Boston Bruins
Brickley said things were different last year without Jack Edwards in the booth, but he has a good connection with Sirott.
When a play-by-play voice and analyst are first paired on a sports broadcast, it usually takes them time — sometimes a good chunk of the schedule, perhaps even a full season — to find the right rhythm and cadence, to learn each other’s strengths and preferences, and their tics and cues. To get used to working together, really.
That’s especially true calling hockey, with the rapid and free-flowing action requiring broadcasters to have their give-and-take — or their flow — down pat.
Last season was Judd Sirott and Andy Brickley’s first as a tandem in NESN’s Bruins booth, but those unfamiliar with their paths there would never have known it.
Sirott, who moved over as the legend Jack Edwards’s play-by-play successor after seven seasons as the Bruins radio voice on The Sports Hub, and Brickley, who has been with NESN since 2000 and Bruins color analyst even earlier than that, required very little time to master the intricacies of calling a game together.
How did it work so smoothly? Sirott and Brickley already had history in the booth together … and more important than that, a kinship.
“I’ve traveled with Judd when he was doing radio, so I spent a lot of time with him socially on the plane, in the hotel lobbies, over coffee, beers after a game,” said Brickley, who met Sirott more than 30 years ago, when he was still playing in the International Hockey League and Sirott worked for the Chicago Wolves.
“The broadcast was different from what Jack and I did,” acknowledged Brickley. “There was some adjustment, learning each other’s cadence. We weren’t stepping on each other. But I thought it was pretty seamless right from game one.”
Sirott said his bond with Brickley and the camaraderie of the crew away from the rink strengthens the broadcast.
“Obviously we’re talking a lot of hockey away no matter where we are,” said Sirott, “a lot of hockey, but we talk music, movies, baseball, life, and a lot of times those laughs and some of those stories seep into the broadcast.”
Sirott and Brickley actually called a few IHL games together approximately 25 years ago when Brickley was doing some moonlighting in his early years on the Bruins broadcasts. NESN had the home games while road games aired on Channel 38 in the early 2000s, so Brickley was the color analyst for only half the games.
“I was looking for other work to get other reps in and keep trying to get better at this gig,” he said. “I had connections in the IHL, and I was doing some TV games, so I would fly out to Chicago, or I’d fly down to Houston.
“The Wolves had a pretty nice TV contract in their market and Judd worked for them. So I actually did some games with Judd back in the day. So working together here, it really wasn’t foreign ground.”
Brickley and Sirott’s second season in the booth commenced with the Bruins’ win over the Blackhawks on Thursday. (Wednesday’s opening-night victory against the Capitals aired on TNT.)
“I’m excited about this year. Not so much because I think this is the Stanley Cup-winning team, but there are so many unknowns [with this Bruins team] and there’s so much to talk about,” said Brickley, “Judd is outstanding at that, weaving stories or news or a comment a player or coach might have made into the broadcast while calling the game in the flow. It’s not easy. It’s not easy.”
Sirott, who is always quick to note his gratitude for how Edwards treated him over the years, said he’s appreciative to begin Year 2 with his longtime friend.
“There are a lot of really good analysts in this game, but only a handful who see the game at the level Brick does, and can analyze it concisely, clearly, and with humor,” he said. “It’s great to work with someone I’ve known for so long, and so good at what he does.”
Radio ratings race
For the first time in well over a decade, the “Felger & Mazz” show’s ratings have become a matter of suspense and curiosity.
The longtime ratings powerhouse in afternoon drive on 98.5 The Sports Hub finished in its usual No. 1 spot in sports radio’s most desired demographic over the summer, earning an 11.4 share.
But that was just a point higher than WZLX’s Kenny Young-hosted show (10.4) in the No. 2 spot, and “Felger & Mazz” actually had a lower share than The Sports Hub’s midday show, “Zolak & Bertrand” (12.5). (Not sure if this means Marc Bertrand or Scott Zolakis now the most powerful person in Boston.)
Last summer, “Felger & Mazz” had a 14.8 share. In the summer of ’23? 16.8. That drop isn’t as precipitous as what happened in the spring, when its share fell from an 18.4 to a 12.2 year over year, and the show still is No. 1 with no threat on the horizon from WEEI whatsoever.
But the fall ratings are going to be very telling. If numbers continue to dip during what looks like a Patriots resurgence, it will be the strongest sign by far that their shtick, after so many extraordinarily successful years, is wearing thin.
NESN sees Red Sox boost
Weird how this works, but NESN’s Red Sox broadcasts saw a hefty leap in viewership as a likable team made a run to its first playoff appearance since 2021.
Sox broadcasts on the network had a 3.75 household rating this season, up 50 percent from last season’s 2.5. The average audience per game on its NESN360 app jumped 181 percent over 2024. In the end, 151 games aired on NESN. Seemed like fewer, given the decibel-level of the complaints when they didn’t.
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