MSG Network analyst AJ Mleczko works a game between the Islanders and Canadiens at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on March 14. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The early part of the NHL playoffs normally is a blur of games and cross-continent travel for announcers who do double duty for local teams and for NBC’s national coverage.
But like everything else in this COVID-19 season, that routine has been turned inside out in 2020.
Take Brendan Burke and A.J. Mleczko, the Islanders’ play-by-play person and studio analyst on MSG+.
The travel part of their playoff jobs has been reduced from long plane rides to short drives from MSG’s Midtown Manhattan studios to NBC’s Stamford, Connecticut, studios.