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

[NorCalhockey]

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

The TSN broadcasts are the only ones that are bearable. The sportsnet broadcasts are atrocious and Greg Millen alone should move us down the list several spots.

But frankly we don't get regional broadcasts, all of our games might as well be considered national. Sure, they talk about us all intermission but the only Leafs fan we ever get on a panel is O'Neill on TSN. The HNIC crew genuinely seems to hate the Leafs. Glenn Healy couldn't find a nice thing to say about the Leafs for years and he was on practically every game. It's incredibly frustrating watching broadcasts that don't even like the team. For the love of the hockey gods, give us Joe Bowen back. He did our games for a long time and is amazing (and a homer) but only does radio now. I see a lot of highlight videos and clips with the radio calls in the video instead of the broadcast.

Ray Ferraro is the GOAT colour guy and the only one of the current bunch that I genuinely enjoy listening to.

Holy macinaw!!! Yeah, the Leafs radio crew should be doing tv instead. But speaking of radio, the color guy for Lightning radio is THE SINGLE WORST sports broadcaster I've ever heard! He continually interrupts the PBP guy, and will interject "oh no!" or "don't do that!" or just start a sentence and then stop. Not only is he a major homer, but his overall manner is unprofessional. I'd rather be deaf than have to listen to him.

 

[Golden_Jet]

List is weird because aren't some of these national? Also any regional US, FSN, NESN etc broadcast team is so barfingly, abhorrently homeristic and bad you just want to turn the sound off.

A better title and focus for the article would have been "Just How Bad Are Local Hockey TV Broadcasts? The Answer Will Make you Especially Sad."

its all explained in the article and yes they include national and regional broadcast crews in evaluation.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Hawks fan here saying that the Hawks broadcast is way too high.
A lot of Hawks fans think it's time for Foley to retire, and he hates Alex Nylander more than any player since Karpovtsev. It's completely unprofessional.

Foley thinks Brent Seabrook can do no wrong, and Alex Nylander can do nothing right, and he isn't shy about making that opinion known to the Hawks fanbase.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Butch Goring is painful, the Islanders being so high up is a joke.

 

[volcom92886]

How are the Kings a top 10? Faust just tells stories the entire time, constantly calls players the wrong names and doesnt understand the game. I personally am a fan of Fox but him and Faust lack chemistry.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Yeah, saw that. They're still not very good. Rosen's going off of reputation as he hasn't been good in years and Michelletti's taken the Rangers gag order (avoid harsh criticism) to extreme measures. I can't believe this is the same Michelletti that (as an Isles commentator) would constantly speak the truth, even if it meant trashing the Isles performance.

He literally calls Rangers games as if they should be 82-0 and there's a conspiracy against every player and coach on the Rangers by the refs, league, nation's government and world's leaders. It's ridiculous.

Makes Butch Goring look like an anti-homer and any Isles fan can tell you Butch is homeristic in nature.

I'm not a fan of Joe but he's positive for everyone. It's as if he's trying to be as rainbows and sunshine about everyone to be safe. Not like he criticizes opponents of the Rangers. Sam's fastball is a bit off the last few years. Anyway, there's still no way they're worse than the Islanders. Butch Goring is horrendous.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

List is weird because aren't some of these national? Also any regional US, FSN, NESN etc broadcast team is so barfingly, abhorrently homeristic and bad you just want to turn the sound off.

A better title and focus for the article would have been "Just How Bad Are Local Hockey TV Broadcasts? The Answer Will Make you Especially Sad."

a) I don't like this title because it's super click bait-y.

b) This is not about how bad local hockey TV broadcasts are but how good or bad they are compared to each other. Essentially it's possible for all of them to suck but one will be considered the best.

 

[Stlblue50]

Can’t stand the Sharks crew, ranked way too high. They are over the top biased and complain more than any other team’s broadcast.

Hate how NBC will use their broadcast when they have an overload of games for the 1st round and end of season playoff push adds

 

[TT1]

For MTL, Dan Robertson (does the pbp on TSN 690) is amazing, I wish he did all of our games on TSN. Bryan Mudryk is fine too but he's not on Robertson's level. Mike Johnson is a better colour commentator than Button/Poulin.

Our french broadcast is great too, I usually watch that when i don't like the English commentators.

 

[BlackFrancis]

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.

That's one of the problems with a subscriber model for news at this point in time. Every time I see a "We Rank X Based On Your Feedback" article, the automatic assumption is the subtitle hidden behind the paywall is, "You Won't Believe #5" and it's time to mosey.

Being wrong in this instance won't change my reticence, but I hope I'm wrong more often so that changes.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Of the other two local broadcasts, I think Burke on the Islanders games is really good. I think he'll eventually be recognized as one of the better PBP guys in the league. I don't mind the two New Jersey guys. Not good, not that bad. Tolerable for a rival broadcast. By far the worst of them is Butch Goring. Bad commentator. One of the most biased broadcasters in the league. I think the Islanders should replace him.

 

[tgo0]

Jets right in the middle sounds about right, nothing great, nothing terrible.

 

[Master P]

Jets right in the middle sounds about right, nothing great, nothing terrible.

 

[Sol]

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.

if both Fox and Faust died today they'd still be a better duo than the Bruins.

 

[Jeremy Hronek]

I am super biased, but I love the Canucks guys. They have great chemistry together and they always keep it light regardless of the score. Shorthouse is really good at being unbiased and treating the other team with respect.

 

[Smart Alek]

Boston is rightfully placed, but Vancouver should challenge them for last. Their announcers descend into full-blown depression when the opposing team scores.

For my money, the Stars and the Rangers have the best teams in hockey, and the Penguins aren't terrible either.

 

[Rude Dog]

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

this

 

[shottasasa]

I'd be more interested in a poll rating of just the PBP guy. Colour commentators are always going to have a bias or individual style that rubs some people the wrong way, especially on local broadcasts. And anyway, they are far less important in judging the quality of the broadcast. It's the guy making the calls that matters and maybe the technical quality second.

 

[Fenway]

Jack Edwards has always said he is the Bruins announcer.

Where Jack gets notoriety is when he goes on a rant that then goes viral on Twitter

 

[dragonballgtz]

I love Mickey Redmond. He is absolutely hilarious at times and really makes these past few seasons easier to watch.

 

[yada]

I'd be more interested in a poll rating of just the PBP guy. Colour commentators are always going to have a bias or individual style that rubs some people the wrong way, especially on local broadcasts. And anyway, they are far less important in judging the quality of the broadcast. It's the guy making the calls that matters and maybe the technical quality second.

I feel they should have had 3 polls.

PBP
Color
Announcer team as a whole

 

[yada]

Of the other two local broadcasts, I think Burke on the Islanders games is really good. I think he'll eventually be recognized as one of the better PBP guys in the league. I don't mind the two New Jersey guys. Not good, not that bad. Tolerable for a rival broadcast. By far the worst of them is Butch Goring. Bad commentator. One of the most biased broadcasters in the league. I think the Islanders should replace him.

Personally i am not too familiar with burke so i cant rate him but howie rosen was amazing, billy jaffe was ok but now butch goring is just horrific. I definitely feel that no matter what the isles crew is a downgrade from where they were a few years ago.

The devils crew i just cant stand cangelosi and im not really fond of danekyo but it may be due to just disliking cangelosi. I find emerick to be top 2 for worst announcers in all of sports but strangely enough i liked chico resch. I found him to be goofy but i heard him say some insightful things during broadcasts.

 

[Fenway]

Once upon a time intermissions were innocent



I have thought for 50 years what hampers the NHL as a national TV property is TWO intermissions but the NHL in their early days saw 2 intermissions as a way to sell more hot dogs and beers.

CBC back in 1959 had ONE sponsor (Esso) and this is what you saw between periods



In 1968 NHL intermissions were a nuisance for CBS in the US

 

[Mr Tadakichi]

Oilers too high on the list.

 

[Pyrophorus]

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.

How does this work? I lived in Montreal from ages 1-4. and the first ever NHL game I saw was at The Forum.
Am I a "Gros Bonhomme" as well? Thought I'd ask.