Jack Edwards, Andy Brickley Discuss COVID Broadcast Challenges

Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley are usually high above the ice for Boston Bruins games. That won’t be the case during any point of the club’s 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff run. With the NHL returning to play in bubble cites, Toronto and Edmonton, Edwards and Brickley are unable to be in the building. They called Thursday night’s 4-1 preseason loss from the NESN studio in Watertown, MA. That’s where they will remain.

“It was awesome,” Brickley said when asked about Thursday night’s call. “So fun to be back in the saddle and doing hockey and calling hockey games, and doing Bruins games, knowing that the postseason is just a matter of days in front of us. To be able to get a few reps in, just like the players are.

“It was necessary for us, we needed a little training camp ourselves and it’s more challenging given the circumstances that we’re trying to broadcast these games. I did go back when I got home last night and watched some excerpts of what we did and it did have that seamless appearance maybe to most viewers, but we knew the challenges that we were facing. And I thought we did a really nice job for our first kick at the can. I thought it was pretty smooth.”

Brickley is responsible for breaking down the action. Jack Edwards has the difficult task of painting the picture from a monitor. It’s no easy task.

“For me it got a little bit more comfortable as we went on. It had been almost 10 years since I called a game from a monitor,” Edwards said. “I was really cautious during the first period, not wanting to make a mistake. I think it got more comfortable as we went along. It was really difficult for me to get a feel of the game, but it was great to be back.”