Where did ESPN’s “In the Crease” go?

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In the Crease was a show that had become typical viewing for a lot of us hockey fans, and suddenly, it has vanished without a word from ESPN.

Beginning in 2018, even before ESPN had acquired any kind of national rights, In the Crease was launched on ESPN+ with Linda Cohn and Barry Melrose as the nightly hosts. The goal of the show was simple and a great addition to have as a fan of hockey to recap all of the day’s NHL action every single night!

Once ESPN acquired the NHL’s television rights in 2021, In the Crease was expanded upon. During ESPN’s NHL games, you would see a constant promotion for the show, along with some more personalities coming in to be on the show such as Arda Öcal and John Buccigross. Even throughout the 2022-2023 season, In the Crease appeared to have been as cared for and as great as ever with continued expansion of the show such as monthly episodes of “In the Crease: Plays of the Month”. So the question remains, what happened to In the Crease?

We are officially one week into the 2023-2024 NHL season and there has been zero word about the show returning. Throughout the course of the off-season, there was never an announcement from ESPN or any of the personalities about the show’s status, and there still hasn’t been up to the day this article is being written.

With that said, I can confirm as of today that In the Crease will not be returning for the 2023-2024 NHL season and the foreseeable future.

I would still like to say thank you to the people at ESPN, specifically Linda Cohn and Barry Melrose, for starting this show in the first place, even when ESPN’s relationship with the NHL looked grim. An absence of In the Crease will truthfully be a big loss for us hockey fans in the United States.