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

[Chrisinroch]

What do you guys think of Jaime Hirsch? Just curious..

She’s very good at the studio stuff and features.

I have no idea if she could or would want to do pxp. It’s really hard. Try it for 10 minutes sometime with the sound off. Record yourself. You sound like an idiot.

 

[Unspecified]

Yea that was probably the worst broadcaster I have ever heard.

 

[missinthejets]

Wow Leah Hextall got a pbp gig? Seems strange since she's never done that before. I remember her doing sports on the local station in Brandon. She was always good at that stuff. Very surprising to see such a drastic change in career. Given that she is a solid broadcaster though I would be that she improves in the new role.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

The audio syncing issue was more annoying for me than the PxP. Hearing the puck hit the boards/post or a big hit happen before you see it with your eyes is the most annoying thing possible.

Somehow they didn't fix it throughout the entire game.. horrible video/audio crew.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

The ESPN+ broadcast was a nightmare. The audio is off and it sounds like their broadcast crew is calling the game remotely from a dungeon. I'll chalk it up to her not being in the building but she did not know the players and struggled to follow play.

They were in the building though, they cut to them standing in the arena at one point in the game.

 

[Masked]

She's not as bad as Greg Millen or Glenn Healy.

Assen na yo!

 

[Shakey Rustie]

She *was* doing college hockey. She was the same there

Oh?! I did not know that. Thanks. How many games did she end up doing for college (if you know)?

 

[Devils090]

Really needs to stop being a thing, their voices just don’t work for play by play, especially hers

 

[Il Stugotz]

Really needs to stop being a thing, their voices just don’t work for play by play, especially hers

 

[Satan]

They were in the building though, they cut to them standing in the arena at one point in the game.

Big yikes in that case

 

[pbgoalie]

Amazing since I was a kid (59 now)
It was often better to listen to the radio call

or watch the game without sound

it’s a tough game to announce, but there has to be enough people that can keep up

we need a new program to develop refs and pbp announcers. They’re equally cringe inducing at times

 

[Bernie Federko]

Hextall......was not good. I found myself switching back and forth to the Spanish broadcast which was funny in its own way. In her defense I will say that pbp is very difficult. They used to have an exhibit at the Hall of Fame where you could do a short pbp over a video of a game and then listen to the tape. Much more difficult than you think.

 

[Bernie Federko]

She’s the best Legends of the Hidden Temple PxP I’ve ever heard

This right here is funny.

 

[Devils090]

View attachment 473394

Truth is truth, everyone should stop caring what the woke mob on Twitter thinks and just say it considering the vast majority of hockey fans agree with it.

 

[Dr Pepper]

The audio syncing issue was more annoying for me than the PxP. Hearing the puck hit the boards/post or a big hit happen before you see it with your eyes is the most annoying thing possible.

Somehow they didn't fix it throughout the entire game.. horrible video/audio crew.

Ok that was a broadcast issue? I figured it was my stream that was off. Whole game, the call was like a second or two ahead of the play lol

 

[Hunter368]

I would take Hextall over Sawyer any day of the week as an announcer/colour P by P person.

 

[serp]

They were in the building though, they cut to them standing in the arena at one point in the game.

How was the audio this off then ? The Stars-Rangers game at least i can excuse since the Stars crew did it from Texas but whats the excuse here ? How does this even happen throughout the whole game ?

 

[Chips]

I’m all for criticizing a broadcaster and have no issue going after Hextall for her (legitimate) weaknesses in PBP.

But it’s a little odd to repeatedly bring up her gender, merit relative to male broadcasters, “diversity signaling” etc if this is not about her being a woman.

Her having the job is about being a woman, at least it’s easier to believe that when she’s all around bad at it. AJ Mleczko, Cassie Campbell, at least they range from decent to good

I know Campbell isn’t the most liked here but she doesn’t have nearly as unanimous a dislike, I’d more likely chalk her critics up to a higher degree of sexism than for Hextal


Leah Hextal is a woman and has a famous name. That’s all she’s got going for her. There are obviously tons more men w famous names around the league, so they have a luxury of selecting a name with some good quality or another.

she’d be fine imo as color commentator, between the glass or co hosting the intermission, but they have to make a “statement” getting a female pbp, and they were hiring names (gretz, messier, etc)

 

[MrHeiskanen]

How was the audio this off then ? The Stars-Rangers game at least i can excuse since the Stars crew did it from Texas but whats the excuse here ? How does this even happen throughout the whole game ?

The main camera had some kind of lag, I don't know. It was obvious when switching between corner cams and main camera the players were teleporting across the ice to different positions because they weren't synced.

 

[ps241]

Leah is pretty sharp but at the end of the day it’s hard to take Shortcuts with a craft like PBP. The traditional path is honing your skills in Juniors, College, AHL etc until you are ready for prime time.

 

[Shocker]

Very grating, hopefully never have to listen to her again.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Really needs to stop being a thing, their voices just don’t work for play by play, especially hers

I definitely think there are some women with voice talent that would be suited for PbP. Someone like Cedering Fox could train for it and I think she'd probably be great at it.

But you need someone with real range and talent. You can't just throw anyone -- man or woman -- with a bad vocal fry up there because she's somebody's cousin and expect good results.

It's not about practice or training, she just doesn't have the vocal talent, period. When George Lucas was casting someone to dub Darth Vader, he went looking for someone with a very distinctive vocal talent and range. Very few people on Earth were physically capable of voicing the Darth Vader he was looking for.

 

[ElGuapo]

It might be television, but you need a radio voice to do sports play by play.

She doesn't have one.

Neither did Mike Emrick. She's way beyond that though. I just can't believe they'd put her on air for NHL PBP.

 

[Chips]

Very grating, hopefully never have to listen to her again.

I bet they see the criticism, hockey journalists write a bunch of articles about hockey’s sexism problems, and they make a “statement” by giving her the entire SCF.


Not really but I would legit turn down my nice tv for a shit quality internet stream of the Canadian broadcast if it came to that

 

[Chips]

Neither did Mike Emrick. She's way beyond that though. I just can't believe they'd put her on air for NHL PBP.

He didn’t have a traditional radio voice but I wouldn’t say he “didn’t have a voice for radio” in the typical rhetorical sense. His voice and energy were awesome, and being distinct imo helped separate him as the main guy.


She just doesn’t have a voice for radio or tv play by play. Grating