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It goes without saying that you need to choose your words carefully when you make a living as a sports broadcaster. Plenty of people in that line of work have fallen victim to a dreaded hot mic at some point in their career, and the man who provides play-by-play coverage for Flyers games on the radio was treated to a two-game suspension after becoming the latest member of that club.
Anyone who decides to pursue a career as a play-by-play announcer for an NHL team is signing up for a high-pressure job that requires them to be on their A-game whenever they roll up to an arena.
People in that line of work are primarily tasked with immediately identifying players on both teams while keeping track of an incredibly high-speed game, and they have to balance those duties with obligatory sponsorship plugs and banter with a color commentator on a broadcast where millions of people have the potential to notice you’ve screwed up.
Tim Saunders has spent close to three decades checking those boxes on a regular basis while covering Flyers games on the radio, but he’s been treated to an involuntary hiatus thanks to what transpired when they faced off against the Sabres on Thursday night.
Tim Saunders was temporarily suspended from his duties as the play-by-play guy for Flyers’ radio broadcasts over an awkward hot mic moment
In 2020, now-former Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman was responsible for the most notable hot mic moment in recent memory when he was caught using a slur during a broadcast and had his subsequent apology interrupted by a drive into deep left field by Nick Castellanos that ended up being a home run that made it a 4-0 ballgame.
Brennaman was under the impression his mic was not live when he uttered the comment that led to him being fired, and that was also the case with what transpired when Saunders, who has been calling Flyers games on the radio since 1997, landed in hot water during a trip up to Buffalo.
The Sabres had a 3-2 lead with around 13 minutes left in the third period when the game was paused for a television timeout. Saunders was under the impression the radio broadcast had also cut to commercial when he made a lewd joke that was seemingly directed at his broadcast partner, Todd Fedoruk, who informed him that was not, in fact, the case.
Saunders seemed to think Fedoruk was making a joke of his own when he said they were still live, and on Friday, the Flyers announced he’d been suspended for two games as a result.
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 19, 2025
It’s easy to understand why the Flyers felt the need to discipline Saunders over the gaffe, but it was a pretty innocent comment in the grand scheme of things despite its explicit nature.
He’ll be sidelined when Philadelphia faces off against the Rangers on Friday and the Canucks on Sunday, but it’s safe to assume he’ll be back behind the mic when they play the Blackhawks on December 23rd.