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Liam McHugh Will Join WarnerMedia’s TV Hockey Team

Brian Steinberg
·2 min read

Former NBC Sports host Liam McHugh will join Turner Sports as the WarnerMedia outlet prepares for its first season of NHL telecasts under a new rights deal, joining hockey great Wayne Gretzky, and a new team of analysts and sportscasters devoted to coverage of the sport.

McHugh joins Turner Sports from NBC Sports, where he led hockey coverage as well as the pre-game NFL program, “Football Night in America.” He is one of several new sportscasters to join, including Anson Carter, a former NBC Sports studio analyst; Rick Tocchet, the veteran NHL player and coach; and Paul Bissonnette, the former hockey player who still contributes to radio coverage of the Arizona Coyotes. Turner had previously announced a deal with Gretzky to be part of a new studio show, as well as Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk, who will provide game commentary.

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Brendan Burke will provide play-by-play throughout the season alongside analyst Darren Pang. Keith Jones will provide ice-level analysis for NHL games on TNT, while Jennifer Botterill, Jackie Redmond and Tarik El-Bashir will contribute to telecasts.

Turner’s inaugural season is slated to launch Oct. 13 on TNT with a doubleheader featuring the New York Rangers at the Washington Capitals at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Chicago Blackhawks at the Colorado Avalanche at 10 p.m. WarnerMedia and the NHL in April unveiled a seven-year pact valued at least at $200 million that expands the company’s sports-rights portfolio for the first time in years. Disney’s ESPN has secured a larger NHL package. The league is cutting ties with NBCUniversal, which has had sole dominion over its U.S. broadcast rights for 16 years.

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