For the first time since 2004, ESPN will be back broadcasting NHL games. Starting on October 12, fans will hear the iconic theme song once again. One of the main voices you will hear as either a play-by-play broadcaster or in the studio is John Buccigross, who hosted NHL 2Nite on ESPN2 from 1998 to 2004.
It was announced on Thursday that Buccigross will be hosting a show called The Point, which will air every Thursdays on ESPN2 and daily during the first week of the season.
This week, John Buccigross was a guest on The Athletic Hockey Show with Craig Custance and Sean Gentille to talk about the return of the NHL to the Worldwide Leader and he thinks it couldn’t have happened at a better time in his career.
“I’ve been in the biz for 32 years, ESPN for 25. I’m 55 years old and to be this pumped about going to work again, that’s kind of rare, I think for any occupation. For me, my battery is full, so I don’t mind taking those flights and going to games and a chance to do a bunch of play-by-play here at least in the early part of the season. I’m so excited. I can’t believe it is actually happening,” said Buccigross.
It’s been a moment that he has been preparing for over the last 15 years since he went to his bosses and asked to call hockey games at the collegiate level.
With ESPN now one of the rights holders for the NHL, John Buccigross believes that the excitement won’t just be felt in promos and game coverage. He thinks it will translate to the play on the ice as well.
“I knew ESPN would give the entire league a little bit of an infusion. I know the players wanted to be on the network. That was part of the optimism…I think you can see some really fun, inspired play once the season starts and they see that TNT/ESPN banner and I think it’s going to translate at least early into some really spirited play.”
When ESPN had the rights, they were the only ones broadcasting NHL games. Now with TNT in the picture, Buccigross believes having a rival will be a good thing for both networks and can push people, especially analysts to be on their A game.
“We haven’t had a rival to compete with in hockey. It’s been a cheap enough product where one network can buy the whole thing. That’s a cool part of it and I think will push both sides and I hope push the analysts in-studio because that’s a tough job and you have to be good in short bits and entertaining and funny and serious.”
As for possible broadcast options during the season, John Buccigross believes that ESPN or even TNT could do something similar to the ManningCast that we’ve seen for Monday Night Football games:
“I can see TNT maybe one night offering counter-programming showing Charles Barkley watching a game with maybe a writer or someone else (Wayne Gretzky) or a player on an off-night and you can have those three watch a game somewhere else or tape it and show the greatest hits. That can be something ESPN or TNT decides to do. We can do it at ESPN because we have so many outlets. There’s limitless inventory and space for us to do it.”
The ESPN NHL regular season schedule begins with a doubleheader on October 12 as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the two-time defending champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30 p.m ET, ESPN) followed by the new expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, against the Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m).
