The Athletic ranks the NHL local TV broadcasters - Carolina #1 - Boston #31

[gtforepro]

Leafs on TSN is great. Leafs on HNIC/Sportsnet is just baaaaaad.

Should just be Bowen and Ralph at all times...and scotch...

 

[57special]

I don't mind the Wild broadcast, though Greenlay does make my teeth ache. He has been getting less time of late ...I don't mind Carter. Walz knows his hockey, but talks WAY too much. Lapanta(PBP) is fine with me.

Agree that Edwards is bizarrely awful.

I was brought up on Gallivan and Dick Irvine jr. Anyone else pales in comparison.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Avalanche suck, too.

Montreal on RDS when I did watch it was awful.

If Ottawa gets Lafreinere RDS and TVASports are going to be unbearable unless you understand French and you're a Sens fan.

RDS use to love and I mean love Tampa because they had all the French players. During a game that stopped doing colour and play-by-play to talk about a Quebecois player on Tampa.

John Forslund is great. He seems to genuinely get excited when anyone scores.

 

[Pyrophorus]

No broadcast team feels like a "Leafs regional" team, yes Bell and Rogers majority own them but they cater to a national audience but none of the broadcasters are Leafs homers or biased or anything. They will point out good or bad plays on either team and criticize when valid.

TSN with Gord Miller/Cuthbert and Ferrero is the best of the choices given.

Hughson and Simpson should live as play by play for the Sedins in their daily life. Henrik goes to the fridge, grabs the milk! passes it to Daniel! Daniel pours it on the cereal!!!!

The lone semi-overt Leaf fan of the bunch.
If you don't want homer broadcasts, the Leafs are the place to be.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Bruins and Pens on the bottom. Relief to know my biases don’t dominate what I can see and hear.

Your biases are confirmed by one other individual. So your biases could still very well be between you and one other individual.

 

[Pyrophorus]

Avs should be second last just ahead of the Bruins broadcast.

Leafs should be higher. Miller, Cuthbert, and Ferraro? That’s awesome. I know they don’t get those three every time but even Hughson is good (although Leafs fans hate him).

You got this twisted, the hate is mutual, started by him, and in 1985, by his colour partner.

 

[gtrower]

Your biases are confirmed by one other individual. So your biases could still very well be between you and one other individual.

I completely understand Bruins at the bottom but I always thought the Pens were the worst because at least with the Bruins you get entertainment and soundbites out of Edwards. With the Pens, it's ultimate homerism but also really dull.

It depends on the degree of homerism. Pittsburgh and Boston are notorious in this regard.

Add two more. Hell you didn’t even dispute it.

 

[TheAngryHank]

Thy got the bottom two correct ,the rest is subjective.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Add two more. Hell you didn’t even dispute it.

I don’t need to dispute the post. Just your stance that your bias is somehow confirmed with a person or two agreeing with you.

It’s still a bias. Just because it conforms with 2 other people’s opinions doesn’t mean it still isn’t a bias.

 

[Pyrophorus]

Should just be Bowen and Ralph at all times...and scotch...

I thought about this. I felt orginally that Joe and Jim, were just too homeristic, and most of Rogers' guys had to be national. However; we never get Shorthouse, or Principe or Loubardias or Beyak, why shouldn't we have the same
arrangement, at least for weekday games? Maybe Holy Mackinaw, is too much for Rogers?

 

[ACC1224]

I thought about this. I felt orginally that Joe and Jim, were just too homeristic, and most of Rogers' guys had to be national. However; we never get Shorthouse, or Principe or Loubardias or Beyak, why shouldn't we have the same
arrangement, at least for weekday games? Maybe Holy Mackinaw, is too much for Rogers?

IMO, regional broadcast teams should be homers.
It adds more to the broadcast when the announcer is just as excited with the Teams play as the fans watching are.
I'd take Joe Bowen doing Leaf games every night if I could.

 

[BUP]

Good. Jack Edwards is brutal.

As a Bostonian I agree completely - Edwards is a clown! He will turn an everyday NHL play by Bruin into a Savior's action. He's also mean spirited towards opponents to the point where he must have been bullied day and night as a kid.

With respect to Brickley, he is very knowledgeable, but does over analyze and ramble considerably. There are times when he is still analyzing a goal well after the puck has been dropped at center ice.

Both he and Edwards possess a temperament that suggests they know more than most. This is evidenced by there level of arrogance and seriousness, which I do not see in too many other markets.

There is no doubt they are lapdogs for the organization - to the point where you would think they are teammates of the players and not broadcasters. I realize I am in the minority in the Boston market with these views.

Dave Goucher and Barry Pedersen would be my ideal pair to call Bs games....

 

[tarheelhockey]

Rankings based on surveying people dumb enough to pay for a "journalism" site that thinks the result of its polls are worth paying for?

Next.

It’s actually a really insightful article. They get specific about both the PBP and the color, and the context for public attitudes (such as the negativity around Altitude waging a war with its carriers which impacts presentation quality). I learned a lot about the broadcast/presentation side of the NHL, which usually doesn’t get this depth of coverage.

Sorry they rubbed you the wrong way somehow, but the quality of the product is a ridiculously good bargain for the few bucks a month it costs. The Athletic is to 2020 what The Hockey News was to 1990.

 

[CanadienShark]

As a Bostonian I agree completely - Edwards is a clown! He will turn an everyday NHL play by Bruin into a Savior's action. He's also mean spirited towards opponents to the point where he must have been bullied day and night as a kid.

With respect to Brickley, he is very knowledgeable, but does over analyze and ramble considerably. There are times when he is still analyzing a goal well after the puck has been dropped at center ice.

Both he and Edwards possess a temperament that suggests they know more than most. This is evidenced by there level of arrogance and seriousness, which I do not see in too many other markets.

There is no doubt they are lapdogs for the organization - to the point where you would think they are teammates of the players and not broadcasters. I realize I am in the minority in the Boston market with these views.

Dave Goucher and Barry Pedersen would be my ideal pair to call Bs games....

And I'm not trying to suggest Edwards doesn't know the game. It's just that he's insufferable to listen to. As you say, basically a lapdog of the organization. Doesn't even try to hide his bias.

 

[missionAvs]

Avs are too high.

This made me laugh and cry at the same time due to how true it is.

 

[bov]

The Bruins crew gets understandable hate for some of their over the top moments, but by and large they call a good game and provide more useful commentary than most other crews imo. I've even seen Bruins fans complain a few times about Edwards praising the opposition too much, and he does show a general passion for exciting hockey regardless of the teams involved the vast majority of the time.

I knew they'd be dead last in this poll but they are far from the worst imo.

 

[Weztex]

Avalanche suck, too.

Montreal on RDS when I did watch it was awful.

If Ottawa gets Lafreinere RDS and TVASports are going to be unbearable unless you understand French and you're a Sens fan.

RDS use to love and I mean love Tampa because they had all the French players. During a game that stopped doing colour and play-by-play to talk about a Quebecois player on Tampa.

John Forslund is great. He seems to genuinely get excited when anyone scores.

Really? I think it's more of a TVA Sports thing.

I find the RDS broadcast team of Houde/Denis to be quite good. Pierre may not be at the top of his form acuity wise but as a whole he's a lot better than he was with Brunet. Denis is the best french analyst on TV right now. He's clear, poised and come across as a professional and class act. He really does a good job and often prevents Houde to veer.

TVA Sports is quite trash though. Felix Seguin cannot keep himself from proudly saying ''Le quebecois'' anytime a guy like Yanni Gourde touches the puck. They won't criticize any of them like it's their nephew or something (ok RDS does that too). To my ear, they often flirt with chauvinism. As for Lalime, he has syntax problems and does not sound that much better than those personalities they invite in the booth to describe 2-3 shifts.

 

[Sheppy]

The Pittsburgh nerds are the worst.

 

[TheNeutralPresident]

I remember filling this one out, fan polls should never be held to any standard unless it is an obvious runaway.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Really? I think it's more of a TVA Sports thing.

I find the RDS broadcast team of Houde/Denis to be quite good. Pierre may not be at the top of his form acuity wise but as a whole he's a lot better than he was with Brunet. Denis is the best french analyst on TV right now. He's clear, poised and come across as a professional and class act. He really does a good job and often prevents Houde to veer.

TVA Sports is quite trash though. Felix Seguin cannot keep himself from proudly saying ''Le quebecois'' anytime a guy like Yanni Gourde touches the puck. They won't criticize any of them like it's their nephew or something (ok RDS does that too). To my ear, they often flirt with chauvinism. As for Lalime, he has syntax problems and does not sound that much better than those personalities they invite in the booth to describe 2-3 shifts.

I haven't watched RDS in a few years. They were quite bad, but they were never TVA bad. I watched with Benoit Brunet who would use "gros bonhomme" waaaaay too much. Once hockey comes back, maybe I'll give them another go.

I heard that both TVA and RDS are finally criticizing Bergevin. That usually a sign that you should be done in the NHL.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

As a Pens fan I love listening to Sam Rosen call games.

His calls have gotten really bad in recent years. Brilliant commentator at his best, but he makes so many gaffes now that he didn’t make at his best.

 

[nbwingsfan]

I’d put the Panthers broadcast at 30th but other than that everything else looks fairly spot on

 

[AlphaBravo]

Lol, as a Kings fan I can say they got the broadcast ranking wrong. There is no way we are up to 10 in that list. Fox/Faust are horrible. Ever since Bob Miller retired, its been a gong show. We should be 31st.

 

[NorCalhockey]

No broadcast team feels like a "Leafs regional" team, yes Bell and Rogers majority own them but they cater to a national audience but none of the broadcasters are Leafs homers or biased or anything. They will point out good or bad plays on either team and criticize when valid.

TSN with Gord Miller/Cuthbert and Ferrero is the best of the choices given.

Hughson and Simpson should live as play by play for the Sedins in their daily life. Henrik goes to the fridge, grabs the milk! passes it to Daniel! Daniel pours it on the cereal!!!!

Hear - hear! Miller/Ferraro/Forslund/Randy Hahn for me, are the best of all the tv broadcast crews. [Thanks NHL CenterIce!]

Do Bruin fans actually like Jack Edwards? Or is it one of those things where even people from Boston find him over the top?

My guess is it's some where in the middle?

The only reason I still have a teeny tiny respect for Edwards was his broadcast work when the USMNT went on their epic run to the quarterfinal of the 2002 World Cup. [Should have been semi-final no thanks to the handball non-call on Germany! ]

 

[Del Preston]

Kevin Quinn is the worst PBP guy is sports. You'd have a lot of trouble finding someone who screws up as often as him.