NHL 27 Uses AI to Clone Commentator John Buccigross’s Voice

A goal goes in, the crowd erupts, and John Buccigross’s voice fills the headset — “Score! And the crowd gets out of their chairs!” Chairs. Not seats. Chairs.

That one word is everything. EA Sports is using AI voice cloning to generate some of Buccigross’s commentary lines in NHL 27, released September 11, 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The ESPN veteran revealed it himself on the Chirping Zebras podcast in early September 2026 — and if players who picked up NHL 27 at launch have already noticed anything odd about the booth, they may have heard lines Buccigross never actually recorded in a studio.

“Less Work, Same Check”

EA’s approach is straightforward: clone Buccigross’s voice, generate additional lines, and skip the proportional studio time.

When developers played back AI-generated samples, his reaction was candid. “They’re using some AI stuff now… It’s like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty good.’ You know, if it means less work and the same check, I’ll take it,” he said on the Chirping Zebras podcast, as reported by Video Games Chronicle. He shares the booth with Chicago Blackhawks analyst Darren Pang.

Here’s what’s actually happening inside NHL 27’s booth:

• EA synthesizes additional Buccigross lines from a recorded voice model, reducing studio recording time
• Buccigross vetted samples and flagged errors — including the AI saying “chairs” instead of hockey’s standard “seats”
• He also corrected score-calling convention: “six to four,” never “four to six”
• EA had not issued a detailed public statement on the scope of NHL 27’s AI use at time of publication, according to IGN

“Words matter.” — John Buccigross, Chirping Zebras podcast

The AI voice is convincing enough that Buccigross said so himself. But it doesn’t know that “seats” isn’t a synonym — it’s a dialect, built over decades of broadcast tradition. Getting it wrong is like autocorrect confidently sending “duck” when the moment demanded something else entirely. Technically a word. Completely wrong for the context. The human is still the guardrail.

EA Discloses AI in Its Other Sports Games. NHL 27 Is Different.

The disclosure gap between EA’s Steam titles and its console-only NHL release raises legitimate questions about transparency.

EA labels generative AI on Steam store pages for College Football 27, Madden NFL 27, and EA Sports FC — Valve’s platform policy requires it. NHL 27 is console-only, so no such label exists, even though similar tooling is reportedly in play. EA has also used AI-assisted commentary for EA Sports FC commentator Guy Mowbray, framing the technology as supportive rather than a replacement for human talent. No official public statement on NHL 27’s AI scope had been issued at time of publication, per IGN.

The question isn’t whether AI can sound like Buccigross. It already can. The real question is whether it can learn to think like a hockey broadcaster — and right now, that still requires a human in the room to stop it from saying “chairs.”