Analyze this: McGuire was way off base
Tone-deaf treatment of Coyne Schofield shows work remains to be done
Imagine boarding a plane and stopping by the cockpit on the way to your seat to advise the pilot: “Now remember: The runway is over here. The sky is up there.” Weird, right? NHL analyst Pierre McGuire made similarly tone-deaf and out-of-place comments when welcoming Olympic gold medallist Kendall Coyne Schofield to her NBC broadcasting debut Wednesday night, less than a week after she became the first woman to compete in the NHL all-star skills competition.
“Tampa’s going to be on your left. Pittsburgh’s going to be on your right,” McGuire explained to Coyne Schofield during the pre-game broadcast.
“What are you expecting out of this game? We’re paying you to be an analyst, not to be a fan tonight!”
On behalf of women everywhere, let me put it bluntly: What the hell, man? Why on Earth would McGuire expect — or even joke — that a player who scored two goals to help the U.S. win a gold medal in 2018 wouldn’t know the difference between two NHL teams?
Did anyone explain to Jeremy Roenick what a puck is when he began as an NHL analyst? Did anyone warn him publicly that he shouldn’t sound like a fan instead of a respected veteran player?
Nobody should have to supply Coyne Schofield’s credentials to lay out the case that McGuire was wrong. She could never have laced on skates in her life — like a lot of hockey reporters — and still be qualified to have a place next to him in the booth.
But here’s just part of her resume: In addition to starring on the U.S. team in Pyeongchang, she won a silver medal in the 2014 Olympics. At Northeastern University, she earned the Patty Kazmaier Award, which goes to the U.S.’s top female college hockey player. She currently plays for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women’s Hockey League.
Coyne Schofield is not a fan. She’s a pro.
She doesn’t deserve the disrespect of anyone questioning her knowledge of the sport — even flippantly. She deserves the benefit of the doubt that she’s capable of objectively analyzing asport she has played her entire life.
It’s hard for women to gain footing in a male-dominated field when they’re met with stereotypes on their first day. Male sports broadcasters and reporters have improved vastly over the decades about treating female colleagues professionally and as equals.
But every female fan, athlete or media member knows what it feels like to have her credentials unfairly questioned. She did what so many women in the workforce do when they’re met with condescending comments — smile, ignore it and get on with the job. Coyne Schofield’s on-point analysis and composure during the broadcast shouldn’t be lost in this. McGuire blew it and put Coyne Schofield in an awkward position.
His unprofessional and sexist comments didn’t help the hockey world, which has been met with criticism for its unfair treatment of female players. Coyne Schofield has been a vocal opponent of the gender wage disparity in USA Hockey.
The NHL looked petty after it awarded a $25,000 (U.S.) award to the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl for a skills event at the all-star game even though Brianna Decker clocked an unofficial faster time in her demonstration, sparking the hashtag #PayDecker on social media. (A hockey equipment manufacturer paid Decker the same amount.)
In a sport in which few women are represented or given a substantial platform, Coyne Schofield has stood out as an ambassador for the game. NBC was wise to bring her on as an analyst.
Coyne Schofield posted on social media that she feels respected by McGuire as a hockey player and a woman and “didn’t think twice about our on-air exchange when it happened.”
Yet Coyne Schofield recognized that how she felt about McGuire’s comments might not be as important as how young girls watching at home might have interpreted the moment: “What IS important is for every young girl reading this to know it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of my hockey knowledge — because I do not doubt my hockey knowledge. I didn’t need a gold medal to come to that conclusion. I needed belief in myself.”
Let’s hope McGuire learns quickly from this moment. And let’s hope NBC asks Coyne Schofield back as an analyst — with or without McGuire.