butch will still be around – sometimes as the lone analyst, sometimes in a three man booth, and sometimes in the studio, but hickey is taking over most games

16 comments
  1. “Thomas Hickey will work the majority of Islanders games this season as an analyst on MSG Sportsnet alongside play-by-play man Brendan Burke, a source familiar with the plan told Newsday on Friday.

    But Butch Goring, MSG Networks’ lead Islanders analyst since 2010-11, will remain heavily involved in the coverage, working some games as the lone analyst, some in a three-man booth with Hickey and Burke and some in the studio.”

  2. Hickey is great. Butch will most likely retire from broadcasting soon so this will be a wind down year for him.

  3. Butch will be turning 76 next month. He does this job because he loves the game and the Islanders, and he will go down as a legend in team lore both for his contributions both on the ice and in the booth.

    Hickey is bright and articulate, and he’s been around the team long enough to understand its history and connect with the fanbase.

    This could be the best broadcast season since Howie left.

  4. Love Butch. Hickey has also been great to watch and listen to. Hopefully a good passing-of-the-torch season

  5. Hope Butchie is ok and hope MSG isn’t pushing him out. On the Island Butchie looked his age a bit talking to Darche. Booth w Brendan is still one of the best listens in the league and now w Cal coming on full time too.

  6. given all the compaints other fans have about butch, to me this solidifies our broadcast as top 3 in the league

  7. As long as the toy dept stays alive

    This is good the Isles are locking down Hickey before espn or tnt pick him up full time

  8. Hicks is fantastic in that role so smart to get him into it more before another team/network scoops him up.

    Love Butchy but he was really more vibes than any deep analysis.

  9. It will be sad to see Butchy slowly step away from broadcasting over the next few years, but Hickey has done a great job and is almost a worthy successor (almost worthy being I wish we had a young former player like Hickey that won a cup with this team)

  10. This was always the next best logical step for the team. This move signals nothing more than Butch is old and ready to retire, but not ready to fully give it up yet because he loves hockey and the Islanders.

    Good for Hickey, good for Butch. We have among the best broadcast team in the league and that includes Shannon and now Clutter.

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