When a play-by-play voice and analyst are first paired on a sports broadcast, it usually takes them time — sometimes a good chunk of the schedule, perhaps even a full season — to find the right rhythm and cadence, to learn each other’s strengths and preferences, and their tics and cues. To get used to working together, really.
That’s especially true calling hockey, with the rapid and free-flowing action requiring broadcasters to have their give-and-take — or their flow — down pat.
Last season was Judd Sirott and Andy Brickley’s first as a tandem in NESN’s Bruins booth, but those unfamiliar with their paths there would never have known it.