Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin are back on the road! They are traveling with the Washington Capitals and things are slowly getting back to normal. No more calling games from afar. Joe B and Locker are back in every arena the Caps are playing.
Their last time calling a road game was March 9, 2020, just days before all hell broke loose. Their first game back on the road this season occurred on Tuesday night at the Nashville Predators in a 4-1 Caps win. It was their first time back on the road in 708 days.
The road trip continued in Philadelphia with a 5-3 win over the Flyers. After a break in action the Caps will be back Thursday night in New York against the Rangers and then back in Philly. That means more trips on the horizon for Joe B and Locker who do a heck of a job brining the game to us.
Sports networks struggled during the pandemic. So did teams and news and blog outlets. On the TV network side of things, they had to broadcast from afar. On the Wizards side of things, they weren’t in the bubble at Disney World. On the NHL, the broadcasters weren’t at the Toronto bubble.
The pandemic began with Joe B and Locker doing video game simulation broadcast of Caps games on NHL 21 that would’ve been scheduled that night. They did this from Zoom in their homes.
When the Caps were in the bubble Joe B and Locker were separated by plexiglass as they began to call games from the studio. That continued into the next season then into this season until now.
Overall it was much more challenging having a monitor or several in front of them to call the game compared to the in person feel of a live hockey game. They would at least return to home games at Capital One Arena on Jan. 22, 2021 for the first time in 324 days.
With no fans, they were situated in the lower bowl of the arena with a plexiglass once again separating them. Despite the challenges of broadcasting games during the pandemic, Beninati took home the DC broadcaster of the year by the National Sports Media Association.
Joe B and Locker are in their 25th season together in the booth. It’s great to see them back in their perch at Capital One Arena as well as back on the road with the team.