Flyers fans who yearn for playoff hockey at least can hear the team’s television voice on national TV tonight.
Jim Jackson will call Game 3 of the Boston Bruins-Florida Panthers series on TNT at 7:30 p.m.
Jackson will be joined on the call by Jody Shelley and Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre. Shelley scored two goals in 89 games with the Flyers from 2010-13.
The same broadcasting team will work Game 4 at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Game 4 also will be on TNT.
Longtime Flyers voice
Jackson has been the Flyers’ TV voice for 26 seasons. He started with the team in 1993 on the radio side. Two years later, he moved to TV and has been there since. He works primarily with analyst Keith Jones, who also is broadcasting playoff games on TBS.
Jackson also worked on the Phillies’ broadcasts for 14 years (2007-20). He did some radio play-by-play for home games.
Jackson has a distinctive voice that captures the speed and excitement of hockey. He has become a fixture in Philadelphia — not an easy task since his predecessors included Gene Hart and Doc Emrick.
Jackson will see familiar faces are on the ice for the Panthers in former Flyers Alex Lyon, Radko Gudas and Nick Cousins.
Lyon has a 3.07 goals-against average and .909 save percentage as the Panthers are surprisingly tied, 1-1, against the record-setting Bruins. Boston won 65 games in the regular season.
Lyon started 25 games (6-7 record) for the Flyers from 2017-21. This is his first year with the Panthers.
Former Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky also is on the Panthers but he hasn’t played since March 27 because of a non-Covid illness. Bobrovsky played seven games in two seasons with the Flyers (2010-12).
Cousins, who played in Philly from 2014-17, has two assists and is averaging 8:43 of ice time.
Gudas, a defenseman, played from 2015-19 with Philadelphia. He has averaged 16:04 of ice time in both games.