Hextall is the play-by-play announcer, Campbell-Pascall the color analyst and Cohn the rinkside reporter.
"When I started my career at CTV in Winnipeg, Manitoba, working for ESPN wasn't even something on my radar," Hextall said. "The fact that I'm talking about calling hockey not only on ESPN but doing it in the play-by-play role as a female, where that position traditionally is not represented by women, not only in the NHL but in hockey in general, is surreal. At the same time, it's been a tremendous amount of work not only for myself to get here, but for ESPN to get the NHL back."
The NHL, Walt Disney Company and ESPN reached a seven-year television and media rights deal March 10, 2021,beginning with the 2021-22 season. ESPN signed Hextall in May as the first woman to be hired full time as an NHL play-by-play announcer. One month later, Campbell-Pascall was hired by the network. Cohn joined ESPN in 1992, increasing her role in hockey coverage in 2018, hosting the ESPN+ hockey show "In the Crease."
The all-female broadcast booth is a first for ESPN, but not for Hextall nor Campbell-Pascall. Hextall did play by play and Campbell-Pascall color analysis, with Christine Simpson as rinkside reporter, for the first nationally televised all-female NHL broadcast on Sportsnet for the Calgary Flames-Vegas Golden Knights game March 8, 2020.
Hextall said Campbell-Pascall has had a major influence on her career, starting in 2016, when she began transitioning from studio host to play-by-play announcer.
"I saw a void," Hextall said. "There was no female voice in the sport of hockey, and I thought I could do it. I say that humbly because it's such a tough position."
Campbell-Pascall encouraged Hextall to contact Sportsnet, which broadcast the Canadian Women's Hockey League, and where Campbell-Pascall worked at the time. Hextall did and made her debut calling CWHL games in 2018.
"[Campbell-Pascall] has been rooting for me the whole time," Hextall said. "It's a big honor because it's Cassie Campbell-Pascall. Tonight, two Canadian girls calling on ESPN in the United States, the biggest sports network in the world, and re-joining each other, it's going to be pretty special."
Campbell-Pascall is a three-time Olympic medalist in women's hockey and was captain when Canada won the gold medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and 2006 Turin Olympics. She also helped Canada win the silver medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics; and has been working as a broadcaster since she retired as a player, joining "Hockey Night in Canada" on Sportsnet in 2006.
"It's rare to do what we're going to do here tonight," Hextall said. "I don't want to bring attention to it because I want it to be normalized, but we have to realize it isn't yet."
Hextall is the granddaughter of Hockey Hall of Fame forward Bryan Hextall and cousin of Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ron Hextall.
"I want to make sure the Hextall name is represented within the game," she said. "At the same time, I also want to represent women. I want them to be proud of me. I want them to know that I'm pushing. I'm not just here for myself anymore."
