Speaking with Carrlyn Bathe: EA NHL’s First Female Broadcaster

(Photo courtesy of Carrlyn Bathe)

As an avid gamer of many of the EA Sports franchises, the NHL series is my favourite. Yet, while the last few installments brought eager anticipation, there was an increased hype, at least on a personal level, for the release of NHL 21. After all, never before in the franchise’s existence had the Be A Pro story mode been so intricate. Following the path of the ever-popular Madden series, NHL 21 added a conversation system, choosing what to say to management, coaches and teammates alike. This alone invigorated my excitement for the game’s release.

Once I began playing NHL 21, though, there was another aspect to the game that elevated said excitement even further.

James Cybulski and Ray Ferraro, who had been the franchise’s broadcast duo since NHL 20, welcomed a new member of their team, and for Kings fans, a familiar voice.

Carrlyn Bathe, who has been with the Los Angeles Kings in some capacity since 2013, is not only the newest voice in the NHL series but holds the honourable distinction of being the first female voice in the franchise’s 29-year history.

I recently had the privilege of speaking with Ms. Bathe, who spoke with me about what being added to the EA NHL broadcasting team means to her, growing up in a hockey-centric family as well as her advice to girls hoping to follow in her footsteps.

Joining the EA Sports Family

After I began my Be A Pro career in NHL 21, I heard something new. During my first game, James Cybulski called on Carrlyn Bathe for her analysis. That’s when my wife — a Kings fan since childhood — and I looked at each in disbelief and amazement.

Did he mean THE Carrlyn Bathe?

Lo and behold, we heard her voice and indeed it was Ms. Bathe with the analysis.

How awesome is that?

Ms. Bathe began by sharing the story of how she was first approached about being included in NHL 21.

“Well, I was approached around December [2019] and my husband’s friend was a producer on the game,” Bathe began. “His name is Sean, also known as ‘Rammer’. They were looking to add a female voice and Sean thought of me, knowing that’s what I do in real life, reporting for a hockey team. So, he instantly thought of me but still had to go through the approval process and he had to, kind of, present me to the team to see if everyone else would be on board as well.”

As exciting as the opportunity was, though, Bathe nonetheless had her share of competition. But, when all was said and done, the FOX Sports West reporter had prevailed.

“Through their own vetting process, he ended up selecting me and it was very exciting for me knowing that I reported for the Kings and had such a great experience there,” Bathe continued. “So, being able to take that experience and use that on a platform where more people could see or have access to that was really gratifying to me, if that makes sense.”

Of course, while she will now be forever known as the first female voice in the EA NHL series, I didn’t see it that way at first. After all, it was Carrlyn Bathe’s ties with the Kings that garnered this writer’s fascination of her inclusion in the game. As far as being a woman goes, there wasn’t a second thought. After all, I, along with many EA Sports fans, had been used to hearing Pam Oliver’s voice in the Madden franchise and Erin Andrews’s voice in EA’s currently defunct NCAA franchise, for instance, given their vast knowledge and expertise as reporters. Nevertheless, Ms. Bathe’s addition to the EA NHL franchise is groundbreaking, and one that the reporter hopes will give young girls a new sense of career-inspired confidence.

“I think about maybe a young girl picking up the game for the first time and hearing my voice and saying, ‘Wow, is that a job I can do someday? That’s so cool’,” beamed Bathe. “It meant more to me than just fulfilling a dream of being in a video game. It was knowing that I’d be on this platform as a voice and hopefully encourage or spark something in someone to think about that being a career for them as well. So, it was a really cool moment and it means a lot to me to be in the game.”

A Hockey-Lifer

For some, it comes from watching a game on TV or at the arena; for others, it’s getting their first pack of hockey cards or playing their first video game. For Carrlyn Bathe, her love of hockey had come from her father, Frank, a former NHL player. More on Mr. Bathe later, though.

Nevertheless, the younger Bathe was a hockey-lifer right from the start.

“I grew up playing the sport,” Bathe said. “My dad, as you know, played for the Philadelphia Flyers and the [AHL’s] Maine Mariners and those were things that I knew but didn’t realize the significance of it.”

A native of Scarborough, Maine, Bathe had an embarrassment of riches as far as being a hockey fan went.

Growing up just under 10 miles outside of Portland, Bathe was in close proximity to the aforementioned Mariners and later the Portland Pirates. Scarborough was also just 90 miles east of Manchester, New Hampshire, where the Kings’ former farm club, the Monarchs, played; and, of course,  110 miles from Boston, home of the Bruins and four of the NCAA’s most prestigious hockey programs in Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard.

“While growing up surrounded by these teams, it became normal: going to Bruins games, hanging with friends and getting cheap tickets to the Pirates later on throughout high school,” Bathe continued.

Yet, while the Bruins and each of the aforementioned teams held significance for the youngster, Bathe admitted that it was the AHL’s Pirates that really got her hooked on hockey at a young age. This was especially prevalent during the club’s Calder Cup run in 1994.

“The Portland Pirates probably had the biggest influence on me,” Bathe reflected. “That was the team that I first remembered growing up. I remember being out on the ice for holiday skates; I remember them winning the Calder Cup.; I remember driving in the parade in somebody’s car; I remember that team being unstoppable. I was very young, probably six years old, so those were some of my earliest hockey memories.”

Having relocated from Baltimore the previous year, the Portland Pirates would march all the way to the Calder Cup Final, defeating the Moncton Hawks in six games to capture the AHL Championship and, in the process, help a community missing their Mariners. The team was led by a couple of figures who would later help the Washington Capitals achieve unprecedented playoff success. Goaltender, and Calder Cup MVP, Olaf Kolzig would guide the Caps to their first Stanley Cup Final in 1998 while head coach Barry Trotz would lead the organization to their first Cup win in 2018. The 1993-94 Pirates roster also included a couple of future Kings in Byron Dafoe and Jason Allison.

Carrlyn’s love of hockey, however, was so deep that she admitted that she barely recognized other sports.

“Playing hockey, I almost didn’t realize that other sports even existed for years,” Bathe said, laughing. “Hockey was in my family and what we were all about. I may have played a little recreational soccer or some softball but it never ever stuck the way that hockey did.”

Like Father, Like Daughter

The aforementioned Frank Bathe, whose professional playing career saw him make stops in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings and, most notably, with the Philadelphia Flyers, was a local celebrity.

Not to everyone, though.

“Growing up, I just looked at my dad as my dad,” Bathe noted. “Not anything that I recognized as something special or out of the ordinary or different from other kids I was growing up with.”

Carrlyn’s love of hockey, however, as deep as it was, wasn’t the only thing that she inherited from her father.

As a child, Carrlyn got to witness first-hand how respected her father was in the community and, in turn, how he responded to it. It is something that quickly rubbed off on the younger Bathe.

“My dad, everywhere we went, someone would know who he was or someone would always say hello,” Bathe remembered. “He had such great relationships with everyone in the community. It was not uncommon for us to walk into a store, a grocery store or the mall and someone would say, ‘Hey Frank, how’s it going? What’s going on?’ I just kind of adopted his ability to talk to everybody and be friendly and didn’t realize that it was because of people being hockey fans or my dad having influenced so many people just knowing who he was. That was just really cool seeing that growing up.”

Frank, however, wasn’t Carrlyn’s only male role model growing up as the younger Bathe also had four brothers — all of whom loved, and played, hockey.

“All four of them played different positions, too,” Carrlyn added. “Two goalies, my brothers Cameron and Lincoln, my brother Landon being left wing, forward and some defense and my dad being a defenseman. My little brother, as well, is still playing men’s league and he’s really, really good. My brother, Landon, at one point, was signed by the Coyotes and Predators in their minor-league systems.”

As influential as Frank was on his sons, though, it was his daughter who followed her dad’s footsteps in the form of, albeit in a different capacity, making it to the NHL.

“My dad always jokes that I was the only one of his kids to make it to the NHL,” an amused Bathe beamed. “So, even though I’m not playing for [the Kings], that’s still his definition of making it to the NHL. [My dad and my brothers] had such a big influence on me, by osmosis, just absorbed all of our hockey involvement. It’s like a part of my being that I will never ever get rid of, even if I tried.”

Limited Choices, Limitless Passion

Unfortunately for Carrlyn, there weren’t many options growing up as far as girls hockey went. As a result, Carrlyn’s introduction to organized hockey was delayed.

“It was hard to find organized girls’ hockey growing up,” Bathe recalled. “I didn’t even get to play organized hockey until I was in middle school when they actually put me on the high school girls’ team. So, that was my first taste of organized hockey.”

If anyone expected said delay to deter Carrlyn’s love and passion for hockey, though, they would be mistaken.

“I was already skating since I was walking, so I really, truly just took this crazy love to it, played pond hockey all winter long, even if I couldn’t play organized hockey with my brothers or anything,” Bathe fondly reflected. “[My brothers were] where I got my training. We had this frozen pond that was next to Scarborough Beach called Massacre Pond and waited for that to freeze over in the wintertime.

“After I spent a lot of time playing pond hockey, I remember I would skate so late into the winter and into spring that I would know when it was time to stop skating when you step onto the ice and your skates break through the first two feet and you’re standing in water and go, ‘Okay, I guess it’s time to stop now.’ That’s how hard it was to get me to stop skating.”

As much as she loved playing the game, though, Carrlyn would soon discover that she could be a part of hockey in an entirely different capacity.

This realization came in 2007 on the heels of a cross-country move.

Hungry in Hollywood

Having moved to Los Angeles in 2007, Carrlyn Bathe was ready to embark on a new chapter in her life. But, it was here where it really sunk in that there were many more careers in hockey than being a player.

“I had played my whole life, so thinking about working in sports didn’t even really hit me until I moved to L.A.,” admitted Bathe.

But, it was one on-screen personality, in particular, who piqued Bathe’s interest in broadcasting.

“ It was Heidi Androl,” noted the Mainer-turned-Californian. “What she had been doing with the Kings at the time back in 2007 when I moved [to Los Angeles], that really struck a chord with me where I saw a woman thriving, working in this field and getting to talk about hockey for a living. I couldn’t believe it.”

At one point in her life, Bathe’s attitude towards a career in hockey may have been more black-and-white. Upon her move to Los Angeles and her introduction to local Kings broadcasts, though, the player-or-bust mentality fell by the wayside.

“It was always just something that I absorbed, as I said, by osmosis growing up where it was natural to be around it and natural to play, to be involved in it, and it was almost unnatural for me being so young to be thinking that I could do this for a career,” Bathe admitted. “I didn’t even know the opportunities that really existed for me. So, seeing Heidi really put it in perspective for me for the first time: that’s what you can do with this knowledge, that’s how you can further your love, your interest in this sport and turn it into something like a career, so I really attribute a lot to seeing her.”

For Kings fans in general, Ms. Androl’s presence on broadcasts occurred at a unique juncture, during the team’s unprecedented resurgence.

While they were still a few years away from winning the Stanley Cup, the Kings had shrewdly rebuilt their team into a playoff force and, ultimately, a championship contender. Androl was front-and-centre during this auspicious time, leaving her mark on Kings fans, especially, in addition to Bathe, the club’s overall female fanbase.

While not in the broadcasting capacity, Bathe did soon join the Kings organization. In 2008, Bathe was hired as a member of the team’s Ice Crew.

“I loved my time on the Ice Crew,” Bathe fondly remembered. “It was a great first step in working for a professional hockey team and that was one of the jobs I got when I moved to California. I had auditioned for the Ice Crew, had no idea what I was getting myself into and truly had a blast.”

While the thrill of being part of an NHL organization was evident, it only scratched the surface for the hockey-lifer’s experience with the Ice Crew.

“The way that we were able to represent the team at [STAPLES Center] and out in the community, the value that you build there with the fans transitions over to the future roles you have within the company,” Bathe elaborated. “I’m not even the only person who had another job with the Kings afterwards. A lot of people went on to work on the corporate side, working in the office and the Ice Crew served as a really good stepping stone for that. It really prepared me in terms of having those fan relationships already established and that it really helped me launch into that role seamlessly.”

And the determination of Bathe’s ultimate goal never wavered, becoming an in-arena host for the Kings in 2013.

“Like I said, seeing Heidi do what she did, knowing that working as a reporter and as a host was my ultimate goal, that was a clear step in my next journey,” the 32-year-old said. “People over at the Kings recognized that and helped me get my foot into the door. I didn’t do that alone. They put trust in me to take that microphone and run with that and I will be forever grateful for that. So, it was five years with the Ice Crew and basically built up that trust and that experience and those fan relationships and set me on the right foot forward to have a great experience there.

“And then, there’s nothing like interviewing and hosting. That’s the most unique experience because you will never speak on a microphone in front of 18,000 people. It is the wildest experience and so incredibly fun and that’s the one job I miss the most.”

Current Role and Advice

While as an in-arena host, Carrlyn Bathe had done some freelance features for FOX Sports West. This would lead to the Maine native working digitally for FOX — first for FS1 in 2016 and for FOX Sports West the following year.

In 2018, though, Bathe would achieve her goal, officially following in her mentor Heidi Androl’s footsteps, being hired as the Kings’ sideline TV reporter for FOX Sports West. Now, Bathe enjoys her role not only as part of a Kings broadcasting team with plenty of lineage but as a pioneer. So, in helping to further inspire girls hoping for a career in hockey, Carrlyn closed with some sound advice.

“Hockey is for everyone and if someone tells you no, you’re talking to the wrong person,” Bathe emphasized. “There are people who have worked in this sport who are happy to have you working for them and you just need to find those people. Do not stop trying to show the world the greatness that you can offer this sport. There’s a place for everybody, there’s a role for everybody. If we can’t be out on the ice and in the action, there’s somewhere else that we can be to help along the way. It’s a place where you shouldn’t quiet down, be told no and accept it. Work hard, find the right people to work for and encourage others along the way. Build your own network of positivity, connect yourself with people that support you positively and try and shut out the no. Don’t let that define you and don’t let that speak to what you’re capable of as a person looking to work in this sport because, like I said, hockey is for everyone. You can shout it from the rooftops.”

Very well said.

It may have been her father’s career that introduced her to the hockey world but it was Carrlyn Bathe’s unyielding passion and determination that created a path towards her own career in hockey.

Having the courage to move over 3,000 miles from one end of the country to the other is inspiring in itself. Embarking on a successful journey in the hockey world — in a new, unfamiliar place, no less — a feeling of inspiration is only the beginning.

Few would have blamed her if she wasn’t able to find success in Los Angeles. Carrlyn Bathe did, though, and did so by joining one of the most respected organizations in professional hockey, the Los Angeles Kings.

First with the Ice Crew and now as a reporter for FOX Sports West, Bathe not only had the privilege of working with the Kings but became a staple in the Los Angeles community, developing friendships and professional relationships with so many along the way.

13 years ago, she tuned in to a Kings TV broadcast, saw Heidi Androl and made it her mission to follow in her footsteps. Now, female hockey fans who aspire for a career in hockey are doing what Bathe did then, looking at the pride and joy of Scarborough, Maine, and thinking — nay, believing — “I can do that, too!”

Even better, that sense of inspiration is no longer limited to the Kings fanbase. After all, thanks to her history-making appearance in NHL 21, Carrlyn Bathe is now also the voice and personality familiar to EA NHL gamers.

As a hockey fan, it is wonderful to see women, at last, receiving the accolades they deserve. Thanks to Cammi Granato and Angela James, the door is now open for women to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Their induction in 2010 paved the way for Geraldine Heaney, Hayley Wickenheiser and a plethora of future female stars to follow suit. Also thanks to Cammi Granato, it is now possible for women to hold scouting roles in the NHL; thanks to Blake Bolden, it is now possible for black women to succeed, have been hired herself by the Kings as a scout.

Girls who love hockey look up to these women, feeling inspired to be whatever they want to be in the hockey world. Add Carrlyn Bathe to the list of these inspiring women. It may not have been her intention but her presence in NHL 21 will leave young girls thinking, as Bathe had said earlier, ‘Wow, is that a job I can do someday? That’s so cool!’

As a child, she was referred to as Frank Bathe’s daughter. Yet, while that moniker fills her with enormous pride, Carrlyn Bathe is now referred to as Carrlyn Bathe, working hard for so many years to become successful in not only creating her own identity but in making the most of her identity and thriving as a hockey figure.

A girl from rural Maine hard-pressed to find organized girls hockey, Carrlyn Bathe had plenty of reason to be deterred. She chose not to be, however. As a result, that girl from rural Maine has succeeded beyond even her own expectations to enjoy her best life possible in the bright lights of Los Angeles, covering a Kings team in the midst of a promising build — much like where they were 13 years ago when Ms. Bathe was first introduced to her own inspirational figure, Heidi Androl.

As time goes on, the more promising the impact of women has not only on hockey but on the world. After all, as of this past weekend, the United States have added a chapter to their deep, illustrious history with Kamala Harris set to become the country’s first female Vice President.

It is a promising time for women and it will only get better. Among others, you can thank Carrlyn Bathe for that — and if she’s too modest to accept it, thank her anyway.

Whichever way you look at it, Carrlyn Bathe, the embodiment of hard work, determination and inspiration, deserves all of her success.

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