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American ESPN host ripped for suggesting hockey's not a 'real sport'

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Jun 3 2025, 3:49 pm
American ESPN host ripped for suggesting hockey's not a 'real sport'
ESPN

ESPN might be a rightsholder for the NHL, but it appears that not all of its employees are exactly fans of the sport.

A recent episode of The Hoop Collective podcast by Brian Windhorst, Tim Bontemps, and Tim MacMahon has drawn a bit of ire from NHL fans after recent comments about their favourite sport.

In a conversation first focused on former Raptors star Pascal Siakam, who’s off to the NBA Finals with the Indiana Pacers, the trio debated whether the move for Toronto to get rid of him even made sense in the first place, with the discussion beginning around 36:20.

“I just know the Raptors fans are a little bit sensitive,” Windhorst said.

“The Raptors fans will be A-OK,” Bontemps replied.

“Well, they’re enjoying the playoffs on the couch like they always do… or at least like they have for the last [few years],” MacMahon quipped.

“Well, there’s a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup Final,” Windhorst came back.

“Nobody gives a crap about hockey,” MacMahon said. “I did not give a crap [about the Stars]… that’s my point.”

MacMahon, who is based in Dallas, continued to go off on Stars fans and NHL fans in general.

“Here’s the thing, I’ll just tell you real honestly. Texas folks who are hockey fans, it’s because they don’t know anything about real sports,” said MacMahon. “They don’t know crap about football. They don’t know crap about basketball. They don’t know crap about baseball. Hockey is like this new-fangled hipster thing down here in Texas.”

Though he might have been hamming it up a bit for the cameras and to rile up his co-hosts, MacMahon’s comments aren’t exactly sitting well among hockey fans.

Windhorst informed MacMahon that it’s been over three decades since the Stars moved to Dallas in 1993 from Minnesota, but MacMahon didn’t exactly back down.

“I was a teenager when they started bringing these hockey fans [into Dallas],” he added.

MacMahon also joked that he’d only covered one hockey game in his career as a journalist while working with the Dallas Morning News, being taken off the beat when he asked a question about “halftime” — a concept which doesn’t exist in hockey, given it’s played in three periods.

We doubt that MacMahon will be tuning in, but if you’re interested in watching, the Stanley Cup Final kicks off on Wednesday night when the Edmonton Oilers host the Florida Panthers in Game 1.

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