As Bob Wischusen was working the 2021 PGA Championship for ESPN, there were rumors swirling that the network was in the mix to re-acquire NHL’s broadcast rights. Wischusen, who had been a fill-in play-by-play voice on radio for the New York Rangers years ago, wanted to be part of the coverage and decided to let his current employer know about it.

“Immediately,” said Wischusen.  “Even before it was official.”  

During some down time at the PGA, the veteran announcer decided to pay a visit to the on-site office of ESPN Vice-President and Executive Producer Mike McQuade. As it turns out, McQuade was going to be one of the main decision-makers for ESPN’s NHL coverage.  In addition to that, McQuade is a Rangers fan and remembers that Wischusen had called games before.

Wischusen decided to query McQuade about it and the discussion went very well.

“I went into his office in the trailer and I said, ‘I know we’re knee-deep in golf here,’” said Wischusen,  “’but I just want to let you know that if this turns out to be true, I’d like to be involved.’ And he was like ‘yeah, you’re involved…yeah I think it’s going to happen…you’re involved.’”

And it was as easy as that!

Once it became official that ESPN, along with Turner Sports, would take over the NHL television rights from NBC starting this season, Wischusen would be calling hockey games for the first time in about fifteen years. Hardcore hockey fans had to be wondering who he was and why ESPN stayed in-house for their play-by-play roster, but Wischusen has earned a lot of praise for his work, especially during the playoffs.

“People said a lot of nice things and that was great,” said Wischusen. “I guess if I was a lifelong hockey person, I might have felt the same way… who are these guys?”

If you are a hockey fan and you didn’t know that Bob Wischusen could call a hockey game, you certainly know that now.  Wischusen, the long-time radio voice of the New York Jets, has been nationally known for calling college football, arena football and college basketball games on ESPN for almost two decades. There weren’t too many people around the country that could have ever imagined that Wischusen would be on ESPN’s roster for hockey.  

But even though it had been about fifteen years since Wischusen last called a hockey game, ESPN made the wise choice to use him. 

“I knew what we did (ESPN using in-house announcers) was going to be under a microscope,” said Wischusen.  “That’s why I felt a little bit of added pressure to hold my end up.  No one remembered me as a hockey play-by-play guy so I was lucky that they had the faith in me to do it because they really were kind of going on blind faith.”

“It wasn’t like they had tapes to back and listen to.  I guess they just trusted after close to 20 years of being a play-by-play guy at ESPN, that when I really believed that I could do this again, that they had faith in me and let me do it.”

By the end of the season and a hectic playoff schedule, Wischusen rewarded his network for their confidence in him. The reaction from everyone around the sport, including the fans, has been overwhelmingly positive. During the season and the playoffs, Wischusen worked games for the linear ESPN channels as well as some exclusive national games that were streamed on ESPN+.

But when the season started, Wischusen knew he was going to need some time to shake off some of the rust.

“I was legitimately nervous before my first game or two,” said Wischusen.  “I know I got better as the year went on, no question. You don’t really know if you can do it again until you actually prove it yourself that you can.”

And prove it he did.

What made Wischusen’s performance all the more impressive is that a lot has changed since he last called NHL games.  The game is certainly a lot faster in 2022 than it was when Wischusen called Rangers games. There’s also more overall skill in the league now and that makes it extremely challenging for even the best hockey announcers to keep up with the action.

You have to be prepared because things can happen now at the blink of an eye.

“In the early 2000’s I’d have my line chart and if I was a little unsure of who might have been out there you had a moment to glance down at your line chart,” recalled Wischusen.  “Not now.  You start glancing at your notes, you are two or three passes behind.  The puck might be in the net while you’re not looking at the ice.”  

Hockey has always been one of Wischusen’s favorite sports. He was still able to call Rangers games when he was getting started at ESPN in a part-time role.  Once he was promoted to a full-time play-by-play voice at ESPN, Wischusen could no longer do NHL games because NBC had acquired the television rights just before he left MSG.

It would be some time before he would get the opportunity to do hockey again.

“The NHL rights and me going to ESPN were kind of like ships passing in the night,” said Wischusen.  “I remember at the time thinking… that stinks.  This is something that I really enjoy and probably could have been a part of.”

And now he is a part of it again. One of the great things about ESPN getting back into the NHL business is the return of the iconic theme music. When word started to get around that ESPN was going to get a piece of the NHL package, many hockey fans were wondering and hoping if ESPN would bring the music back. They did.

“That theme music is almost as identifiable as the Monday Night Football theme music,” said Wischusen.  “If you’re not a hockey fan, you know that music means hockey on ESPN going back to the days of Gary Thorne and Bill Clement and Tom Mees.  You know that everyone is going to be paying attention.”

Now that his hockey season has ended, Wischusen will shift his attention to the football season, but not before he enjoys some well-deserved rest and relaxation.  There’s also the matter of re-introducing himself to his family.  This last road trip he was on, between the hockey and PGA Championship, was quite lengthy.

“At this point, it’s re-setting my mind to have my children remember what I look like,” joked Wischusen. He is also reacclimating himself to not having to live out of a suitcase.  

“I did laundry and got a haircut on this road trip.  My hair was noticeably longer by the time the trip was over than when it began. I ran out of clothes. That’s an ESPN first for me.”  

So, while NFL minicamps are approaching and training camp is right around the corner, you’ll have to forgive Wischusen if he’s not focusing on that just yet. 

“I need to not have my brain think about names and numbers on jerseys for at least a little while,” said Wischusen.

Bob Wischusen’s schedule will be picking up again soon with NFL and college football as well as college basketball, but the 2022-23 NHL season will commence in October.  Now that he’s back doing hockey games, it’s something else that he will be excited about preparing for and now hockey fans will be excited to hear him call games next season.

A far cry from before this season when many of them were saying “who is Bob Wischusen?”.

Well, he’s a hockey guy.