STICKING AROUND
Buccigross hangs in as ESPN rebuilds its hockey brand
John Buccigross’ office already was packed up when his hunch he was being let go by ESPN was confirmed.
On April 29, 2017, the network cut ties with more than a hundred employees and, according to one report, Buccigross was set to be among them.
“I was not going to come back in the building to clean up if I was let go, I thought there was a good chance [I was] since my contract was only a couple months away,” Buccigross told The Post in an email.
“They wouldn’t have to pay me for not working. I was at peace with whatever happened. My kids are grown. Then I saw on Twitter from a media reporter that I was one of the layoffs. My reaction was, ‘Oh, well. I’ll figure it out.’ It wasn’t traumatic. No big deal. It’s just a job. I’m so grateful for my 21-and-a-half years at ESPN. I never thought I was good enough for ESPN even when I applied in 1996. I kind of wanted to do something else anyway.”
The network laid off three of its most prominent hockey writers that day in the middle of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and Buccigross was one of the faces of the network’s coverage of the sport. But an ESPN executive informed Buccigross the report was erroneous and the network wanted to keep him. That, however, did not keep the hockey-obsessed 52-year-old from seeking other opportunities.
“I talked to a couple of NHL teams last summer about playby-play opportunities but, in the end, I wanted one more ‘SportsCenter’-centric contract at ESPN. So, I signed a five-year deal last summer,” Buccigross said.
Soon after signing that contract, Buccigross’ name was in the news for a different reason.
A former ESPN employee, Adrienne Lawrence, accused Buccigross of making unwanted sexual advances and she ultimately filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the network. ESPN strongly defended Buccigross after those accusations surfaced in December and told The Post this week nothing has changed in the time since.
Buccigross is a staple of the 11 p.m. “SportsCenter” and these months — and the amazing story of the Golden Knights reaching the Stanley Cup final — provide opportunities to talk about hockey. ESPN’s new streaming service, ESPN+, airs “In the Crease,” which is a postgame show for the playoffs on which Buccigross occasionally has appeared. The network has hired Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski to cover hockey this year, as well.
“Keeping Barry Melrose on ‘SportsCenter’ all these years, having plenty of NHL highlights and analysis on the 11 o’clock ‘SportsCenter,’ and hiring some really good, young writers for ESPN.com,” Buccigross said, explaining ESPN’s commitment to the sport for which they lost the TV rights in 2004.
Those rights are next up for grabs after the 2020-21 season and Buccigross hopes ESPN+ is the “first step in getting NHL games back on ESPN.” He imag- ines calling NHL games on the network one day, as he does now for the NCAA’s Frozen Four.
“The main hope that ESPN gets back in the NHL broadcast game,” Buccigross said. “I don’t plan much, but I hope my near future is NHL play-by-play, college hockey play-by-play, maybe my own hockey destination content website. … [The Frozen Four] is the highlight of my year. I want to begin the process of converting over from a primary studio highlight reader to a play-by-play employee, and the Frozen Four is something I hope is part of my docket for another 10 years.”