Hextall graduated from the Columbia Academy of Radio, Television and Recording Arts in
Vancouver with a diploma in radio and television broadcasting in 2003. She worked for
CTV Winnipeg from 2005 to 2012, and for the
New England Sports Network (NESN) as host of
NESN Sports Today from 2012 to 2014. In 2014, she joined Sportsnet as the studio host for regional
Calgary Flames game broadcasts. After being let go in 2016 amid larger organizational changes at Sportsnet, she became interested in expanding her skill set and, recognizing the dearth of women in play-by-play announcing in ice hockey, became invested in pursuing play-by-play. Encouraged by legendary NHL broadcaster
Mike "Doc" Emrick and the first female colour commentator on
Hockey Night in Canada,
Cassie Campbell-Pascall, both of whom she had worked with while in previous hosting roles, she began refining her announcing skills. Her television debut calling play-by-play was a four-game set of
Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) games in January 2018. She returned to the role for the CWHL in January 2019, notably using the non-standard term "defencewoman" to refer to the defensive players. During that period, Hextall called games on the side, generally for free, including for the
Brandon Wheat Kings of the
Western Hockey League (WHL). Hextall has a segment called "Hextall on Hockey," which airs weekly on the
AM radio station
680 CJOB in Winnipeg and is rebroadcast by a number of stations across Canada. The under two-minute segments are united by the theme of ice hockey and, while the most frequent topic is the
Winnipeg Jets, Hextall has used the segment to highlight issues within the hockey world, including sexism and other social injustices. In May 2021, the
New York Post reported ESPN had signed Hextall to the
NHL on ESPN broadcast team as a play-by-play announcer and to "other posts" for the upcoming
2021–22 NHL season. The hiring, later confirmed by
The Athletic, makes her "the first woman to hold [a play-by-play] role as part of a national TV broadcast." ESPN removed her from NHL play-by-play duties following the
2022-23 season, but kept her as a rinkside reporter for select games, mainly with the #2 team of
Bob Wischusen and
Ryan Callahan. However, she does do play-by-play announcing for the
NCAA women's ice hockey tournament. == Personal life ==