Craig Laughlin
 

Does anyone else find him annoying. I have the hockey package so I get to listen to pretty much all the telecasters around the league. And I must say that Laughlin is prob the worst in the NHL, easily bottom 5.

Am I the only one that thinks this?

I love him. He's campy, he's dumb, and he's got a terrible voice. I think he's perfect for hockey just like that good old hockey game song.

I'd take him as the color guy any day, in comparison to Ken "well...you know" Sabourin.

I think he is funny. He is one who knows the game and needs to draw a line between comic and teacher. Famous Locker quotes:

..."put the biscuit in the basket"
..."watch the water bottle"

I would agree with this, except some of the dumb stuff is so brutally dumb that it makes me cringe.


I like him though, I put alright.

You must not like Laughlin's style. As a professional broadcaster I can tell you that Laughlin is actually about in the middle of the pack. He is pretty funny from time to time. He uses a phrase, "Kabonged" that is his own and works very well.

There are guys like Tripp Tracy in Carolina that make Laughlin look like OLN/NBC material. The colors guys in Boston are atrocious and they have so many choices.
The analyst in Buffalo can't remember what arena he is in, Bob Errey?? The Pens play by play guy, Mike Lange is great, but Errey stinks. Honestly, Bobby Taylor in Tampa Bay doesn't have a clue either, but he is a good homer.

Additionally there are some play by play guys that are ridiculously bad. I am ashamed to recall that Jeff Rimer ever worked for the Capitals. I have seen him doing Panthers and Blue Jackets games the last few years and he is just pitiful.
If there is anything worse than the Jackets as a hockey team its Rimer doing the play by play.

Sometimes the things that come out of Mike Lange's mouth when someone scores a goal is ridiculous...Crosby just stole your dog's grocery shopping list, seriously it's random stuff like that

As for Laughlin, I'm not partial either way...he often says some dumb things but the amount of info that Joe gives you about players really stands out to me, he's no dummy

We must be thinking of different people. The Reekie that I'm thinking of does the post-game show on Comcast and is:

a) Slow
2) Deliberate
III) Boring
Four) Completely lacking screen presence

I'm not a broadcast journalism expert by any means, but I definitely prefer 1000 hours of Laughlin than a single hour of Reekie. I've never heard him even have anything insightful to say (though with this team, it's basically 60 nights of repeating the same thing, night after night, so I can't fault him too much).

So uh... basically... I disagree.

I love Laughlin. "Kabong!"

Tripp Tracy??????

I love him - his inflections are horribly perfect. He makes me laugh at least once a game.

i would agree with that. i watch 75% of the caps games that comcast televises and while laughlin does have his annoying moments, there are certainly worse NHL announcers out there.

I like Laughlin. He’s entertaining, he knows the game, and he has some history with the Caps. Joe B, on the other hand, needs to be replaced.

The worst team I have heard is the guys in Phoenix. I need to watch one of their broadcasts again because I don’t remember the specifics, but I was amazed that the color guy was being paid for doing such a crappy job.

He's ok. Sometimes he makes me laugh...other times he makes me cringe.

I think our announcers are in the top-middle of the pack from what I've heard. Worst? Buffalo. No question. Pittsburgh is also bad. Carolina has gotten SOOOO much better, but they're still pretty boring to listen to and Tripp Tracy is a bozo. I like Vancouver and the Rangers' coverage best.

Ovechkin would make a better one in 20 years. ;)

But he's talented enough to call games for 3 teams...

at the same time.

Sometims i wonder if he gets high during the game when he starts doing his "hee-hee-hee" stuff:)

Ovechkin's jokes are better! wadka wadka wadka ... cranberry!

I waffle on Laughlin. Some nights, the folksy schtick is quite endearing, while on others it's grating that the broadcast team will essentially ignore the action for long stretches.

Beninati is more of a professional than Laughlin. This team might outgrow Laughlin someday if it improves by leaps and bounds, but as long as the team is a bottom feeder, his act fits well enough. When the team is losing another one-sided game, Laughlin can be a welcome presence. I wouldn't call him much of a pro, though.

He's not going to break down plays with particular sophistication, just surface level, but he does approach the game from an 'aw, shucks player perspective. That's sometimes obnoxious, and yet sometimes pretty amusing in a pleasant way and I laugh along with him. Most of the time I don't mind him.

I can't stand Beninati's corny-*** attempts at humor. He's a great play-by-play guy, and seems really knowledgeable of the game but he's a stiff. You need someone over the top like Laughlin to keep things from getting too dry. I'd rather listen to Beninati and Laughlin than Beninati and whichever other stiff sits next to him for the OLN games.

Some of my favorites:

1. Rangers
2. Caps
3. Thorne & Clement
4. Devils
5. Canucks

Cant Stand:
1. Buffalo
2. Pittsburgh
3. Islanders
4. Dallas
5. Florida (Potvin sucks!)

I love the way Ovy says Vodka. Probably one of the best things I've heard recently.

Oh, and nevermind the fact that he still can't drink legally in the US...

that's just about spot-on for me, though i'm not much on clement. the rangers broadcast team is excellent. i'd add tampa to your list of worst, and i agree whole-heartedly about potvin. florida's the homerest in the league. and that idiot in pittsburgh... geez i don't get him.