ESPN Unveils Initial Opening Night Plans to Recognize the Gaudreaus
The Hockey Writers
The NHL’s regular season in North America kicks off on Tuesday Oct 8. ESPN will carry three games that day starting at 4:30 P.M. eastern time culminating with the first-ever home opener for the Utah Hockey Club. In Game 1, the Seattle Kraken will host the St. Louis Blues. Game 2 will feature the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers raising their banner when they host the Boston Bruins. Then in Game 3, the Utah Hockey Club will host Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks at the Delta Center.
In advance of their tripleheader, ESPN hosted their annual preseason media availability. While many things were discussed including a live studio in Utah, they admitted that there will be some dedicated time to tell the story of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.

Initial Details Shared

At the start of the call, five members of the ESPN crew were available which included play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen, analysts Ray Ferraro, AJ Mleczko and Leah Hextall as well as vice president of production Linda Schulz. The Gaudreau’s were brought up as ESPN will be among the first to show regular-season NHL hockey on the national stage. They acknowledged this was a big thing for them. Although they couldn’t announce everything today, they did share some things in regards to what fans can expect. “We’ve been spending a lot of time with the teams they’re hosting as well as with the NHL in working on our timings for opening night,” Schulz said. “It’s something that we would do anyway to make sure that we’re getting to each game and not missing a puck drop. But there’s a big difference this year. The shadow over our family of NHL is great, and the impact is great. We feel that.” “With that, while the plans I can’t share completely because we’re still in the works, I will tell you that in the pregame we are dedicating some time on our studio side to tell that story and make folks aware of what took place. And then additionally to that, prior to every matchup, there will be a moment to recognize and acknowledge the loss.” ESPN on Tuesday will have their pregame show “The Point” air at 4 P.M. eastern. Steve Levy will host along with analysts Mark Messier and P.K. Subban. Based on Schulz’s comments, the story will be shared before the start of the Blues/Kraken game.

Wischusen/Hextall Share Thoughts

The Gaudreau situation touched the lives of many in the hockey world. Wischusen went to Boston College like the brothers did. He said he had just one interaction with Johnny. But he got to see what Johnny was all about in that one moment. “We met the family down there, and I just was kind of a fly on the wall of the conversation, but Johnny is there, and that was really my only interaction with him, and everything that you ever heard about him as a person, there it all was right in front of you,” Wischusen said. “The nicest young man you’d ever want to meet. The first college football game I called this year was Florida State-Boston College. I had to read a little — like an obituary because it had just happened, and I almost couldn’t get it through it on the air. Yeah, I’m glad to hear that we’re going to give it the room that it deserves on opening night because those two brothers touched a lot of lives.” Hextell added just how much Johnny was part of the ESPN hockey coverage over the years. To her, it was a complete privilege to cover him. “John has been part of our coverage on ESPN in some very big ways,” Hextall said. “The Game 7 goal (against Dallas), the settlement to the Battle of Alberta, I remember saying to Johnny after the game, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile this big, and I’ve known John since I worked for NESN, and I interviewed him at Boston College, and he came in in a cap and a hoodie and sweatpants, and that was the first time I met him as he was going on to win Hobey Bakers.” “Then with Sportsnet, I was the Calgary Flames regional host for his first two seasons and got to run into him at the Calgary Stampede, and he always a smile on his face, and then a couple seasons ago went to Columbus to sit down with him to talk about his return to Calgary. But what stood out to me in that interview was when we finished talking hockey and he started talking about Noa, his little girl who just turned two a few days ago and then also his wife Meredith, and it was amazing to see him go from this kid in Boston College to being a dad and a husband and a family man and knowing that that was by far the most important thing to him.” “It is such a loss that John and Matthew are not here with us, but it has also been our privilege to be able to document not only what he’s done on the ice but also at ESPN to document who he was, and that has come out to the world and truly is who he is. He always had a smile. He always met you with a hug. I just feel very privileged that I had the chance to know him and his family a little bit, as all of us did. I’m so glad that we managed on ESPN just to see a little bit more of the person John was along with the sensational hockey player that he’s always been.”

Side Dishes

  • For ESPN’s opening night, Ferraro will be a part of two broadcasts. He will be in Seattle along with Mike Monaco for the early game. Then he will jump into a plane and call the Utah Hockey Club’s Home Opener with Wischusen. The idea came thanks to a conversation over lunch with Mark Gross. “I’m really excited to do it,” Ferraro said of the personal doubleheader.
  • The panel all echoed how loud the Delta Center will be. Utah’s GM Bill Armstrong told Hextall about how the noise is pushed down thanks to a tin roof. Think of how it sounds during a Utah Jazz game. They think the crowd noise will provide them with a big advantage. Said Wischusen, “it’s deafeaning.”
  • Schulz says that during pregame, they are working to see if Utah players will wear a chest camera called MindFly. “This is a camera vest that then is worn underneath a player’s jersey with a hole cut in it, and the quality of the video and audio is spectacular. Utah had expressed to the league that they were interested in trying things, and with that, we tried and succeeded in using MindFly in a similar way during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. Backup goalie Stolarz wore it and Ray, you got a chance to interact with him. Every time I’ve had an experience for just as we’ve tested it, and we brought it to the league as early as last January just to work through the process of this technology and where we might be able to employ it, everyone that’s worn it has been surprised at how comfortable it is.”
  • Don’t be surprised if the concept of an 84-game regular season gains momentum. According to Ferraro, “Let’s face it, it always comes down to what’s the most HR dollars you can put into the pot, and if it means two more regular season games over preseason, I think everybody would be in favor of that.”

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