Kraken's all-Black broadcast team of Fitzhugh, Brown first in NHL history

Everett Fitzhugh and JT Brown made history as the first all-Black NHL broadcast team when they called the game between the Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on Thursday.

Fitzhugh, Seattle's radio play-by-play voice, shared the booth with Brown, a former NHL player who is the Kraken's television analyst on local ROOT Sports Northwest telecasts, for the 5-3 Jets victory.
Fitzhugh moved over to the TV side of the broadcast Thursday because John Forslund, Seattle's regular television voice, was away to do the Colorado Avalanche at Vegas Golden Knights game for TNT on Wednesday.
"It was a lot of fun and I think now that we're done, we'll be able to reflect on what the moment meant," Fitzhugh said. "And I've said all along, the history aspect of it is obviously huge. But for me, I was excited to call a game with my good friend. I don't think a lot of folks get to do that, so that's where it was big for me."
After signing off for the night, the two announcers took off their headsets and embraced in the booth.
"It was awesome," Brown said. "... Once the game started going, I feel we just started flowing and did well. And once the game was over, we had that little look once we did our final on-camera piece, a little handshake and a little hug there because it was that final feeling that we did it, we made it through. It was definitely special and important."
Fitzhugh said he hopes the historic pairing will have a lasting impact.
"I'm going to remember doing this game and hopefully starting something in terms of moving this position forward for people," Fitzhugh said. "I'm hoping five years from now, 10 years from now, we're playing 'insert team here,' and it's another Black play-by-play announcer, [and] the color analyst in the booth next door. Maybe we didn't inspire he or she to get there but it's going to feel good to know that him and I had a part to play in that historical aspect of it."
Fitzhugh said before the broadcast he hoped the pairing would "hopefully inspire other people." The broadcast definitely succeeded in that area, making the handful of Black broadcasters working in hockey proud and hopeful for the future.
Kevin Weekes, an NHL analyst for ESPN and NHL Network, sounded like a proud parent when asked about the impact of the broadcast Thursday. Weekes became the first Black hockey TV analyst when he joined "Hockey Night in Canada" in 2009.
"Everett, I'm happy to see his progression, somebody who had to ride the buses and overcome a ton to be here and to stay here," Weekes said. "I'm really proud of him. For JT, as a fellow former player that's working really hard to continue to grow and improve his craft, which I think is excellent. … It's amazing for the sport, it's amazing for the game.
"I think what's really cool is ultimately the more our sport can be reflective of the world, and certainly be reflective of our country, the more successful our sport will be."
Bill Bell, the executive producer for live events for NBC Sports Washington, said he was watching two hockey games at once Thursday, one for work and the other for history.
Bell, who occasionally directs Washington Capitals games, said he had one screen on the Capitals-Philadelphia Flyers game at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and another with the Kraken-Jets broadcast via the ESPN+ app.
"For me it's like a proud thing, but in terms of the actual broadcast, to me, it'll get lost because these guys know what they're doing, they're pros, and they're calling the game," said Bell, who is Black and developed a love of hockey growing up in Philadelphia. "But the fact that they're men of color calling the game, that should be highlighted and certainly signified, for sure."
Fitzhugh became the first Black NHL team broadcaster when Seattle hired the 33-year-old Detroit native in August 2020 after he called games for Cincinnati of the ECHL for five seasons.
The Kraken hired Brown in June 2021 as their first TV analyst. The 31-year-old native of Burnsville, Minnesota, transitioned into broadcasting after playing seven NHL seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild. He scored 72 points (23 goals, 49 assists) in 365 regular-season games and six points (one goal, five assists) in 41 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Brown made headlines in 2017 when he became the first NHL player to protest during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" when he raised his fist in the air during preseason and regular-season games to raise awareness of police brutality and other challenges people of color face.
Hockey has become more diverse over the airwaves in recent years with former NHL players turned analysts, including Weekes, Anson Carter on "NHL on TNT," Anthony Stewart on "Hockey Night in Canada," Bryce Salvador on MSG Network, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre on Bally Sports Ohio and Jamal Mayers, formerly of NBC Sports Chicago.
Black broadcasters like "Hockey Night in Canada" host David Amber, Detroit Red Wings reporter/host Trevor Thompson on Bally Sports Detroit and Chicago Blackhawks fill-in radio and TV play-by-play announcer Jason Ross Jr. also are bringing the sport to fans in the United States and Canada.
But Bell said he believes the Kraken's Fitzhugh-Brown pairing could do for Black broadcasters what the presence of Black players like Willie O'Ree, Grant Fuhr, Tony McKegney and others in the NHL has done for making hockey more diverse.
"The visual of them is worth gold in so many ways," Bell said, "because it just reinforces the fact that, hey, there are a lot of people of color who really embrace and enjoy the game and have embraced and enjoyed it for a long, long time.
"When I was a kid growing up watching hockey in the late '60s, early '70s, the thought of an all-Black broadcast was really unthinkable. But fast forward to the present day, it's a beautiful thing."
NHL.com staff writer Tim Campbell contributed ot this report.