ESPN and the NHL came to a landmark seven-year, $2.8 billion agreement, which will bring hockey back to the Worldwide Leader for the first time since 2004.
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said no on-air talent has been discussed or figured out yet, but there’s one huge personality that has already thrown his name into the ring.
Gary Thorne is open to returning.
The NHL officially announced its seven-year contract with ESPN on Wednesday, essentially selling The Worldwide Leader half of its US TV rights.
The NHL will dip its toes heavily into streaming in the new agreement.
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston is reporting that ESPN is returning as a media rights partner of the NHL for the first time in 17 years.
ESPN has entered into a seven-year agreement with the league which will allow it air games and four Stanley Cup Finals between 2022 and 2028. ESPN will also get streaming rights for Disney+.
ESPN will share the rights with another, yet-to-be-named media partner that could be NBC Sports.
By Ian Oland 1 month ago
ESPN released a trailer for their upcoming E:60 feature airing Sunday at 7 pm on ESPN2 and it hits close to home for Capitals fans. The episode will document the Hershey Bears’ recent world record-breaking Teddy Bear Toss.
Hershey Bears fans threw an insane 45,650 stuffed animals onto the ice for charity, one of which actually knocked my phone out of my hand at ice level.
Alex Ovechkin is continuing to score goals at a blistering pace and is now only 216 tallies behind Wayne Gretzky to pass Wayne Gretzky on the all-time goals list.
During the Caps’ west coast trip, Ovechkin did an interview with Linda Cohn at ESPN’s Los Angeles campus. John Carlson also joined.
Cohn asked Ovi about the goals record but took another angle to the question.
ESPN released a new feature for E:60, focused on Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, titled The Great 8. The Washington Capitals posted it on their social media channels late Thursday night.
The feature was hosted by former Capitals beat writer for the Washington Post, Rachel Nichols, who is now one of the biggest sports journalists in the world for ESPN. Using a 2009 E:60 feature she did with Ovechkin as a foundation, Nichols’ feature weaves through footage between 2009 and now to play up Ovechkin’s greatness (similar to old Michael Jordan videos) and his growth as a hockey player and person through a narrative-driven story.
There’s not much new in this 10-minute clip that hardcore Capitals fans haven’t seen or don’t already know. But it’s still mandatory viewing. The feature is a joy to watch as it highlights Ovechkin’s greatest hits and relives the team’s 2018 Stanley Cup championship. Nichols is an excellent storyteller and reporter and ESPN’s editing and video presentation is second to none.
One of the most interesting things we learn in the clip is that Ovechkin has never watched Game Five back, the night the Capitals beat the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup Final, and he can’t remember holding up the Stanley Cup for the first time.
“Tough memories because it’s erased,” Ovechkin said. “I was so excited, I can’t remember basically nothing. Just blackout. When you watch the video, you watch the highlights, I never watch the game (back) yet. Um, because, I don’t know, maybe one day. That game was probably the biggest game of my life.”
After gutting most of its NHL reporters in April, ESPN appears to be restaffing.
Nearly two weeks after Greg Wyshynski revealed that he was leaving Yahoo’s Puck Daddy – one of the most followed national hockey blogs on the internet, Wysh announced his new gig.
Wyshynski, who graduated from the University of Maryland’s journalism school and spent over a decade in Northern Virginia, will join ESPN where he will be “a leading voice for NHL content.”
As avid hockey fans, we love reading about hockey coverage from every perspective. This coverage took a step back two weeks ago when ESPN, the largest sports outlet in the world, laid off a huge number of its staff, including several high-profile members of its NHL crew.
ESPN has been dealing with declining viewership and readership in the past years, and decided the middle of the NHL playoffs was the right time to get rid of its hockey reporters. ESPN had very limited hockey coverage to begin with, listing NHL sixth on its navigation after every major professional sport and college football. Laying off respected reporters such as Pierre LeBrun, Joe McDonald and Scott Burnside diminished the coverage even further.
By Cara Bahniuk 4 years ago
Last week, Alex Ovechkin tallied 1,000 points. Our most-read post of that day was not the one detailing Ovi’s milestone. Instead it was our article entitled Why the Penguins didn’t salute Alex Ovechkin for his 1,000th point.
The post pointed out that the Penguins ignored the milestone, choosing not to stick-tap or acknowledge the hockey legend in any way. The next day, ESPN’s Around The Horn picked up our post and discussed it on national TV.
Many of you have reached out to us see the full segment. ESPN was kind enough to send us the full video.
Team Russia was ousted by Team Canada in the semi-finals of the World Cup of Hockey this past weekend. Hockey players Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin both played in that game. Several sporting news outlets noticed this fact and, deciding that the world hasn’t had enough of this particular story, rained down the takes.
One such story comes from Pierre LeBrun, ESPN’s NHL columnist and TSN Hockey insider. LeBrun beats this dead horse into glue while also getting some nifty anonymous quotes from some GMs and coaches who do not like Ovechkin one bit.
By Chris Cerullo 5 years ago
