NHL Broadcast Training Camp grooming players for future TV careers

NEW YORK -- Kenny Albert and Sean Durzi were set up in the Green Room on the 26th floor of the NHL's office space, a television monitor in front of them and another behind them.

Though there was no actual camera on them, Albert and Durzi, with microphones live, headsets on, and a producer talking in their ears, stared toward where a camera would be and went through a mock opening for TNT's broadcast of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens at Lenovo Center.

This is only part of what happened at the NHL's third annual Broadcast Training Camp, which took place July 13-14 at the League's U.S. headquarters.

"If you're ever interested in broadcasting, it's a no-brainer at this point," Durzi, the New York Rangers defenseman, said of why he came to the camp this year. "You're working with the best in the world. You're getting experience. You're getting reps. You're getting everything you need to succeed. This is the place to do it."

In their time together, Albert, TNT's top play-by-play caller with one of the most recognizable voices in sports in the United States, led the opening of the broadcast with Durzi, playing off him like a seasoned color commentator.

They turned around and together, using the other monitor in front of them, called the action in the first period of Game 1 between the Hurricanes and Canadiens, with goals from Seth Jarvis, Cole Caufield and Phillip Danault sparking Albert's call and Durzi's analysis.

"You sure you don't want to retire now?" Albert said to Durzi when they were done. "You're really good."

Durzi is only 27, so he's not ready to retire any time soon. He'll be starting a new chapter of his career in New York this season after the Rangers acquired him in a trade with the Utah Mammoth on July 1.

But he was among the eight current and former players who became campers last week, learning the ins and outs of what it takes in the NHL broadcasting world when the lights get bright, the cameras turn on and the action starts.

Durzi and forward Ryan Reaves, an unrestricted free agent, were the two active players who participated in the camp. Former players Patrick Maroon, Ryan Malone, Cam Janssen, Tyler Johnson, Jack Johnson and Dwayne Roloson all attended the two-day crash course.

They learned the nuances of being a color commentator in a two-man booth with Albert and how to properly use the telestrator to aide in your in-game commentary and analysis from Eddie Olczyk, TNT's top color commentator.

Brian Boucher and Jody Shelley, who both are color commentators for national games on TNT and locally in their home markets (Shelley in Columbus and Boucher in Philadelphia), gave lessons to the campers on what it takes to be effective broadcasters from between the benches.

Lauren Gardner of NHL Network and Ashlyn Sullivan of NBC Sports Philadelphia provided their expertise on long-form and short-form interviewing.

Steve Levy of ESPN went through some of the finer points of what it takes to be an in-studio analyst, and then led a mock show with each current and former player, who went through each station in groups of two.

Executives in charge of talent Noah Coslov (ESPN), Michele Zarzaca (TNT), Ed Hall (Sportsnet) and Steve Tronzano (NHL Network) attended the two-day camp and sat in on each station, perhaps looking to discover the next wave of broadcast talent for the industry.

"As an ex-player, I understand what these guys are going through," Boucher said. "They're at a crossroads in their life. They get done playing and they're like, 'What do I do next?' That's the biggest question every player has when it comes to an end. Do they stay in the game? Do they go out of the game? If they stay in the game, how do they stay in the game? Is it in coaching, scouting, management, player development -- and this is just another avenue.

"By having this you'll see probably first if it's something that interests you, and secondly you'll find out if you have a future in it. I just think it's a great opportunity for these guys to do it. I certainly would have done it."

The NHL started the Broadcast Training Camp in the summer of 2024. It has produced some of top recent former players turned analysts in the business, with Erik Johnson (ESPN, Altitude Sports), Nate Thompson (NHL Network, TSN) and Cal Clutterbuck (MSG Networks) among the former campers who have found success in front of the camera.

Thompson has attended the camp all three years; the first two as one of the former players looking to learn, and this year as an ambassador for the camp.

"The most beautiful part of this camp is coming from Year 1, where I'm sitting in a room with Nate Thompson, Erik Johnson and Garnet Hathaway, and they're talking about possibly wanting to do this," Sullivan said, "and now I turn on my TV and I see Erik Johnson doing bench interviews, I go on YouTube and see Nate Thompson with his podcast, or I go back to Philadelphia and Garnet Hathaway is knocking on our RSN door saying, 'I want to get involved.'

"We gave these guys a couple of tools and they ran with it. They're the ones getting these jobs. We're just giving them the tools hoping they like this and have a passion for it, and now look at them. They're some of the brightest stars in broadcasting."

One of the things they all find out as they go through the camp is that it's not nearly as easy as Albert, Olczyk, Boucher, Shelley, Levy, Gardner and Sullivan make it look on TV.

"Lights, camera, action -- that's real," said Maroon, who worked last season as an analyst on NHL Network and for the Tampa Bay Lightning. "I've done commercials, but when you're in front of a broadcast and people are watching, it's a little nerve-wracking."

Levy said he appreciates seeing the current and former players showing their nerves, which are almost never obvious when they're playing.

"I love seeing these guys, who are the bravest people on the planet, the most confident people on the planet, play in front of 20,000 people every night in the best league in the world, in high pressure scenarios, play in front of millions of people on TV, and they're nervous holding a pen next to me," he said. "I love it. It's great. It makes me feel good about our profession, about what we do. I think it gives them some appreciation when maybe they haven't had that in the past for what the hardworking men and women in the media do. It's a reminder that, you know, we have some specialized skill set too. But it's really cool to see the future.

"Some of these young guys, you can tell they're good at it right away. Some need a little seasoning. Some have more to offer. Some probably won't get there. It's like any other skillset, but it's television. It's not hockey. It's hockey on TV, but TV is the bigger part. But again, to see these guys for the first time fish out of water really, it's actually very refreshing for me."

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It's just as refreshing, Levy said, to hear the questions the current and former players ask.

"Where do I put my hands?" Levy said. "Do I button my jacket or not? Where do I look?"

"How do I hold the microphone?" Sullivan said.

"Who's talking to me in my ear?" Shelley said.

"All things that make sense," Levy said. "These are all great questions, totally understandable, but it's so foreign to them. They've never asked these questions before. They've never had to."

They get reps and learn, but along the way the pros who are considered the camp's faculty provide as much broad-stroked advice as they do tips for success.

"I try to tell them to have an opinion," Levy said. "In television we'll never tell you what to say, but we need you to have an opinion. Have any opinion. I don't even care if you're wrong, quite frankly. Say something. Have an opinion. Say something meaningful, say something important."

Said Albert, "Some of the advice that we've given them through the years is you're an expert on the subject, you know everything about the sport, you've been involved for your entire life, but for the viewers watching at home, some of them are players, coaches, hockey experts, but a good majority have never played the game, have never been in the locker room, have never been on the ice. So don't be afraid to state the obvious, to state the basics."

The current and former players all left New York last week with tools of the trade, reps they can study, ideas for what their post-playing careers might look like, and contacts that will help them get into the broadcasting business if and when the time is right for them.

Olczyk said he also wants them all to talk about their experiences with their current and former teammates. He said the goal of the program is to eventually get big enough to the point they're turning players away, or creating a second camp, or adding days to the current version.

"That's where it goes to another level," he said.

All while creating an avenue for more current and former NHLers to find success in a second career in hockey.

"There is nothing as valuable as going through something, doing it yourself, making mistakes, learning from it, and then having great mentors," Durzi said. "You look at something like this and it checks all the boxes. It's something I thought I would really want to do and that is why I'm here.

"I could probably be here for a week and not learn enough."