Leah Hextall

Leah Hextall (born c. 1981) is a Canadian sports journalist and ice hockey play-by-play broadcaster. In March 2020, she became the first woman to call play-by-play for a nationally televised NHL game as part of Sportsnet’s first all-female broadcast team.[2] Hextall had previously made history as the first woman to call a NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship game for ESPN at the 2019 tournament.[3][4]

Leah Hextall
Personal information
NationalityCanadian
Bornc. 1981 (age 39–40)[1]
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
OccupationSports journalist, play-by-play broadcaster
Years active2003–present
Websiteleahhextall.com

Broadcast career

Hextall graduated from the Columbia Academy of Radio, Television and Recording Arts in Vancouver with a diploma in radio and television broadcasting in 2003. She worked for CTV Winnipeg from 2005 to 2012, and for the New England Sports Network (NESN) as host of NESN Sports Today from 2012 to 2014.[5] In 2014, she joined Sportsnet as the studio host for regional Calgary Flames game broadcasts.

After being let go in 2016 amid larger organizational changes at Sportsnet, she became interested in expanding her skill set and, recognizing the dearth of women in play-by-play announcing in ice hockey, became invested in pursuing play-by-play. Encouraged by legendary broadcaster Mike Emrick and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, the first female colour commentator on Hockey Night in Canada, both of whom she had worked with while in previous hosting roles, she began refining her announcing skills.[6] Her television debut calling play-by-play was a four-game set of Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) games in January 2018. She returned to the role for the CWHL in January 2019, notably using the non-standard term "defencewoman" to refer to the defensive players.[7] During that period, Hextall called games on the side, generally for free, including for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Western Hockey League (WHL).[8]

Hetall has a segment called "Hextall on Hockey," which airs weekly on the AM radio station 680 CJOB in Winnipeg and is rebroadcast by a number of stations across Canada.[9] The under two-minute segments are united by the theme of ice hockey and, while the most frequent topic is the Winnipeg Jets, Hextall has used the segment to highlight issues within the hockey world, including sexism and other social injustices.[10][11]

Personal life

Her grandfather, Bryan Hextall was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969, and her cousin, Ron Hextall, was the first goaltender to score a goal by shooting the puck into the opponent's empty net in NHL history.[1]

Outside of hockey, she hosted events at the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba annual general meeting in 2017 and served as a communications staffer for Brian Pallister's government in Manitoba between 2017 and 2020.[12][13]

See also

References
  1. Larkins, David (January 25, 2014). "20 Questions with Leah Hextall". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  2. Salvian, Hailey (March 6, 2020). "A new voice: How Leah Hextall is breaking barriers in the NHL broadcast booth". The Athletic. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  3. Finn, Chad (March 26, 2019). "Former NESN anchor will become the first woman to call the NCAA tournament". Boston.com. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  4. Hextall, Leah (March 29, 2019). ""How does it feel to be the first woman to call a men's NCAA Division I Hockey tournament game?"". ESPN. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  5. Finn, Chad (November 9, 2012). "NESN adds Leah Hextall as newest reporter". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  6. Sadler, Emily (March 10, 2020). "Behind the scenes on a historic day in NHL broadcasting". Sportsnet. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  7. Thompson, Sam (January 22, 2019). "In defence of 'defencewoman': Leah Hextall on changing terminology in hockey". Global News. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  8. Shewchuk, Devon (October 30, 2020). "The call heard 'round the hockey world". Brandon Sun. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  9. Thompson, Sam (March 27, 2019). "CJOB's Leah Hextall set to become first woman to call U.S. men's college hockey finals". Global News. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  10. Hextall, Leah (August 27, 2020). "Hextall on Hockey: players can lead the way on fighting racism". CJOB (Radio broadcast). Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  11. Hextall, Leah (January 5, 2021). "Hextall on Hockey: Where's the women's tournament?". CJOB (Radio broadcast). Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  12. "Pallister hires sports broadcaster Leah Hextall". Winnipeg Free Press. November 29, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  13. "Pallister makes 'difficult changes' in communications staff". Winnipeg Free Press. July 29, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
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