ESPN Deportes Opens Sixth Season of Spanish NHL Coverage

ESPN Deportes will begin its sixth season of Spanish-language NHL coverage on Sept. 29, when the Boston Bruins host the New York Rangers at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN Deportes and ESPN, nhl.com reported Monday.

Play-by-play man Kenneth Garay and analyst Carlos Rossell handle the broadcasts across Disney-owned linear and digital platforms, including ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. A run of Tuesday night matchups follows the opener: Islanders at Rangers on Oct. 6, Avalanche at Stars on Oct. 13, Lightning at Golden Knights on Oct. 20, Bruins at Hurricanes on Oct. 27 and Oilers at Devils on Nov. 3.

They do it apart. Garay, born in New York and raised in Bucaramanga, Colombia, calls games from ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. Rossell, the son of Nicaraguan and Guatemalan parents and a coach at Manhattan's Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers, works from a setup at his home in New York City.

"There's obviously a bit of pre-production dialogue, but the relationship, you know, sometimes you just have that," Rossell told NHL.com. "You can feel each other's cadence."

Garay, whose hockey education started in 1996 covering the Florida Panthers' run to the Stanley Cup Final against Colorado, follows social media during games and has been surprised by where the audience lives.

"What shocked me the most was we have a huge audience in Chile," he said. "I asked once on the air why? People wrote back, 'We're Oilers fans.' A lot of people immigrated to Edmonton, worked there, fell in love with hockey in Canada, and retired in Chile."

The broadcasts sit alongside other Spanish-language efforts around the league. NHL.com launched its Spanish site in 2019-20. Vegas introduced LosVGK in 2023 to engage its Hispanic fan base. The Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators regularly carry games in Spanish on radio, while the Stars, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals have done select games.