Photo credit: DK Pittsburgh Sports
Penguins Broadcast History is Made, as Penguins Insider Calls Color Commentary During Flyers Game
It was Sunday morning when a text came from Penguins vice president of content and production, Leo McCafferty. They needed someone to fill in for Phil Bourque, the regular color commentator for the Penguins radio broadcast team.
Penguins Long Time Reporter Steps in to Be the First Female Commentator in the Organization's History
McCafferty told her she would be a great fit for the position. Michelle told Matt Venzel from the Post-Gazette,
«I was like, ‘Oh, hell yeah. «That was my response.»
Michelle Crechiolo has been a long time Penguins staff writer and runs the X page Pens Inside Scoop. She jumped at her chance to make some history in Pittsburgh.
«That's when it hit me. ‘Oh my god, I'm going to be the color analyst on a National Hockey League broadcast between the Penguins and Flyers,'» she said to Venzel.
It is not just Penguins history; Michelle is the first female to do any commentary on local or radio broadcasts for any of Pittsburgh's three major league teams.
She went about her day as usual, heading over to get some team information at practice on Sunday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and talked to players such as Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Tristan Jarry and Rickard Rakell who gave her support and advice.
She decided to tap into her own perspective of the game and how she has reported on it. She has covered the team now for 13 years and had a good relationship with the players.
She told Venzel,
«I wanted to draw off of that and not feel like I had to go super in-depth on Xs and Os and analysis. I'll always have that from playing for my entire life, and now spending my entire working life in hockey. But I wanted to have those nuggets about players' backgrounds, that human interest element.»
Crechiolo was a former hockey player at Michigan State, playing for four years there and as a senior was named to the NCAA's all-tournament team after helping the team make it to the National Championship Game.
The icing on the cake Monday night was a big division rival win against the Flyers.
Couldn't have asked for a better NHL broadcast debut, as the Penguins came away with a 4-1 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia!
1-0 in the booth, baby!— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) January 9, 2024
Michelle was tapped to do the game against the Canucks at home this time. She definitely was enjoying her time in the broadcast booth, on home ice. And as she mentions, the Pens have 3/4 points as color commentator.
SIDNEY CROSBY SCORED TWICE!
And the Penguins picked up 3/4 points in the two games I got the call for!
Can't say enough about the experience. It was an absolute blast to do color commentary for a sport and organization that means so much to me. https://t.co/eeHT1inJpg— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) January 12, 2024
We all know how superstitious hockey players are, so maybe we will be hearing her again soon on Penguins radio broadcasts.
As Read On: Post-Gazette - Michelle Crechiolo becomes the first female broadcaster to call Penguins game
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January 12 | 81 answers Penguins Broadcast History is Made, as Penguins Insider Calls Color Commentary During Flyers Game Did you like Michelle on the broadcast? | ||
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