ESPN NHL broadcaster Leah Hextall

Episode 236 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Leah Hextall, a play by play broadcaster for ESPN’s NHL coverage. Hextall was the first woman to call play by play for a nationally televised NHL game when she was part of Sportsnet’s first all-female broadcast team in March 2020. In this podcast, Hextall talks about the presentation she made in June titled “Not One Of The Boys” for an event held by The Coaches Site;” how when people ask her what her first full season calling games nationally was like, she tells them she survived; getting death threats; social media venom; being told she was hired only for her gender; the role of the bench reporter in hockey; leaving the business at age 37 to work for the premier of Manitoba; growing up in a famous hockey family; her goals for her second year at ESPN; her desire to call women’s hockey again, and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more.