Gary Thorne Back in Hockey

The last time veteran broadcaster Gary Thorne had the chance to call a hockey game, he had a pretty good one unfold in front of him.



That was the 2009 Frozen Four title game, a great comeback win in overtime for Boston University, and Thorne absolutely nailed it.

The problem with Thorne is that he works for ESPN. No, this isn't some kind of anti-ESPN diatribe. However, the Frozen Four is really the only hockey ESPN has coverage of. Makes it hard for Thorne to work in the sport he's best at.

Until this year.

Thorne has signed on to broadcast Team USA's games at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championships for NHL Network.

From the press release:

A holiday-season tradition will return to the NHL Network-U.S. for the third-straight season, as once again the network will broadcast all of Team USA's games at the 2010 World Junior Championship.

Gary Thorne, Dave Starman and Fred Pletsch will be the broadcast team for the tournament, which runs Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Saskatoon and Regina, Sask.

Good deal for hockey fans. Matt McConnell did a good job on this last year, but he's now the full-time TV voice of the Atlanta Thrashers. Thorne here is a no-brainer choice. Few can call a hockey game with his acumen or enthusiasm. He's the only one on the planet close to Mike Emrick's league at this point.