Las Vegas, NV - February 5, 2022 - T-Mobile Arena: Sean McDonough during the 2022 NHL All-Star Game. (Photo by Scott Clarke / ESPN Images)
Since ESPN re-acquired the rights to the NHL in 2021, Sean McDonough has been the designated play-by-play caller for the network’s primary team. With this, McDonough called his first Stanley Cup Final in 2022 and will call his second one this time around.
This season, McDonough has only called two NHL games. The first of which was on opening night between the Blackhawks and Penguins, with the second one taking place on the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy night, as he called the Bruins and Blackhawks on October 24th.
McDonough’s last NHL broadcast was more than two months ago, which is typically unheard of for a network’s primary play-by-play commentator, but with the college football season winding down, he will be returning to call his first NHL game since October.
On Saturday, January 13th, Sean McDonough will be calling the first ABC game of the year for the NHL at 1:00 p.m. ET between the Rangers and Capitals. Alongside McDonough will be Ray Ferraro as the analyst and Emily Kaplan as the reporter, which is the designated first team for ESPN’s NHL broadcasts.
Last season, McDonough called 10 of the 15 NHL games on ABC, so this will be the first of many more games he will call as the NHL regular season heads into its final stretch. For the entire NHL on ABC TV schedule, click here.
