ESPN’s top NHL play-by-man hasn’t even taken a single shift yet.
Sean McDonough has oddly not called a single game for the network this year despite originally being scheduled for several, as chronicled by Awful Announcing.
The latest switch came Thursday for the Team USA’s 6-1 win over Finland in its 4 Nations Face-Off opener, with ESPN announcing Thursday that Jets radio play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen would instead be behind the mic for the game, per Awful Announcing.
ESPN told the outlet that McDonough is battling the flu and that’s what led to the swap, with the hope he will be ready to call Saturday’s battle between Team USA and Canada at 8 p.m. ET.
McDonough is also slated to call the Four Nations Face-Off championship game on Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. ET.
The 62-year-old has seemingly been battling an illness for quite some time since his health resulted in him missing two ABC games the past two weeks, as noted by NHL media tracker @BraylonBreeze on X.
Breeze highlighted how Mike Monaco replaced McDonough in each of those two games and Monaco said that McDonough was “under the weather.”
McDonough also missed the Panthers’ 6-4 win over the Bruins in the NHL’s season-opener since Hurricane Milton affected his travel, per the account.
These health concerns even go back to last year’s playoffs.
He had to be replaced for the Rangers’ 2-1 overtime win over the Panthers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final on May 24 with what ESPN labeled “an illness.”
McDonough then battled through an ailment to call the Panthers’ win over the Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, but it became quite obvious to the listeners that he had been battling something.
“Sean has been under the weather, and we’re grateful for him pushing through and giving it his all last night,” ESPN’s Mark Gross told Awful Announcing at the time. “He’s a consummate pro, one of the best play-by-play commentators in the business, and we’re lucky to have him on our team.”
McDonough has been with ESPN since 1989 and also calls college football, college basketball, the PGA Championship and the Par 3 contest at The Masters for its family of networks, per his company biography.
He became the network’s lead play-by-play announcer in 2021.
The 4 Nations Face-Off takes a one-day break Friday before returning with a doubleheader Saturday that will also feature Finland vs. Sweden in addition to the all-North American matchup.
