NHL's return to ESPN had hockey fans in their feelings
The NHL is back on ESPN for the first time since 2004 and it’s been mixed reactions to their debut broadcast.
To open up the 2021-22 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning faced-off after the latter enjoyed a banner-raising ceremony and right from the get-go, things were noticeably different compared to the NBC Sports broadcasts of the past.
ESPN is just really hammering home how NBC had absolutely no idea what they were doing with the NHL rights
— Mike Stephens (@mikeystephens81) October 12, 2021
Slightly embarrassed by how emotional this whole thing made me pic.twitter.com/20Hjey1lPr
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) October 12, 2021
Of course, the best theme music in all of sports was back in action on Tuesday and everyone was going nuts.
Every single time I hear the NHL on ESPN theme music I wanna run through a brick wall or shotgun a cheap beer idk It’s just so perfect.
— Olivia Mulvihill (@OliviaMulvihill) October 12, 2021
Excuse me while I blast the ESPN NHL theme music all season. pic.twitter.com/M4x2OnTS81
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) October 13, 2021
Those in a certain age group will get chills listening to the NHL on ESPN music.
— Rudy Martzke (@FakeRudyMartzke) October 12, 2021
The NHL on ESPN music just hits different.
— Mike Monaco (@MikeMonaco_) October 12, 2021
Not gonna lie, I missed ESPN’s NHL theme music…
— Josh Weinfuss (@joshweinfuss) October 13, 2021
The ice was glimmering in 4k resolution, the graphics were put on display, and the commentators were warmed up. After the extensive pre-game coverage and theme music in the hours leading up to puck drop, all that remained was the game itself.
And the network made a bit of a mistake right from the start, specifically with the audio.
The ESPN commentary is fading out a lot at the expense of letting us hear skates and sticks like we’re at the rink, close to ice level. I love those sounds as much as anyone but, if a broadcast team is speaking, I’d like to hear them. (Usually, I guess. There are exceptions.)
— Angie (@acarducci) October 12, 2021
All I can hear on this ESPN broadcast is sound effects. Announcers are very faint. #NHLonESPN
— Anthony Coppola (@AVCoppola) October 12, 2021
pretty sure they just fixed it. https://t.co/UdMMu0OCdB
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) October 13, 2021
Although it was relatively fixed in the middle of the first period, the sound was cranked on the live foley of sticks, skates, and players yelling at each other, while the commentator team of Ray Ferraro and Sean McDonagh was close to a whisper at the beginning. At least it’s something that was manageable and fixed in-game, and not something egregious like the scorebug being bad.
ESPN's scorebug 👀 pic.twitter.com/qgPfm8w0dn
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) October 12, 2021
gorgeous hockey scorebug on ESPN. that's how it's done.
— Lauren Theisen (@theisen95) October 12, 2021
Sportsnet’s new NHL graphic pack is a welcome and well overdue update
ESPN’s scorebug and overhead camera is huge upgrade from NBC
Hockey is back— Adam Seaborn (@AHBSeaborn) October 13, 2021
ESPN scorebug is actually good thank god
— Liam (@GoldyEnjoyer) October 12, 2021
At least it’s not boring. The design is fairly simple, not as monotone as the old Fox Sports graphics that was just the team colour and abbreviation, but not as flashy as the multi-dimensional NBC bug. A balance that works — if only they could squeeze shots on goal on it, then everyone would be happy.
A little annoying that ESPN’s scorebug doesn’t have a shot tracker
— Nathan Strauss (@NathanPStrauss) October 12, 2021
everyone will love ESPN’s minimalist scorebug until they realize that they don’t know the shot total.
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) October 13, 2021
It's clean/nice. Missing a shot counter, sadly.
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) October 12, 2021
Only problem with ESPN is they aren’t showing shots, but they’ll get that fixed after we complain enough 😂
— Braylon (@BraylonBreeze_) October 13, 2021
Speaking of being happy, one of the sport’s most loveable broadcasters was back on the air and providing his dulcet tones as the colour commentator.
Oh god bless ESPN because I get to listen to Ray Ferraro instead of Pierre McGuire
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) October 12, 2021
Such a pleasure to hear @rayferrarotsn back on ESPN
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 12, 2021
We can look forward to more music, scorebugs, and beloved personalities on ESPN every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the NHL regular season. Not a bad start.
More from Yahoo Sports