Around the League 2021-22 Part 2

[Arthuros]

TBH, I haven't really changed my mind on her skill as a PBP person (still think she's way too bad to be on the national broadcast). She's bad because she's inexperienced or unsuited, not because of her gender / sex.

All of this abuse she's getting is undeserved but unavoidable - there will always be people who conflate her bad commentating with the fact that she's a woman, and that segment of the population will always be very vocal (because there are scumbags who genuinely believe there is no point in women being PBP commentators, and it is so easy to simplify everything to "she bad because she woman").

I would never vocally oppose female commentators in general. Leah is hopefully leading the way for other female commentators because she's on a national platform...and I do hope she gets better at the job herself.

 

[bsu]

This would be like if we signed Selanne son to a 1 way deal and played him every night even though he's no where near a NHL player. Of course ppl would bitch about him not performing and rightfully so.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

I don't think she's that bad & she's at least not homerish like some of the east coast teams have for PBP.
The only thing i'd say is there was tons of Female PBP candidates who were more qualified for the PBP gig but they were passed over because their grandfather wasn't in the hall of fame and their cousin wasn't Ron Hextall.
Plenty of female PBP candidates should be given a chance to replace to Ahlers when the time comes.

 

[AngelDuck]

She’s awful at it - one of the worst I’ve heard. Grating to listen to, doesn’t seem to detail what’s going on out there quick enough, and just doesn’t have the voice for it

I think she could be useful in a different capacity but PBP isn’t for her, and it’s disappointing ESPN fed her to the wolves

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Listening to this again, there is so much delusion. Says she didn't get the job because of her last name but seconds later goes on to describe who's in her family and how much they are into hockey... Says she didn't get the first full time announcing job as a woman because of her sex but has no experience [or] qualifications at all then the whole "I bring something unique" yeah you do, terrible announcing it's really unique.

There are definitely two extremes (psychos threatening her vs people acting like no one takes criticism and it's only because she's a female)

Hmm. Gonna stick with that one?

 

[bsu]

Hmm. Gonna stick with that one?

Nah. Sideline reporting for junior hockey and doing play by play in the NHL ain't on the same planet. To be honest she sucks at her job straight up and that's my opinion about it. If they keep her good for her though. I hope next season we have options to watch the game instead of forced to watch ESPN.....

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Nah. Sideline reporting for junior hockey and doing play by play in the NHL ain't on the same planet. To be honest she sucks at her job straight up and that's my opinion about it. If they keep her good for her though. I hope next season we have options to watch the game instead of forced to watch ESPN.....

But that's not her only experience. I think you probably just googled that quickly. She's been a broadcaster forever and been calling games for years before her NHL gig. You just assumed she's totally unqualified...for some reason.

There are lots of broadcasters who aren't very good and she's one of them, but other than like one guy, Hextall is the only one that people wouldn't shut the f*** up about, even days before. It's weird and if you're one of those people you should ask yourself why that is.

 

[Goose of Reason]

But that's not her only experience. I think you probably just googled that quickly. She's been a broadcaster forever and been calling games for years before her NHL gig. You just assumed she's totally unqualified...for some reason.

There are lots of broadcasters who aren't very good and she's one of them, but other than like one guy, Hextall is the only one that people wouldn't shut the f*** up about, even days before. It's weird and if you're one of those people you should ask yourself why that is.

Liked this but I don't even agree with her being bad. I straight up think she's better than Ahlers who will just have a 3 minute conversation with Hazy about something unrelated and on multiple occasions last season alone had dead air going while a player got a breakaway. There are people who don't like Ahlers but he doesn't get shit nearly on the level that Hextall did every single f***ing game and it's pretty obvious why unless you don't want to admit something about yourself.

 

[dracom]

Liked this but I don't even agree with her being bad. I straight up think she's better than Ahlers who will just have a 3 minute conversation with Hazy about something unrelated and on multiple occasions last season alone had dead air going while a player got a breakaway. There are people who don't like Ahlers but he doesn't get shit nearly on the level that Hextall did every single f***ing game and it's pretty obvious why unless you don't want to admit something about yourself.

people do shit on Ahlers constantly. i don't think there was a thread where someone WASN'T shitting on him in some way. I don't have the biggest issue with Hextall but you're absolutely lying if you think Ahlers is worse than her.

 

[Goose of Reason]

people do shit on Ahlers constantly. i don't think there was a thread where someone WASN'T shitting on him in some way. I don't have the biggest issue with Hextall but you're absolutely lying if you think Ahlers is worse than her.

I like Ahlers fully because I've acclimated to his voice calling our games, when we had our first game back after the covid shutdown I'll never forget just how happy it made me feel to hear him. But he's pretty bad at going on tangents instead of calling the game, which if the argument is that Hextall is objectively bad at calling games, she doesn't stop doing her job nearly to the level that Ahlers does on a consistent basis.

 

[Kalv]

people do shit on Ahlers constantly. i don't think there was a thread where someone WASN'T shitting on him in some way. I don't have the biggest issue with Hextall but you're absolutely lying if you think Ahlers is worse than her.

Personally Ahlers has bothered me way more than Hextal has, and I think it's even taking in account the frequency (I hear Ahlers more ofc). To be specific, Ahlers calls the game like it's a golf match, it is even worse for me who is watching games during the night and it feels like he is putting me to sleep

The amount of shit people are giving to Ahlers imo, is much much much less than people are complaining about Hextal. When Hextal calls the game it's usually like she has kicked everyones dog, she is the main topic for many fans, which I never understood

 

[Quack Shot]

Maybe Hextall just needs a better partner. Weekes isn’t the greatest, he’s amazing for highlights and breaking news. But them two together for the games weren’t very exciting.

 

[Terry Yake]

Maybe Hextall just needs a better partner. Weekes isn’t the greatest, he’s amazing for highlights and breaking news. But them two together for the games weren’t very exciting.

nah, hextall just isn't good at her job. plain and simple

and lol @ anyone saying she's better than ahlers. ahlers's only flaw is that he constantly butchers names, aside from that he's a decent pbp guy in my opinion, although i wouldn't mind some fresh faces in the broadcast booth

 

[bsu]

I can't even tell if some of you are being sarcastic or serious.... I'm outta here lol

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Liked this but I don't even agree with her being bad. I straight up think she's better than Ahlers who will just have a 3 minute conversation with Hazy about something unrelated and on multiple occasions last season alone had dead air going while a player got a breakaway. There are people who don't like Ahlers but he doesn't get shit nearly on the level that Hextall did every single f***ing game and it's pretty obvious why unless you don't want to admit something about yourself.

Fair enough. I like Ahlers fine but that's mostly because to me his voice (along with Hazy's) represents Ducks games, makes me think of watching games with my dad and now my daughter. He might irritate me sometimes but I'll never hate on that.

 

[AngelDuck]

Ahlers is solid at what he does. Very good voice and cadence and knows the right times to get excited and when not to. The butchering names thing is whatever - a bit unprofessional, but I already know everyone’s name anyway

 

[bsu]

Ahlers is solid at what he does. Very good voice and cadence and knows the right times to get excited and when not to. The butchering names thing is whatever - a bit unprofessional, but I already know everyone’s name anyway

I actually think his processing is just getting bad. I don't mind him anywhere close to hextall butchering the game.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Ahlers probably does it a little more than most, but getting names wrong isn’t that uncommon for pxp guys, especially if they are with the other team. I think what might separate Ahlers a bit is he gets our guys wrong. But overall he and Hazy are a very good team IMO, with Hazy being better individually than Ahlers

 

[Ducks DVM]

Liked this but I don't even agree with her being bad. I straight up think she's better than Ahlers who will just have a 3 minute conversation with Hazy about something unrelated and on multiple occasions last season alone had dead air going while a player got a breakaway. There are people who don't like Ahlers but he doesn't get shit nearly on the level that Hextall did every single f***ing game and it's pretty obvious why unless you don't want to admit something about yourself.

She’s bad at hockey announcing. Her tone is grating to my ears, she has a poor cadence, she talks over and has zero chemistry with whoever her color person is (he’s also absolutely horrible), and I find her “something exciting is happening” voice to startle me out of what’s going on rather than spur interest. None of that is because she’s a woman, it’s because I consider the entire broadcast to be at mediocre AHL quality.

Ahlers butchers names, on both teams, uses a very limited set of catchphrases at sometimes stupid moments, and has been hoarse a lot the last couple of years (also grating to my ears, but differently so), but he has a good cadence, is much better at his “excitement voice”, and has very good chemistry with Hazy.

Ahlers isn’t top notch, but he also doesn’t dominate the broadcast like she does. The entire team needed to be sent to the AHL for a year of seasoning, and I mean both announcers, their editor, and whoever does the prep work for them. Clement/Emrick/Thorne they are not.

 

[Vinegar Strokes]

The amount of hate she gets is incredibly weird. Just mute her if you're that offended. Even this board was borderline obsessive about it.

Leah Hextall is terrible at her job, in my opinion. I also haven’t seen any justifiable reason for her getting the job, other than her gender and her family ties. I don’t see why she should be exempt from criticism, it seems extremely valid to me.

No one deserves to be personally attacked for doing a bad job either, that is obviously way out of line.

I will also make the obligatory statement that if you’re out there spending your time attacking someone on social media constantly for something as insignificant as a hockey broadcast you’re a sad sad individual but this is a hockey forum and she called quite a few of our games, I don’t see why it’s out of line for us to say she was bad.

If Jack Edwards suddenly started calling our games nationally so you really think it would be any different? Hell, look how much hate Hayward gets when he broadcasts nationally and he’s pretty damn good.

 

[Static]

Leah Hextall is terrible at her job, in my opinion. I also haven’t seen any justifiable reason for her getting the job, other than her gender and her family ties. I don’t see why she should be exempt from criticism, it seems extremely valid to me.

No one deserves to be personally attacked for doing a bad job either, that is obviously way out of line.

I will also make the obligatory statement that if you’re out there spending your time attacking someone on social media constantly for something as insignificant as a hockey broadcast you’re a sad sad individual but this is a hockey forum and she called quite a few of our games, I don’t see why it’s out of line for us to say she was bad.

If Jack Edwards suddenly started calling our games nationally so you really think it would be any different? Hell, look how much hate Hayward gets when he broadcasts nationally and he’s pretty damn good.

There is valid criticism and then there is beating a dead horse so thoroughly that the very matter it is made up from ceases to exist in this universe. It was obsessive and weird then and this story only further contextualizes its weirdness.

Also, it's funny that nepotism is suddenly such a problem in a sport built on the shoulders of the family members of failed men.

 

[GreatBear]

Isn't this the second or third complaint session about Leah Hextall just on the Ducks board? That is really a bit much, even for summertime.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Isn't this the second or third complaint session about Leah Hextall just on the Ducks board? That is really a bit much, even for summertime.

Didn't even call a game today! Someone just posted it here so there could be another targeted bitch session under the guise of telling it like it is.

 

[Ducks DVM]

Didn't even call a game today! Someone just posted it here so there could be another targeted bitch session under the guise of telling it like it is.

Actually, OP was a post calling people out for complaining about her. There’s a valid conversation about why the flagship US hockey station has such substandard announcing, that doesn’t involve sexism in any way shape or form. The sexist crap she endured is beyond the pale, but so is saying that people cannot dislike her job performance without being sexist.

 

[Vinegar Strokes]

There is valid criticism and then there is beating a dead horse so thoroughly that the very matter it is made up from ceases to exist in this universe. It was obsessive and weird then and this story only further contextualizes its weirdness.

Also, it's funny that nepotism is suddenly such a problem in a sport built on the shoulders of the family members of failed men.

Nepotism is bad, period. You're normally very reasonable but this time it feels like you're really trying to label the majority of people when it likely only applies to a small minority on this board. You talk about it being weird but from my vantage point you're the one who's essentially beating a non-existant horse, as far as this board is concerned, which is even weirder.

Does she get a bit more attention becuase she's the first female broadcaster, definitely, but is it any worse than what Mcquire or Doc get for being nerds, or worse than what old broadcasters endure just for being old? Doesn't seem to be to me, at least on these boards. I'm not active on social media and I'm sure the dregs are being very loud.

Anyway's, I'm more annoyed at ESPN for putting Leah in a position to fail. There has to be better female options than her and I've generally liked most of the females I've heard do color and intermissions.