The Capitals-Rangers Stanley Cup playoff series has begun and Game 2 will be Saturday at a sold out Verizon Center. It will be airing nationally on NBC (NBC4 locally), as well as TSN and their French language counterpart RDS throughout Canada.
Meanwhile, it’s the local coverage that is really worthy of Lord Stanley’s Cup. Comcast SportNet’s talented crew is simply the best in the business when it comes to covering hockey.
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Let’s start with Caps Pregame Live host “Smokin” Al Koken. He is the dean of hockey coverage in Washington and his passion and knowledge for the sport is rivaled by no one in regional sports. Koken is not flashy, nor is he over the top — as many of his fellow analysts around the league seem to be. For him, it is substance over style. He breaks down the games with precision and insight. Koken is to hockey what James Brown is to the NFL — understated but highly entertaining.
Lisa Hillary knows hockey. She is outstanding and right to the point in her pre- and postgame interviews. Hillary stands toe-to-toe with the players and the coaches. She doesn’t back down from asking the tough questions. She became a North American superstar last season during the Flyers-Caps playoff series as her interviews were seen on CSN, the NHL Network and Versus.
The broadcast team of Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin has proven that they are the best local duo in hockey. Beninati has been one of the most talented voices in the game.
He is not only the voice of the Caps, he also does double duty as one of the top broadcasters on Versus hockey coverage. He has that rare ability to never over-hype the game and to smoothly keep fans aware of every detail — all the while being generous in the amount of time he gives to his partner. That is a delicate balance that only a handful of play-by-play men can do.
Finally we have Laughlin, who is funny, outrageous and — most of all — knows the game. He feels comfortable enough in his role as analyst to both praise and criticize the players and the team in general. Laughlin is at his best breaking down why a played worked. He’s even better illustrating why a play did not work.
If Washington is as prepared as the broadcasters who work the games then the Caps should wrap up this series in five and move on.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on washingtonexaminer.com.