NHL Analyst Under Fire for ‘Explaining’ Hockey to a Women’s Team Olympic Gold Medalist

Kendall Coyne Schofield is a five-time World Championship gold medalist hockey player who helped the United States capture the gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics by scoring two goals during the competition in PyeongChang, South Korea. She currently plays for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women’s Hockey League and just last week she made history as the first female to compete in the NHL All-Star skills competition. In short, Coyne Schofield knows hockey. That didn’t stop on-air reporter Pierre McGuire from trying to explain it to her, though.

Coyne Schofield, who earned a communications degree at Boston’s Northeastern University, was invited to make her broadcasting debut on NBC’s Inside the Glass as an on-air analyst for Wednesday night’s match between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins. McGuire didn’t seem to be aware that Coyne Schofield knew a great deal about hockey, though. “Tampa’s going to be on your left, Pittsburgh’s going to be on your right,” McGuire told Coyne Schofield on air, adding: “We’re paying you to be an analyst, not be a fan tonight.”

In 2014, the Oxford English Dictionary named “mansplain” as a runner-up for their word of the year. According to the dictionary, to mansplain is “to explain something to someone, typically a man to woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing.”

Now, McGuire faces backlash for what he said about hockey to an athlete who won a gold medal for playing the game.

McGuirre has since commented.

Coyne Schofield defended McGuirre in a statement.

“I’ve known Pierre McGuire for years. I know he respects me as a hockey player, a woman, and a friend and that is why I didn’t think twice about our on-air exchange when it happened,” Coyne Schofield wrote. “I didn’t give it a second thought until after the game when I received countless messages.

McGuirre also issued a statement.