Gary Thorne Calling His Grandson’s High School Hockey Game Is A Reminder Of Why We Need Him Doing NHL Games

Ever since ESPN got a piece of the NHL's TV rights, the results have been a mixed bag for the league and fans. For every great idea like last October's Frozen Frenzy, there have been numerous examples of the network and its talent ignoring or belittling the league.

Not exactly what they wanted from a broadcast partner.

And, while the network has some great talent on board, one glaring omission disappointed a lot of people: Gary Thorne.

Thorne was the voice of the Baltimore Orioles for a long time, but he was also the voice of ESPN's hockey coverage from 1992-2004 alongside fellow legend of the game and member of the Flyers' Cup-winning teams of the mid-'70s, Bill Clement.

For my money, Thorne is one of the best to ever call a hockey game, right up there with Mike "Doc" Emrick.

I mean, how can you not get chills from his call of Ray Borque finally lifting the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2002?

So, you can understand why people were disappointed when Thorne — who has also voiced some NHL video games over the years — didn't join ESPN's team.

Who knows why that is? Maybe he didn't want to do it.

However, a video shared on X by Birdseye Sports founder Ben Talbott has been floating around of Thorne calling one of his grandson's high school hockey games. 

It couldn't be more clear that the man simply has a knack for calling hockey.

Imagine playing high school hockey and having your games streamed but the play-by-play isn't being done by some kid in the journalism or broadcast club trying to get extra credit, it's Gary Thorne handling it.

So cool.

Man, I'd love to have Gary Thorne back in the broadcast booth for NHL games again. Fortunately, this should tide us over.

Enjoy the rest of Thorne's goal calls: