"It's like a dream come true to be able to work a game for the NHL," Schultz said. "I've been dreaming of this moment since I was a little girl, watching the Minnesota North Stars and listening to Wally Shaver call games so, for me, this is huge."
The broadcast can be heard on the
Devils Hockey Network)
.
Schultz has 15 years of play-by-play experience and is the radio voice of the Bemidji State University (Minnesota) Division I women's hockey team.
"Just the fact that the NHL has opened its doors in giving women opportunities, like what (Devils All-Access host/digital reporter) Amanda Stein and (associate producer/host) Catherine Bogart have here in New Jersey and other females across the League. It's incredible to see."
Ayala, who will be an analyst, played Division I softball at Elon University in North Carolina prior to becoming a sportswriter who has covered basketball, hockey and other sports for espnW, ThinkProgress, Deadspin, and other publications.
"I'm very lucky because I'm very new to hockey but hockey showed me that there are other opportunities," Ayala said. "I came into journalism after having a career elsewhere and just fell in love with the game and have had so many opportunities. I'm very blessed to have had people like Kelly and even (former Devils radio analyst) Sherry Ross really pour into me. They saw something in me and now I'm here calling a game for the National Hockey League."
Ross was Devils radio color analyst for 10 years and the first woman to call a Stanley Cup Final when she worked with Kenny Albert for the New York Rangers-Vancouver Canucks series on NHL Radio in 1994. She was also the first woman to do NHL play-by-play when she called a Devils-Ottawa Senators game Nov. 25, 2009.
Ayala has worked as an analyst on Premier Hockey Federation/NWHL broadcasts. She is the host of "Founding 4 Podcast" and co-founding writer of The IX Newsletter.
"I'm wearing my Willie O'Ree pin today," Ayala said. "I say all the time that it was actually women of color that got me into hockey to begin with and, for so long, I was one of those people that just thought that Black people don't do hockey and that's so far from the truth."
O'Ree, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018, became the first Black NHL player when he debuted with the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum on Jan. 18, 1958.
"I'm glad that I now get to be an example of the opposite and bring people in, so when you have opportunities throughout hockey to prove yourself, that's so important," Ayala said. "Kelly's been wanting this for so long and it's just amazing that now we're seeing that the greater hockey community is really taking the chance to think outward and see that there are so many ways you can impart your passion and love for the sport. I personally think that only makes the sport better."
NJD.TV pregame and postgame shows will also be led by an all-woman talent group.
"I got a chance to call the Isobel Cup championship game (of the Premier Hockey Federation) last year from TRIA Rink (St. Paul, Minnesota) which was an absolute dream of mine," Schultz said. "It's like the steps, the progression, and finally to the point where I get to prove myself here tonight so I'm excited."
