The St. Louis Blues and Hubbard Radio announced on April 30 that 101 ESPN will air live broadcasts of the American Hockey League Calder Cup Playoff series between the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Providence Bruins, beginning Friday, May 1 at 6:05 p.m. Central Time. The entire best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinal series will be available on 101.1 FM WXOS throughout the St. Louis region, with Ryan Smith serving as play-by-play announcer.
The broadcast schedule includes potential games through Saturday, May 9 if necessary, covering both home and away matchups for Springfield. Smith has been the voice of the Thunderbirds since 2016 and made his National Hockey League debut in 2022 on 101 ESPN during a Blues game at Boston.
Springfield is led by head coach Steve Ott in his first season after taking over in January. Under Ott’s leadership, the team secured a playoff spot with a strong finish to their regular season and achieved a comeback win against Charlotte Checkers to advance past the opening round of playoffs.
Five current members of Springfield also played for St. Louis during this NHL season: Otto Stenberg, Theo Lindstein, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, Hugh McGing, and Hunter Skinner. The Providence Bruins enter this series after earning a first-round bye as regular-season champions but faced challenges from Springfield during their meetings earlier in the year.
The affiliation between St. Louis and Springfield began in 2021 and was extended through the end of the 2030-31 season last October. The partnership has brought notable achievements for Springfield including an Eastern Conference championship in 2022 and recognition as AHL Team of the Year.
