ESPN Hires Leah Hextall For NHL Play-By-Play

Leah Hextall has been hired by ESPN to be one of the faces of their return to NHL broadcasting. Hextall will do play-by-play and become the first female voice to be regularly involved in a national NHL TV broadcast package.

At this point it's not exactly clear how many games Hextall will work. ESPN's new TV rights kick in next season and sets up to be one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory. As for Hextall, she's a very polished professional with an impressive resume. Hextall has been a broadcaster for nearly two decades. She became the first woman in Canada to do play-by-play for an NHL game last season, working a game between the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights. She was also the first woman to call the NCAA men's hockey tournament when she did so for ESPN.

ESPN has also named Ray Ferraro and Brian Boucher to the cast as lead analysts. Kudos to all.