The 2025 Stanley Cup Final is a rematch of the 2024 championship series and we all remember how that one went; the Florida Panthers won in seven games, providing long-time NHL head coach Paul Maurice his first opportunity to hoist the Cup. We don't know if history will repeat itself or if Connor McDavid will add "Stanley Cup champion" to his resume while helping erase the 32-year drought of a Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup.
What we do know is the NHL in ASL is back this season to broadcast the final series between the Panthers and Oilers.
NHL brings back NHL in ASL alternate broadcast for 2025 Stanley Cup Final
The Emmy-nominated alternate broadcast was a success last June, bringing a different angle of hockey coverage directly to the Deaf and hard of hearing community. Throughout the 2024-25 NHL season, the NHL in ASL was available for major NHL events in combination with weekly highlights. The Finals broadcast, presented by Scotiabank in Canada and in partnership with P-X-P, will feature play-by-play and color analysis in American Sign Language.
The NHL in ASL will be available on MAX in the United States and Sportsnet+ in Canada. CEO of P-X-P Jason Altmann, who is third-generation deaf, and co-host Noah Blankenship, an NHL in ALS Deaf broadcaster, will work closely with Deaf professional referee David McGregor, who will be corresponding remotely.
This is so much more than watching a sporting event with the subtitles on. The audience will get real-time updates on all calls, replays, and analysis. The NHL in ASL viewers will see graphics on their screens to convey certain audio elements of a hockey game that are easier for the hearing community to appreciate like crowd noise, a puck hitting the post or crossbar, and the goal horn, to name a few.
According to NHL.com, last year's NHL in ASL broadcast of the Stanley Cup Final made the NHL the first "pro sports league to put together a live game broadcast just for the Deaf and hard of hearing community." Not only is this incredible type of broadcast reshaping the coverage of the Finals, it can (and hopefully will) reshape coverage spanning all sports and leagues. What an immense compliment to the National Hockey League if other pro sports leagues model their alternate broadcasts for the Deaf and hard of hearing community after the NHL in ASL.