There’s a common sentiment among sports fans: a dislike for remote broadcasts. Unfortunately, these remote productions have become an inherent part of today’s sports broadcasting landscape. With the increasing number of sporting events that networks are showcasing, it’s impractical to have in-person announcers at every game, especially during the playoffs of a “Big 4” North American sports league.
As the Stanley Cup Playoffs kicked off on Saturday, TNT faced significant backlash for not sending announcers to Game 1 of the Winnipeg Jets-St. Louis Blues series, relegating John Forslund and Jennifer Botterill to call the game remotely from Atlanta. In contrast, ESPN has opted for a more favorable approach by sending John Buccigross and Kevin Weekes to call Game 2 live from Winnipeg, as reported by hockey media reporter Braylon Breeze. He confirmed that after the previous day’s events, ESPN would have on-site commentators in Winnipeg for the match.
After yesterday, I wanted to clarify that ESPN will have on-site commentators in Winnipeg tomorrow — Bucci & Weekes. In ESPN’s four seasons with the NHL under this deal, they’ve only called one game remotely — Boston–Florida on this year’s Opening Night, due to Hurricane Milton.
— Braylon Breeze (@Braylon_Breeze) April 20, 2025
Over the course of the current media rights agreement with the league, ESPN has only had to call one NHL game remotely: the Opening Night game between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers this season, necessitated by Hurricane Milton. Per Breeze, Buccigross and Weekes will remain in Canada for the week, covering multiple games in the Toronto Maple Leafs-Ottawa Senators series as well.
As ESPN’s ‘Canadian Crew’, Bucci and Weekes are set for a busy stretch — calling four games in five days beginning today:
Sunday: TOR–OTT
Monday: WPG–STL
Tuesday: TOR–OTT
Thursday: OTT–TOR— Braylon Breeze (@Braylon_Breeze) April 20, 2025
TNT is not scheduled to return to Winnipeg unless the series extends to a seventh game, while all remaining home games for Winnipeg will air on the ESPN family of networks. It can be speculated that for a potential Game 7, TNT would dispatch on-site announcers.
