The Seattle Kraken have made NHL history by hiring the league’s first Black team broadcaster in Cincinnati Cyclones play-by-play announcer Everett Fitzhugh. A team striving to become a leader in sports when it comes to diversity and inclusion, CEO Tod Leiweke said of Seattle’s decision to hire Fitzhugh, “he has established himself as a unique and leading voice for hockey and was high on the list of many folks we consulted with.”
A number of outlets are covering the heart-warming story and Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic (subscription required) writes:
In February, Fitzhugh, the radio play-by-play announcer for the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones and the only Black broadcaster at any professional level of North American hockey… Several people throughout the sport learned about Fitzhugh — and his goal to someday become a play-by-play broadcaster for an NHL franchise — for the first time.
Clark goes on to write that little did Fitzhugh know that Leiweke was informed of the story and had already heard of Fitzhugh from NBC’s Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick. Leiweke sent Fitzhugh an email, which the announcer initially thought was spam. Once he realized the offer to talk was for real, the conversations that eventually led to the Kraken hiring Fitzhugh began.
The two sides had an initial meeting but months went by before they’d spoken again — likely because of the team’s delay in releasing the name and the pandemic taking over the sports world. In late May, Leiweke emailed Fitzhugh again to ask if he was still interested in working for the team.
Clearly, he was.
Fitzhugh said of landing the job:
“As someone who’s worked in hockey for over a decade and who has a long-held passion for broadcast hockey, to be named team broadcaster for a brand-new NHL franchise — particularly one with an organization as strong as the Kraken — is a dream come true.”
This won’t be Fitzhugh’s first trip to an NHL play-by-play announce booth. He got his first taste of NHL broadcasting in 2018 when he did play-by-play of a Washington Capitals preseason game against the Boston Bruins. At that time, he was invited by John Walton, Washington’s radio voice and director of broadcasting.
Walton said. “For an opportunity like Seattle with a market that is so ready for the NHL, to be able to be part of that broadcast team, I’m so excited for him I can barely put it in words.”
Congratulations to Everett Fitzhugh and the Seattle Kraken.
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