Each offseason The Athletic polls fans on each of the 32 NHL broadcasts. They average the scores with the local market fans rating their own broadcast along with the scores of the other 31 fan bases who take part in the voting. The Pittsburgh Penguins had, shall we say, a not great ranking in the most recent edition. It’s not actually THAT bad but it’s easy to take out frustrations on the messenger.
The broadcast poll a fun read in the dead of summer. Additionally, it serves as a nice temperature check on how each broadcast is perceived locally and (inter)nationally.
We ask fans to rate their favorite teams’ broadcasts on a scale from 1 to 5 and invite them to rate as many other local broadcasts as they wish. We then used your grades and input to rank the regional broadcasts of all 32 NHL teams.
In terms of our methodology, we average the results of the survey to provide each broadcast with a local and national score out of 5. Those two scores are then averaged into a composite score, which is used to determine how each team is ranked in this story
Not too long ago I was out on the Pittsburgh Penguins broadcast. I found myself watching the opposing teams channel on a regular basis. There were exceptions. For example, I wasn’t going to put myself through a Jack Edwards led telecast and I would stick with the Penguins.
Overall though, I just was bored with the presentation of what the Penguins were doing. Paul Steigerwald had run his course as did Bob Errey. Steve Mears was bland to my ear and sounded sterile. There was no juice to what was being presented. I wasn’t being entertained and I wasn’t learning anything from the broadcast, either. They deserved to be ranked among the worst of the league’s broadcasts. I wouldn’t suggest otherwise. Last year they were ranked 28th in the league. This year… well they dropped to 31st:
31. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Broadcast: SportsNet Pittsburgh carries Penguins games, with Josh Getzoff doing play-by-play and Phil Bourque, Colby Armstrong and Mike Rupp rotating on color.
Local score: 3.47 (31st)
National score: 2.64 (30th)
Last season rank: 28
The results: The broadcast received relatively poor marks again in the second season after Steve Mears and Bob Errey were removed from the booth.
Fans were critical of having rotating color analysts, the intermission panels and a lack of criticism for a team that finished well out of the playoffs again.
“Getzoff is a good play-by-play guy, and I like the minimalist graphics. Rotation between the analysts hasn’t allowed Getzoff to get a good rapport with any of them.”
“The crew keeps the game fresh and interesting, which, a lot of nights this past season, was not easy.”
“Can be very dry at times. Would like more enthusiasm when something big happens. Also tough when you had Mike Lange for so long.”
I was actually surprised to see the ranking go down. My hypothesis is that the Penguins broadcast was so bad for so long it is going to take a while for them to climb back up the rankings and break some long held feelings from other fanbases.
The good aspects of Penguins broadcasts
Currently, the Penguins have Josh Getzoff call the play by play action while there is a rotating cast of color commentators buoyed by Phil Bourque, Colby Armstrong, and Mike Rupp. I personally think Getzoff has done a really nice job coming in and changing the overall tone of things. He is knowledgeable and brings his own energy. I have no complaints so far about the job he has done. It is a pleasant listen.
Dan Potash continues to be one of the best in the business at what he does. He brings so much personality to the broadcast and you can tell he has built up great rapport with the long term Penguins on the team. He’s been a constant source of joy and humor throughout the years whether through the player interviews or the absurd costumes he puts together on theme nights. He’s been a staple of Pittsburgh Penguins television for years now.
For me, in a perfect world Phil Bourque would take the reigns as the full time television color guy for the Penguins. I understand he did radio forever with Mike Lange, but I think his talents would be best used on TV these days. I understood it when Lange was still calling the games. Unfortunately, that isn’t the cast anymore. I’m sure there are still some people who tune into the games on the radio. I can’t imagine those numbers are what they used to be given current times and the ability to stream pretty much anything on your phone. I think the rotating cast hurts with building a consistent voice to the viewing audience and Bourque should just get the gig.
Room for improvement
While I don’t think the broadcast should be ranked 31st I also don’t think it merits being put in the top half of the league yet, either. As the passage from The Athletic says above, there just wasn’t enough authentic criticism of the on-ice play. The Penguins stunk last year! It’s OK to treat the viewing audience with respect and call things how it is. You can have some tact while doing it. It doesn’t have to be a bash fest. If the team is having a really bad year and the broadcast keeps sugar coating it I don’t think you are fooling anybody. Quite frankly, I find that disrespectful. Whatever the Penguins 2025-26 season looks like I hope they call it like it is whether it is good, bad, or in-between.
I think the intermissions are still kinda bland. Jay Caufield usually picks some decent plays to highlight and explain. I don’t think he does a bad job. I just think it is fairly vanilla for a modern broadcast. I don’t think the Penguins telecast has ever leaned into explaining analytics or making them a bigger part of what they do. I don’t need it to dominate, but there are so many cool avenues you can go down to highlight a player’s success or struggles nowadays. Instead, we get gambling parlays, blech.
I spoke highly of Dan Potash, but there is one issue. They put him in the studio. Hailey Hunter has taken over the intermission interviews and it just doesn’t hit like it used to. It is an impossible task for Hunter. She’s brand new and doesn’t have the years Dan has had to build those relationships. Even when I was watching the opposing teams broadcast I would flip back during intermission to see Dan’s interviews. I really like having him down at ice level and I don’t think removing him from that spot was a net gain for the broadcast.
All in all, I think the broadcast is heading in the right direction. There’s still plenty of room for improvement and regardless of what the poll results were the Penguins will be providing a better than 31st ranked telecast this upcoming season.
Thanks for reading!
