Kenny Albert has been putting on a clinic during NBC/Peacock’s coverage of Olympic hockey. I especially appreciate how the versatile play-by-play announcer has perfected the lost art of “laying out.”
That’s sports TV-speak for announcers delivering the right call at the crucial moment and then letting the images speak for themselves.
Sportscasters are paid to talk. But it’s hard to know when to interject and when to keep your yap shut. TV is a different medium than radio. You don’t have to blather over everything. Let the pictures and the atmosphere tell the story.
Sometimes there’s nothing you can say that will match the emotional scenes on the ice, court or field. As great announcers like Jim Nantz, Tim Brando, or the late Vin Scully would say: Just let the confetti fall.
Take Albert’s brilliant calls of two Team USA game-winners this week at the 2026 Winter Olympics. With Team USA and Canada playing 3-on-3 in overtime, Megan Keller wrote herself into the history books by winning America’s third gold medal in women’s hockey. Albert rose to the occasion during Thursday’s instant classic.
“The outlet pass for Keller, a defenseman, nice move! Cuts to the net! SCORE! MEGAN KELLER! THE OVERTIME HERO! THE UNITED STATES WINS GOLD IN MILAN!” said an excited Albert.
What Albert did next was key: He stayed silent for more than a minute as NBC’s cameras told the story of Team USA’s 2-1 victory. We saw shots of the jubilant American women celebrating on the ice, dejected Canadian players on the bench, and flag-waving fans going nuts in the stands. There was a great cut to Team USA coach John Wroblewski with tears in his eyes.
TV viewers hailed Albert on X/Twitter. “No surprise, but Kenny Albert absolutely nailed this call. The defenseman mention before the move! Instant chills on rewatch,” tweeted John Lund of Bleav. A viewer named Grateful Calvin posted: “This is a lost skill in sports broadcasting. Kenny Albert does not say a single word after the 13-second mark. He says what needs to be said, and then he shuts up. He lets the moment speak for itself. Lots of people in the business could take a lesson from him.”
Albert did the same thing during NBC’s coverage of Team USA’s 2-1 win over Sweden in the men’s hockey qualifying round. After Quinn Hughes drilled an overtime goal to win the game, Albert delivered another call for the ages.
“Now Quinn Hughes, we’ve played three and a half minutes in overtime. Quinn Hughes shoots, HE SCORES! HE SCORES! QUINN HUGHES IN OVERTIME WINS IT. And the United States will move on and face Slovakia in the semis!”
Albert went silent again and let the emotional scenes from Italy tell the story. As the New York Post wrote: “He then let the game breathe as the broadcast showed the two ends of the emotional spectrum; Sweden in emotional despair on the ice and bench, and the U.S. on the ice piling on one another while ‘Free Bird’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd blared over the loudspeakers at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.”
Thom Brennaman, the veteran play-by-play announcer, told Front Office Sports he’s not surprised by Albert’s superlative performance this week.
“Kenny has been one of the great announcers of this generation,” says Brennaman. “His versatility and big game moments are a model for all of us! It’s no surprise he homered in the bottom of the ninth!”
The 58-year-old son of Marv Albert is the rare announcer versatile enough to call four major U.S. sports: NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. He’s now in the Olympic home stretch. Albert, Eddie Olczyk, Brian Bouche, and Kathryn Tappen will call Team USA’s semifinal game vs. Slovakia Friday afternoon and Sunday’s gold medal game.
