When Team Sweden defenseman Victor Hedman chased after a loose puck during the first shift of the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament, he was subsequently slammed into the boards by Team Canada forward Nathan MacKinnon. As soon as that instance took place, ESPN NHL analyst Ray Ferraro could tell that there would be a tangible level of competition within this international showdown. With Sweden and Canada battling to secure an important win in the very first matchup, the buzz around hockey ostensibly began to grow exponentially and embed itself into the center of the sports conversation.
“In my mind, from that moment on, people would have been engaged, and seeing the level of competition that was going to be delivered, and also the intensity of the games, brought all this scrutiny,” Ferraro said. “It was a grand slam for the league.”
A few days later, the United States and Canada met in a best-on-best international hockey game for the first time in nine years. The game was televised live on ABC and started with a smattering of intensity and pride as three fights took place during the first nine seconds. The U.S. ended up winning the game from Bell Centre in Montréal, Québec and thus clinched a spot in the championship game. While Ferraro feels the trio of fights represented the proverbial tipping point, he was invested in the tournament from the very start and sought to bring his expertise and proficiency to the airwaves.
Ferraro remarked how former NHL goaltender Darren Pang drew an analogy between the 4 Nations Face-Off and a pop-up Christmas store suddenly appearing in the middle of town. Even though it represents a deviation from the norm, it encapsulates all of the good things that are ingrained within the subject matter. Games preceding the championship accrued significant interest, highlighted by the U.S.-Canada matchup that averaged 4.44 million viewers, up 479% from when both teams faced off in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
“It just popped up, right?,” Ferraro said. “And all the good things about hockey were there, and it was a marvelous tournament.”
When the two teams met in the championship game from TD Garden in Boston, MA, there was a level of anticipation and excitement pervading the atmosphere. ESPN studio programs highlighted the sport and welcomed various experts to break down the action and participate in debates about the endeavor. Furthermore, ticket prices on the secondary market to gain admission rose to new heights, and radio shows around the country in markets without NHL teams were dedicating portions of their programs to discussing the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“You don’t have to sell me on hockey – I love it,” Ferraro said. “But if you can bring in people that either casually or don’t watch and they’re interested, then that becomes part of the goal of these tournaments, and international hockey does it better than any.”
ESPN made history last Thursday with the championship broadcast, garnering an average of 9.3 million viewers as Team Canada won the tournament on an overtime game-winning goal by forward Connor McDavid. The matchup was up 560% from NHL All-Star Game viewership in the previous season and peaked with 10.4 million viewers. Across the United States and Canada, a cumulative average of 16.1 million viewers witnessed the action across various networks, which marks the most-watched non-Stanley Cup hockey game in a decade.
“We often hear about growing the game and different methods to try to grow the game,” Ferraro said. “Well, people that are casual or less-than-casual fans that were tuning in and having an opinion on the games, having a rooting interest, whether they be in Canada or the United States, maybe that tournament hooks their interest and you develop new fans.”
With the exception of the 2023 iteration of the exhibition, the NHL All-Star Game has been experiencing a precipitous decline in viewership over the last eight years. Concurrent with growing dissatisfaction in other league All-Star products, the league decided to hold the 4 Nations Face-Off in lieu of the traditional midseason proceedings.
Ferraro contends that the hockey version of the exhibition is held for corporate sponsors and recognition, but he does not feel that the players would demonstrate too much objection should its eradication be permanent. The NHL is scheduled to hold All-Star Weekend next season from UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. ahead of players participating in the Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026.
“It’s really hard because I grew up loving the All-Star Game when I was kid – I loved watching it – but it just seemed different, maybe because I was a kid,” Ferraro explained. “It’s just not going to happen that you would get a level of play that would make people say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the product I want every year.’ I don’t think it’ll happen.”
Several players emerged from the tournament with injuries affecting their teams amid the resumption of regular-season play. Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy has no timetable for a return after injuring his shoulder and having to stay at a hospital to receive treatment for an infection. Moreover, Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk attempted to play through an undisclosed injury during the championship game but ended up not taking a shift after the later stages of the second period.
“There is 82 games in a regular season – it’s more than enough – and if you want to add this tournament or something like it every year, it’s not going to work,” Ferraro said. “You’re going to have no players left. It’s an exaggeration, but there will be so many people that will be nicked up and banged up and hurt that just the owners will say, ‘Wait a minute. I’m paying this guy ‘X’ million dollars a year, and now I don’t have them for two months? This isn’t going to happen.’”
When ESPN secured a seven-year broadcasting contract that would bring games to the network for the first time in 17 years, Ferraro had his agent reach out to determine what was taking place. For the previous 14 years, he had been working at TSN where he participated in various marquee broadcasts, some of which included the Olympic Games and World Junior Championship. Inquiring about a return to ESPN, Ferraro believed he could make a positive contribution to the revitalized broadcast property and contribute to the growth of the game.
“I got hired, and I was super excited to come back,” Ferraro explained. “I have people that I’ve worked with before, I have a whole bunch of people that I’m working with for the first time when I got hired, and we’ve done a couple of Stanley Cups now, and this 4 Nations was just a grand slam, and it’s been really cool to come back.”
Ferraro embraces the collaborative nature of the job, and he focuses on fulfilling his role within the larger system that effectuates team success. Although he is still delivering analysis during a live game broadcast or studio program, there is a dichotomy between the presentation and how it is accomplished. Despite the chance of prospective commentators perceiving it to be a challenge, Ferraro enjoys the immediacy of the game broadcast and the rapid pace, and he was confident that he could hold his own on national platforms.
“In most cases in the studio, you know what’s coming up, you have the replays queued up,” Ferraro said. “You know what order things are happening, and of course in the game, you’re just there. I think people would be quite surprised that when a play happens on the ice to seeing a replay 25 seconds later, all the things that have to happen for it to happen.”
Ferraro calls the game from between the benches on ice level without play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough, with whom he has been working on national telecasts since 2021. The unique setup provides a series of distinct advantages, such as being able to hear interactions between players and report on his observations amid the broadcast. At the same time, he has developed chemistry with all of his broadcasting partners while staying in communication with the production team and effectuating a strong product.
“For Sean to come back after not doing hockey for 17 years, 18 years, there was going to be an adjustment period, plus an adjustment for me and him,” Ferraro said. “So I would say from Year 1 to Year 4, we understand each other better, we understand cadence and layouts better.”
Throughout the game and during intermissions, Ferraro is in communication with reporter Emily Kaplan, who is extrapolating intel and conducting interviews to further enhance the broadcast product. Yet because of his location, he recognizes the chance that players can see as he critiques aspects of their play to a national audience. While he assumes they are likely not thrilled with this discourse, it is ultimately part of his job to convey the strengths and weaknesses of the contest.
“It’s not super fun if you’re criticizing a guy and he’s sitting a foot away from you and can hear you, but any mistake that they make, I’ve made 100 times,” Ferraro said. “If you play hockey, you make mistakes – that’s just the way that it goes – and my job is not to be critical on a personal level. My job is, ‘This is what happened. I think he probably could have done this instead of that,’ and sometimes they hear.”
One of the key differences in broadcasting hockey rather than playing in the sport is in the lack of a codified scoreboard to merit success, such as standings and point totals. When Ferraro was playing, he did not need anyone to tell him whether or not he played well since he would be able to evaluate himself instantly before leaving the rink. Ferraro never dreamed of being a broadcaster, but he has still found means to thrive by viewing his performances and noting facets of his performance.
“Sometimes it’s harder to watch than others,” Ferraro said. “You like some of the things you say, you don’t like some of the other things you say. There are no standings. If my bosses are happy with the job that I do, then that’s the evaluation to the season.”
As Ferraro continues to call games throughout the remainder of the NHL regular season and matchups within the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he maintains a busy schedule while safeguarding against fatigue by looking after himself. With a strong penchant for hockey and broadcasting, he references an adage about his job not really feeling like work since it surrounds an industry and game towards which he is passionate. Ferraro does not have specific objectives for the future aside from potentially calling an Olympic gold-medal game, and he considers himself lucky to have forged a career rink side documenting a game that remains on a steady growth trajectory with no ceiling in sight.
“When I was playing, my dream was (a) to make the NHL and (b) to win a Stanley Cup, and that was fuel for me all the time,” Ferraro said. “I just go from a game to the next game to the next game, and I just kind of put one foot in front of the other, but the fabulous thing is I love what I’m doing, so it doesn’t feel like I need to set goals.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Derek Futterman is a former associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. Find him on X @derekfutterman.
