ESPN hockey announcers female are Emily Kaplan, AJ Mleckzo, Hilary Knight, Leah Hextall, Linda Cohn and Cassie Campbell Pascall.
There are many NHL female reporters hired by ESPN to share their knowledge, passion, and special points of view in coverage of the sport.
Most of the eminent on-air personalities have relished a successful hockey career either as a player or coach. They have played at the greatest levels of the sport, including Olympic and World Championship events.
Just like the NBA female commentators, the presence of lady announcers in the National Hockey League has been a massive hit for the network.
There are a number of outstanding female broadcasters who are making their mark on ESPN. Their unrivaled passion and in-depth understanding of the game have further inspired younger girls in the world of sports broadcasting.
We have listed the female NHL reporters for ESPN who shares a love for the game and a desire to share that passion with viewers.
1. Leah Hextall
Leah Hextall is an ESPN play-by-play commentator for NHL coverage. The Canadian sports journalist joined ESPN in 2021.
Hextall became the first woman to broadcast an NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship game for ESPN in the 2019 tournament.
She decided to pursue a career as a hockey play-by-play announcer in 2016 and made her debut in 2018 8 while announcing games in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
As a member of Sportsnet’s first all-female broadcast team, she became the first woman to announce a nationally televised NHL game.
Hextall hosted NESN Today for NESN from 2012 to 2014. She then worked for Sportsnet as the show’s studio anchor and correspondent in 2014.
She grew up in a sporting background, where her grandfather Bryan Sr, uncle Bryan Jr and cousin Ron Hextall are all former NHL players.
Besides her broadcasting career, Leah also worked as a communications assistant for Brian Pallister’s government in Manitoba from 2017 to 2020. She served as a host at events at the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba’s 2017 Annual General Meeting.
2. Linda Cohn
Linda Cohn is an anchor at ESPN’s SportsCenter since 1992. Cohn was listed as one of the top 25 sportswomen in 2014.
She started working as a sports anchor for the radio station WALK-AM in Patchogue, New York where he worked for four years.
Cohn was later hired by ABC, where she made sportscasting history by being the first full-time American woman sports anchor on a radio network.
She then joined ESPN in 1992 and hosted the first episode of SportsCenter with Chris Myers. At ESPN, Cohn has called play-by-play during her entire career in addition to reporting, commentating, interviewing, and writing.
She agreed to a new contract that included expanded ice hockey coverage and SportsCenter anchor duties in mid-July 2018. According to the contract, she continued to serve as the show’s lead host on ESPN+ as it switches to airing five nights a week during the NHL season.
Talking about her personal life, Linda tied the knot with Stew Kaufman in 1980 and they had two children, a son Daniel and a daughter Sammy. However, the relationship between Linda and Stew didn’t go well in the long run as they divorced in 2008.
For her contributions throughout the years, she was inducted into the National Sports Media Association (NSMA) Hall of Fame in 2017.
3. Cassie Campbell-Pascall
Cassie Campbell-Pascall is a renowned analyst for NHL coverage on ESPN. Cassie has led Canada to two gold medals in the Olympics.
The former ice hockey player joined ESPN in 2021 and has been serving as a game analyst for select NHL games since. Before her role as a broadcaster, she not only played hockey but also captained Canada in the Winter Olympics.
After retiring from hockey in 2006, Campbell joined Hockey Night in Canada as a rinkside reporter. She became the first female correspondent to provide color commentary during a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.
Cassie became a spokesperson for Scotiabank and established her own website in the spring of 2008. She participates in Scotiabank corporate events and wrote for a blog on the club’s website.
Campbell-Pascall gave color commentary for women’s hockey at the Winter Olympics in 2010, 2014, and 2018.
She was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. Moreover, she was awarded for best sports commentary at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021.
Cassie married the assistant general manager of the Calgary Flames, Brad Pascall in 2005. The couple has one daughter, Brook Violet Pascall.
4. Emily Kaplan
Emily Kaplan is an ESPN NHL female reporter since 2017. Emily is also the co-host of In The Crease – The ESPN NHL Podcast alongside Linda Cohn.
Furthermore, she also works as a reporter for The Walt Disney Company’s coverage of the National Hockey League. Kaplan covered the Stanley Cup Final as the only reporter for ESPN due to COVID-19.
During the 2021-22 pandemic season, she wrote about the NHL’s issues with mental health and how players dealt with loneliness and anxiety.
Also, Emily has appeared on ESPN’s Around the Horn, a weekday program that features a satellite roundtable discussion of current sports problems with writers from throughout the country.
Kalpan attended Montclair High School and graduated in journalism from Penn State University in 2013.
She previously worked at Philadelphia Inquirer as a Penn State football reporter, at The Boston Globe as a sports intern, and as a staff writer at Sports Illustrated.
Emily Kalpan was born to Naomi Kalpan and Dave Kalpan in New Jersey. She has two sisters named Leah Kalpan and Eva Kalpan.
5. A.J. Mleckzo
A.J. Mleckzo is an analyst on ESPN for NHL coverage. A.J. is a former ice hockey player who won a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
She joined ESPN in 2021 as a studio and game analyst for select NHL games. She previously worked for the NHL on NBC and made history by being the first woman to commentate an NHL game, including the playoffs.
Mleckzo also co-hosts the podcast On the Bus With Cammi & AJ with her former teammate Cammi Granato.
She has previously covered hockey for Turner Sports, NESN, Universal Sports, and NHL Network. Since 2018, she has also served as an analyst on MSG Network’s New York Islanders telecasts from both studio and rink-side views.
Talking about her hockey career, A.J. participated in college hockey at Harvard University. She helped the Crimsons win the 1999 Division I Women’s National Championship.
Mleckzo received the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award for being the best female collegiate ice hockey player in the United States. Furthermore, she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Arts and history from Harvard University in 1999.
A.j. Mleckzo walked down the aisle with Jason Grisworld in 2000. The couple has four children named Oliver, Sam, Finley, and Jaime Griswold.
6. Hilary Knight
Hilary Knight is an analyst on ESPN for NHL coverage since 2021. The 33-year-old Knight is also an ice hockey forward for Team USA.
She previously worked as a studio analyst for one of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoff games before moving into the broadcast booth.
The 5 feet 11 inches tall athlete played a vital role in Team USA’s efforts to win a silver medal at the Winter Olympics in both 2010 and 2014.
In addition to that, Hilary won the 2013 CWHL MVP award and the 2014 Bob Allen Player of the Year award following a brilliant season.
At the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship, Knight represented the United States and scored eight goals and four assists in seven games.
Knight played both ice hockey for Choate Rosemary Hall and Wisconsin’s college team. She helped the University of Wisconsin-Madison team in finishing second in the NCAA finals.
Hilary Knight was born in California to her parents Cynthia Knight and James Knight. She relocated to Chicago with her family at the age of five.