Today, ESPN NHL commentators Bob Wischusen, Ray Ferraro, AJ Mleczko, Leah Hextall and vice president of production Linda Schulz were joined by media for a discussion on the upcoming 2024-25 NHL season, the Utah Hockey Club’s franchise debut and ESPN’s Opening Night tripleheader, which begins Tuesday, October 8, on ESPN and ESPN+.

A transcript of the conversation is below:

THE MODERATOR: Good morning or afternoon. Thank you for joining us. Today we have Bob Wischusen, Ray Ferraro, AJ Mleczko, Leah Hextall and Linda Schulz, our vice president of NHL production to preview the NHL opening night triple-header happening Tuesday, October 8, across ESPN and ESPN+.

The puck drops at 4:30 ET with the St. Louis Blues and the Seattle Kraken, then the Boston Bruins take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at 7:00, and to cap off the night at 10:00, our commentators here will call the highly anticipated franchise debut of the Utah Hockey Club in front of the home crowd in Salt Lake City, Utah, as they host the Chicago Blackhawks.

QUESTION: With the excitement surrounding the start of the new season, how do you expect Tuesday’s opening night matchups to set the tone for the clubs as they look to build momentum, and are there any specific players or storylines you’re watching closely? Ray, a little bit of breaking news here, but since you’ll be calling two of our games opening night, a first for us, let’s start with you.

RAY FERRARO: Well, thanks, everybody, for being here. You say what are you looking forward to. I think the first thing I’m looking forward to is just keeping the game straight. I’ll be in Seattle with Mike Monaco for the first game of the season. The first game of the season is always super exciting. It’ll be the same in all three venues, but the kickoff of the season is always really exciting. St. Louis is there. They’ll bring in a couple of players that they got in offer sheets in Dylan Holloway and Philippe Roberge from Edmonton. That’s kind of news for them. Seattle wants a rebound after their second year when they finished the Playoffs.

After the game, I’m going to jump on a plane — I’m not exactly sure — those of you that know me, logistics are not my strong suit. Somebody is going to get me from the rink to a plane to Utah, where I’ll join Bob and AJ. The first game for what is an expansion team, even though they were in Arizona last year, but the Hockey Club in Utah, that’ll be really great.

I’m pumped to do it. It came out of an offhanded conversation at lunch one day that hey, that would be neat to do two games on the first day, and the good folks put it together at ESPN, and I get to do it. I’m really excited to do it.

LEAH HEXTALL: Well, I think for myself, I won’t be nearly as busy as Ray will be as he’s calling two games, but the fact is it will be a really great day in Utah. We will be there all day long from the meetings that I’ve been in.

But I think the biggest thing I’m excited about is just being part of history. There’s not a lot of times where you can say I was there when that first happened. So, to be there on the first night for the first game for the Utah Hockey Club, I’m thrilled to be a part of that, and I’m thrilled to see everything about it, from the venue to learning about the city. If anyone on this media call has recommendations for restaurants, I’m all ears.

The fact is besides the Delta lounge at Salt Lake airport, I don’t know much about the city because I haven’t been, so I’m parachuting in an extra day early to meet with everyone, and I think that notion of being part of history when the puck drops, that’s what excites me about opening night.

BOB WISCHUSEN: I would echo what Leah said. I think first and foremost I’m probably most excited for postgame in Utah because Ray figuring out a way to get paid twice and cash a double per diem, postgame drinks are on him. That’s a genius move by Ray on opening night. That’s a wonderful start to the season.

No, I was saying this to someone the other day. In all the years that I’ve been at ESPN, I’ve never been a part of something like I think what we’re going to experience in Utah. I’ve done 20 years of college football at ESPN, and yet I’ve never been at the site of College Gameday. I’ve seen it on television hundreds and hundreds of times, but I have never seen the sea of humanity that I think is going to surround Levs and Mess and P.K., and like bringing our whole show there, making the biggest deal out of this, and I think what it deserves to be and deserves to be showcased, the way it’s going to be showcased is awesome because it’s going to be an amazing scene.

I’m really looking forward — we and what we do, and I would never want anyone to think we take what we do for granted because it’s amazing every single night, but I think for all of you that cover the sport and for what we do every night, there is a routine to it. You go to the morning skate, you do the game, the building are great, you call the game, you move on to the next one.

This is different. Like birthing a franchise, and the building’s atmosphere for the first game where a fan base gets to experience the National Hockey League on opening night their first game ever is just going to feel different, and it’s going to be a moment that we’re all going to remember forever.

The fact that we all get to be a part of that is going to be awesome, and that’s absolutely the thing that I’m looking forward to the most because this is going to be different than any other game that we’ve ever had a chance to call and be a part of. It’s going to be great. I’m looking forward to that.

AJ MLECZKO: Well, I have a lot that I’m looking forward to. Now I’m most excited for postgame and Ray, especially since we’ve got P.K., Mess and Levy there. That’s a big crew.

RAY FERRARO: It’s a big bill.

AJ MLECZKO: And I am definitely excited for that.

BOB WISCHUSEN: He’ll have to add a third game to pay for that bill.

AJ MLECZKO: A couple years ago I was actually able to be between the benches for Seattle’s very first game. It was in Vegas, it wasn’t their home opener, so I was able to be there for the birth of that franchise, and it was super exciting being in Vegas, the whole thing. So now to be able to do that again for this franchise, coming over in their home arena in front of their crowds that seem to be incredibly excited for this crop of athletes and for the personalities that we’ve seen in their press conferences that they’ve had and the hands on that Ryan and Ashley Smith, the owners, there’s just been amazing visibility for them and for the excitement that the people in Salt Lake City have, the excitement they have for this franchise.

Personally, I am very excited to try to have different memories in Salt Lake because 22 years ago it was Team USA’s epic collapse in Salt Lake City, so maybe I’m looking for a different memory when I come in there. Of course they will play at the Delta Center, which is where speed skating and figure skating, if memory serves, not where hockey women’s and men’s hockey was. And I tease a little bit because I did play in those Olympics, and Salt Lake organizers did an amazing job back in 2002, and it’s really exciting as an Olympian that they’re coming back to Salt Lake City in 10 years’ time.

Listen, the season is upon us. I can’t wait. I feel like September has been a great month. I’m home with my kids getting them off to school, but I am eagerly awaiting the drop of the puck. Preseason is not just not the same. I try to watch, and I just — drop the puck. Let’s go. That’s what I’m most excited for.

THE MODERATOR: We’re happy to have Linda Schulz join us for a few minutes at the top of the call so I encourage you to ask her some questions while she’s here. Linda, can you set the table for what you and the team have planned for our opening night triple-header and how you’re approaching storytelling for a historic franchise debut in Utah?

LINDA SCHULZ: Absolutely. Look, this group has already got us off to a great start in terms of what to expect, but I’ll give a few more details. I will tell you that these are the faces that will start us in Utah with our game coverage, but as Bob mentioned, we will have studio coverage from Utah that is Steve Levy, Mark Messier and P.K. Subban. With that, all four of these guys can speak to how excited we are about being there for an historic moment and there are few opportunities that you get to be part of that.

So with it, we recognize that with that opportunity we were going to go all in on our resources. Look, you have to pick your spots in terms of your coverage and where you’re going to really go all in, and we made the decision that this is something that we were not only because we want to be strong partners with NHL, but because we as hockey fans are super excited about being there.

So when I say “all in,” it means trying things like the logistics of getting Ray from Seattle to Utah, and Ray, thank you for knowing your strengths and your weaknesses in terms of logistics. And by the way, Ray, I’m not sure I mentioned this, but we will have somebody video documenting you along the way.

RAY FERRARO: So, I should try to be organized so I know what’s going on.

AJ MLECZKO: Good luck with that. That’s not going to happen.

LINDA SCHULZ: So, the Utah studio set, they’ll kick off our coverage at 4:00 eastern with “The Point,” so that’s essentially a half an hour pregame that we’re able to embrace and set the stage for the night as well as Utah’s season.

Again, putting that resource and bringing that team there, it kept growing larger and larger, so we added equipment. We added a stage or a set outside the Delta Center as well as one inside for when Utah takes the ice. So we’ll do all of our pregame and wraps coverage from that studio set in Utah outside, and then we will move inside once we’re getting closer to puck drop for Utah.

With that, we’re also going to have — NHL has a whole stage setup with entertainment. They’ve shut down the streets. We’re going to be basically right in the midst of that. So think, again, kind of a Gameday feel that we know is going to be extremely energetic.

I will tell you that I was — September 23rd for their preseason game, that place was packed. I can’t even imagine what next Tuesday is going to be like. The fact that they were so excited — the first time the players took the ice, I was watching, and the place just erupted. It was so loud.

We all know that they’re retrofitting a rink into a basketball arena. Like that’s pretty challenging, and they felt the challenges of that. We had to spend a lot of time getting prepared for the game because it wasn’t set up, for example, by the way our booth is pretty strong. But it wasn’t set up as a traditional booth. So all of those, again, logistics had to be sorted ahead of time.

But it all is just the details, like Leah said. Now we just want to drop the puck because as soon as I heard that place erupt, I was like, this is going to be a blast.

QUESTION: Linda, touching on that, I wanted to ask you about those logistics. Were there any challenges getting a hockey broadcast into a basketball arena?

LINDA SCHULZ: Yeah, I shouldn’t speak to this because I haven’t dealt with it, but it seems like for the team, it’s harder than it is for us on the TV side.

I would say that we were fortunate that we found a booth solution for Bob pretty easily, but like I said, it wasn’t a traditional booth. It’s a small suite. So it’s center ice, and he’s got a good view, and it’s not too high. It’s certainly better than some of our other hockey traditional arenas. Found that solution easy.

Some of our slash positions, challenging. There’s locations, but you’re working amongst what would be more fan seating, and also when you look at the end zones and the way that they pushed back the bleachers in order to allow for the rink, the angle by which the camera is shooting when we’re going up beyond the robotic cameras that are on the glass, that gets a little tricky.

We’ve found solutions relatively easy. I think we probably spent the most time looking at the logistics of the outdoor set and wanting to make sure that we were in a good position to be surrounded by the fans but also protected in terms of the quality of our audio because we expect there’s going to be so much going on there.

BOB WISCHUSEN: Did you hear that, Ray, up on the suite level?

RAY FERRARO: There you go, stay focused.

BOB WISCHUSEN: I will be in the lifestyle to which I’ve grown accustomed. I want to come on up, call the game from the VIP.

AJ MLECZKO: Ray is going to be doing all the work, I’m going to be hanging out up there with you.

BOB WISCHUSEN: That’s what I’m talking about. Me and AJ will be up there on a couch.

AJ MLECZKO: I heard the concessions there are very affordable.

LINDA SCHULZ: How great is that?

RAY FERRARO: That’s really cool to do that. I played in an expansion franchise in Atlanta. The first little bit, everything is so new, like, for the team and the players and the coaches and the fans coming in to learn about the players that they’re going to cheer for. A lot of people maybe if they haven’t been in there for basketball, they don’t even know how to get to their seats. They don’t know which way to go. Everything is so new and exciting, and the first little bit, there’s a different electricity to it. I think that’ll — not I think. I know that’ll be apparent on Tuesday.

And from the players, I will say this: I really wanted to take the first face-off in Thrasher history, and I did, and it meant something to me. I’ve got a picture from up above, and you can see I’m taking the draw. You want to be part of something new first.

AJ and Leah mentioned it, Bob mentioned it about you just want to be part of something new and fresh, and those players that have kind of slogged through the mud in Arizona for a couple of years, this is all great. It’s all brand new. The owner has spent money quickly. The excitement around the building and the building refab that’s going to happen, it’s really, really fun, and it’s a different start to the season for them, for every one of those guys.

LINDA SCHULZ: Ray, would you compare it to any other place — when I was there, it felt so much like a bowl, and I’ve heard people describe it as the fans on top of you, and I didn’t understand it until I got there and saw how steep it was.

RAY FERRARO: Yeah, actually the first building they went to in Phoenix was the basketball building downtown, and one end of the rink they couldn’t see all of the ice. We actually came on, like the players came on right behind the — they were called Phoenix then, the Phoenix net, and it was just like you walked in and it was like straight up. Everything was straight up and down. The noise stays in the building better, as steep as they can make it.

I guess a lot of that’s far beyond me, but building codes and the way that they have to build a hockey bowl and rink and seats. But man, it’s a loud place when there’s noise in it because it’s small and compact.

LEAH HEXTALL: To Ray’s point, I was speaking with the GM Bill Armstrong yesterday, and he said at the Delta Center there’s a tin roof, which doesn’t make it good for concerts because of the sound quality, but what it does is it retains the sound and pushes it down, and he truly believes because the Jazz have the loudest building in the NBA that this is going to be an advantage for them, the sound and the noise of the fans, just because of that tin roof, and they expect it to be one of if not the loudest building in the NHL, so I’m anxious to see that sound when we get there.

BOB WISCHUSEN: I was there for Jazz playoff games in the era of Stockton and Malone. It’s deafening. It’s awesome.

RAY FERRARO: So cool.

QUESTION: Linda, I just want to know if there’s anything new and exciting in terms of production for this year.

LINDA SCHULZ: Yeah, thanks. It’s not exactly new, but it’s pretty close to new. We are almost confirmed in having Utah wear a chest camera called MindFly. This is pregame, it is not in game. We’re still working with the team, but our conversations are very positive that we should be able to make this happen. So, this is a camera vest that then is worn underneath a player’s jersey with a hole cut in it, and the quality of the video and audio is spectacular.

Utah had expressed to the league that they were interested in trying things, and with that, we tried and succeeded in using MindFly in a similar way during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. Backup goalie Stolarz wore it and Ray, you got a chance to interact with him.

Every time I’ve had an experience for just as we’ve tested it, and we brought it to the league as early as last January just to work through the process of this technology and where we might be able to employ it, everyone that’s worn it has been surprised at how comfortable it is.

Look, we hope that we eventually get to a place where we’re doing it live or as if live in game action, and that’s what we’re working towards, but to have the opportunity to bring this back again for the second time opening night is very exciting.

QUESTION: Linda, I’ve written a lot of stories over the years of broadcasters who have had crazy travel schedules or network decides to sort of call in the San Francisco police to escort Joe Buck to the World Series, et cetera. Usually these ideas come from executives more than the talent, and Ray mentioned that someone had suggested this to him. I’m wondering whether that was you or someone else? What’s the backstory and sort of the philosophical goal of having Ray call two games in one day?

LINDA SCHULZ: So, Ray, I don’t want to misspeak, I think it was a conversation between you and Mike McQuade, correct, is where it originally came from; is that correct?

RAY FERRARO: Actually, Mark Gross.

LINDA SCHULZ: I will say that I agree with you. I did 10 years working on NASCAR, and we called that story “the race after the race” in terms of like getting talent out of there and having police escorts and the chaos behind that.

Hear you on the whole executive coming up with that idea.

That being said, look, Ray, don’t get a big head, but Ray provides so much of our strength to our content into our broadcasts, and to have an opportunity to have him at both sites, it logistically, provided everything goes according to plan, is very doable, so therefore we’re better for it overall in terms of documenting the game, which is absolutely the No. 1 priority.

It’s not the gimmick of having Ray go to two places. That’s fun, and we’ll enjoy it and we’ll embrace it. But when it comes down to it, it’s a benefit to us to have him on opening night do two broadcasts with two different matchups.

QUESTION: Ray, back in the day the NHL had 84-game seasons. There’s a little bit of talk about that now. I wonder what your thoughts are in the modern era about how maybe going to 84 games might affect the NHL?

RAY FERRARO: Whatever the mechanism is to get to fewer preseason games, I think there is nobody in the sport that would not be in favor of it. When I started, and certainly through my career, because contracts were different, because there was no salary cap, guys could go up and down to the minors far more easily, there used to be a half a dozen player battles per team, so you needed five and six and seven exhibition games so these battles could take shape and they could pick the final roster.

There are no battles now. Contracts tell you what your team is going to be. There might be a player here or there that surprises and makes a roster, but for the most part, the preseason is mundane. I think players get hurt because they’re not sharp, like mentally engaged as much as you would be in a regular season game.

Look, I played dozens of exhibition games, and you’re just not quite there. I mean, you’re not as aware. You’re not as focused. You’re not as — quite frankly, it doesn’t mean as much. In this case all you’re looking at is October 8. You want to get to October 8. You want to be healthy. You want to play two or three exhibition games. That’s plenty.

As far as the 84 games, they’ll have to figure out how you drop two more games into a pretty busy schedule already. We used to play the last two — there would be two neutral-site games. It could be totally random where you might be. That’s what they did then. That wouldn’t be the case now. The travel is better. While extensive, everybody is on a charter.

For six, seven years of my career, more than that, I think, we were still taking commercial flights. Sometimes you had to connect to get to another game. It was far more arduous than it is now.

Let’s face it, it always comes down to what’s the most HR dollars you can put into the pot, and if it means two more regular season games over preseason, I think everybody would be in favor of that.

QUESTION: Bob, when you were on a recent broadcast you brought up Johnny Gaudreau. I know here in Columbus it’s a big thing. Since you guys will be the first hockey of the new season, is there anything in the works in terms of any sort of time dedicated to just acknowledging the big story as this regular season gets started?

LINDA SCHULZ: I’m really glad you brought that up. We’ve been spending a lot of time with the teams they’re hosting as well as with the NHL in working on our timings for opening night. It’s something that we would do anyway to make sure that we’re getting to each game and not missing a puck drop. But there’s a big difference this year.

The shadow over our family of NHL is great, and the impact is great. We feel that.

With that, while the plans I can’t share completely because we’re still in the works, I will tell you that in the pregame we are dedicating some time on our studio side to tell that story and make folks aware of what took place. And then additionally to that, prior to every matchup, there will be a moment to recognize and acknowledge the loss.

BOB WISCHUSEN: From my end, I went to Boston College. I live in New Jersey. I know a lot of people in the high school hockey community in New Jersey. As luck would have it, my first year back in hockey for ESPN I was paired with Brian Boucher. First round of the Playoffs we were sent out to cover back-to-back Game 7s in Alberta, Edmonton-LA, Calgary-Dallas. We get that epic Dallas-Calgary Game 7, overtime, Oettinger makes like a —

LEAH HEXTALL: While Bob is frozen here (technical issue), I’ll jump in. I was in between the benches, and what he’s about to say is when Gaudreau scored that Game 7 goal to send them to the Battle of Alberta.

BOB WISCHUSEN: Down in South Jersey.

LEAH HEXTALL: Oh, there he is.

BOB WISCHUSEN: You know, we met the family down there, and I just was kind of a fly on the wall of the conversation, but Johnny is there, and that was really my only interaction with him, and everything that you ever heard about him as a person, there it all was right in front of you. Like the nicest young man you’d ever want to meet.

The first college football game I called this year was Florida State-Boston College. I had to read a little — like an obituary because it had just happened, and I almost couldn’t get it through it on the air. Yeah, I’m glad to hear that we’re going to give it the room that it deserves on opening night because those two brothers touched a lot of lives.

LEAH HEXTALL: To Bob’s point, John has been part of our coverage on ESPN in some very big ways. As Bob was mentioning, the Game 7 goal, the settlement to the Battle of Alberta, I remember saying to Johnny after the game, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile this big, and I’ve known John since I worked for NESN, and I interviewed him at Boston College, and he came in in a cap and a hoodie and sweatpants, and that was the first time I met him as he was going on to win Hobey Bakers. Then with Sportsnet, I was the Calgary Flames regional host for his first two seasons and got to run into him at the Calgary Stampede, and he always a smile on his face, and then a couple seasons ago went to Columbus to sit down with him to talk about his return to Calgary. But what stood out to me in that interview was when we finished talking hockey and he started talking about Noa, his little girl who just turned two a few days ago and then also his wife Meredith, and it was amazing to see him go from this kid in Boston College to being a dad and a husband and a family man and knowing that that was by far the most important thing to him.

It is such a loss that John and Matthew are not here with us, but it has also been our privilege to be able to document not only what he’s done on the ice but also at ESPN to document who he was, and that has come out to the world and truly is who he is.

He always had a smile. He always met you with a hug. I just feel very privileged that I had the chance to know him and his family a little bit, as all of us did. I’m so glad that we managed on ESPN just to see a little bit more of the person John was along with the sensational hockey player that he’s always been.

QUESTION: Ray and AJ, I know you don’t have the San Jose Sharks on opening night, but the Sharks are going to have a few ESPN games throughout the year. Wanted to ask you about Macklin Celebrini and what are your thoughts on him being an 18-year-old coming into the NHL and what’s possible for him. What are the tribulations that he may even have to go through, and also maybe to pinpoint just the fact that he’s basically now the new face of a rebuilding franchise and how you think he will handle that on him and on his shoulders.

RAY FERRARO: I’ll jump first here. I’ve known the Celebrinis for quite some time. They’re from Vancouver, where we live, and Macklin has been just a — he’s an exceptional athlete. He was still — he hadn’t totally fully committed to hockey yet because he was just a kid, and he would come out and play soccer with my son’s team.

I don’t know that he was really a soccer player, but his athleticism was off the charts. Like he was just so good at everything he did.

His dad is a legendary man in sports science with the Golden State Warriors and has had a long, long exceptional career. Macklin is more mature, both physically and game prep than a lot of kids that come into the league at 18. The trials and the problems are going to be the same for any other 18-year-old.

As strong as Macklin is now, it’s not even going to be close what he’s going to be in two years. His awareness for the game is already at an exceptional level, but in 100 games, it’s going to look completely different. He’s the best player on the team, and he’s 18 years old. There’s enormous weight to that.

Just look at Connor Bedard was by far the best player on the Chicago Blackhawks last year, and a lot of nights you just get your lunch handed to you. It’ll be a long season in San Jose, but the only way you can rebuild is to put enough young people together in the same age group and hope they mature in good numbers when they get to be 21, 22 years old.

I think Macklin will do great. He’s a phenomenal kid, and he’s a terrific player. A really terrific player.

AJ MLECZKO: I live in the Boston area. He was playing at BU last year so got a chance to see him play. As a 17-year-old freshman, which is insane when you really look at colleges across the world and now they have 20, 21-year-old freshmen. So, this kid was a man as a 17-year-old.

In his mind he is probably not. I have an almost 17-year-old son, so I understand maybe what his brain is thinking.

But you take what he was able to do in a program, a storied program here in Boston with BU. I do think this generation of players that are coming in are better prepared than they were in past generations when Ray played, when I played. I think that they have more tools at their disposal. They have sports science in his family, his father.

But the sports psychology, the nutrition, the fitness, all the things that will prepare him. You look back to the No. 1 draft picks, you’ve got Bedard who right came in and made a difference. There is no question.

Jack Hughes, a little different. Took him some time. He’s built differently. Just physically he’s built differently, had some injuries, and I think Macklin Celebrini physically certainly looks like he is ready to make the jump. Obviously joining a team that’s in this rebuild. What I’m most interested, actually, is how he and Will Smith do together because I really enjoyed watching Will Smith at BC last year. They were honestly rivals here in Boston.

But I think Will Smith being there as the No. 4 pick, how the two of them — they’re the two new guys on the block, right, and Macklin Celebrini is far and away the best player on that team, but the two of them as rookies have to grow up pretty quickly, and I think they’re equipped to do it.

QUESTION: Bob, you’ve done any number of sporting events in the course of your career. I think obviously football is what you’re associated with, but also even I think you did sideline reporting for NBC baseball at one point in the late ’90s. Three years into this NHL role, it’s been so acclaimed, so many people enjoy your work. Are you starting to be more recognized as a hockey announcer than maybe even football at this point

BOB WISCHUSEN: I don’t know. That would probably be a better question for you. I don’t know, that’s a good question.

You know, I just call the games. However, anybody wants to recognize me — I’m thankful anybody recognizes me for anything that I do. If I’m being recognized as a hockey announcer because people like my call, then that’s great, and I really appreciate it.

I do think that the return of the NHL to ESPN has given the league and the sport a stage. When you call football on ESPN, it’s awesome. It’s a big audience. But there’s a lot of football at ESPN, and there’s a lot of football on FOX, and there’s a lot of football on NBC and CBS and FS1 and all the channels. So, a hockey fan has basically us and Turner in terms of national outlets to go get the games. You’ve got your local packages, but there’s a ton of football all over the place, and sometimes I feel like even as a football announcer, you do get lost in the shuffle a little bit, especially on college, because there are so many games on.

I’ve never done the NFL on television. I’ve never been offered that opportunity or asked. So, I’ve always been an NFL radio announcer, but a college football TV announcer.

The NHL on the stage of ESPN probably helps my identifiability as a hockey announcer, but anybody that recognizes anything that I do, thanks. I appreciate it.

LEAH HEXTALL: Bob is being modest here because I’ve worked with him almost every game I’ve done for the last three seasons, and as a reporter and being Canadian, and we all know how we feel about our Canadian calls, and I grew up in the world of Bob Cole and Jim Hughson, and I would put Bob’s call up there second to none. By far. I love it. I find myself lost in it.

The things I’ve learned as someone who has tried to do play-by-play in the National Hockey League, listening to Bob and the way in which he calls, he does not get enough credit for how good he is because he is second to none, as I just mentioned.

I will say lots of people come up to talk to me about I believe it’s the New York Jets because I don’t watch a lot of football because he’s a dynasty there, but there is in my opinion right now I think at the end of the day with this deal, Bob Wischusen is going to be known as the hockey voice in America because that’s what he is, hands down.

AJ MLECZKO: And he loves it when we do Buffalo Sabres games and we get to talk about who has the longest drought in major league sports history, right? It’s always fun.

BOB WISCHUSEN: Yeah, putting the Jets and Sabres side by side on that graphic is really always my favorite moment. Every producer that I work with just cannot wait to get that full screen up there for me.

AJ MLECZKO: I’m pretty excited for it, too.

QUESTION: I covered AJ’s game in Salt Lake City. It was a pretty amazing game to cover.

AJ MLECZKO: Thank you for covering it. It was better four years earlier, but that’s all right. Can’t win them all.

QUESTION: Leah, as someone who has broken barriers in NHL broadcasting, how significant is it for you personally to be a part of the Utah Hockey Club franchise’s debut, and what excites you most about calling this historic moment for the team and the region?

LEAH HEXTALL: Well, I think that anytime that you can be a part of a first, it’s a really special occasion, and it’s something that you are able to say, I was here when.

For me, as someone who’s been doing this now for almost 20 years, anytime you get to do something that’s new it’s exciting. There’s not a lot left on the bingo card, but doing a hockey game in Utah I didn’t foresee coming. I think we’re very fortunate that we have a franchise that is going to be located there. I’ve been doing a lot of digging into it and I think the thing I’m most excited about is there’s going to be an explosion.

This first is going to become an explosion of hockey in the area. They already have substantial roots, but you see what the Utah Jazz did there with their children’s programs and how the sport has grown there, and I have no doubt that’s exactly what’s going to happen in hockey.

I’m just looking forward to being a part of something, especially with this group of people, because this group of people are just so talented at what they do. And it’s not just us here today, but who will be on the studio side. I’ve been on a lot of calls, and ESPN is throwing everything they have at this game. I’m really looking forward to Utah breaking in and having their first and just the fact that I get to be a little part of it.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you all for joining us today.

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