the commentators. They must've found him making B action movies, because you saw everything but the Devils goal. And then Hextall chimes in with her child voice again and the circle of a botched TV production is complete. They have too many cameras for their own good.

 

[Garyboy]

She’s comically bad. The forced inclusion of women into PBP, and hosting jobs has turned the telecasts into cringe marathons.

 

[Noble]

Why is it that people immediately play the sexist card if you say that Leah is a terrible PxP person? She is garbage . Plain and simple and people should have the right to say so and not have to feel like they have to apologize for saying so .

Because reality completely contradicts these peoples' ideology. It's a coping mechanism.

They believe that everybody is equal and that anybody can do anything they want. There is no skill or experience, only opportunity.

When evidence to the contrary is presented, they immediately dismis it as sexism and bigotry because it's the only "argument" that allows them to continue to believe and push their world view.

The reality is that Leah is a woman who happens to be terrible at her job. She isn't terrible because she's a woman. It has nothing to do with gender, only a lack of personal ability and skill.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Why is it that people immediately play the sexist card if you say that Leah is a terrible PxP person? She is garbage . Plain and simple and people should have the right to say so and not have to feel like they have to apologize for saying so .

Every time Jack Edwards farts there is a thread calling him an idiot. But if they are not a white man, it becomes politically incorrect to say anything negative. Personally, I would absolutely hate to feel I was never getting fair feedback because everyone was too scared to offend me.

Nearly every broadcast team gets critics. Many are called terrible nightly.

 

[KPower]

I think we’re being punked.

 

[Barry Tallackson]

Weekes did nothing. Probably didn’t want to embarrass her.

Right after she called Tatar “Novak”, weekes jumped in and said something along the lines of “great play by tomas Tatar, number 90 on the Devils”

 

[Barry Tallackson]

 

[Garbo Man]

She's getting absolutely ROASTED in the comments on that tweet lol

 

[PG Canuck]

She's getting absolutely ROASTED in the comments on that tweet lol

I feel bad reading those comments but then I tune into a game and she’s calling it therefore I become very depressed and deflated I have to mute the game so I don’t feel bad anymore

 

[Jetsfan79]

Those that say she is just plain bad and it doesn't matter if she's a man or woman. Answer this truthfully. If she was a male version clone. Would she get the same hate? Do you think this thread would exist in this forum?. 23 pages and counting,?

For the record, I recently listened to part of a game that she was calling. Hearing all the negativity ftom here I was expecting a total gong show . Didnt think she was very bad. And even if she is many here are going way overboard with the hate.

 

[Kane One]

Those that say she is just plain bad and it doesn't matter if she's a man or woman. Answer this truthfully. If she was a male version clone. Would she get the same hate? Do you think this thread would exist in this forum?.

For the record, I recently listened to part of a game that she was calling. Hearing all the negativity ftom here I was expecting a total gong show . Didnt think she was very bad. And even if she is many here are going way overboard with the hate.

There have been plenty of threads about bad broadcasters. There’s a trillion on Jack Edwards and one from a few days ago about Bitch Goring.