Meet Gordo St. John: The Hockey-Mad Mastermind Behind TNT's NHL Playoff Coverage

To get a handle on Gordo St. John, think of a gonzo Ted Lasso.

He's a fictional character, but his presence in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs is very, very real.

Gordo's backstory: he's a hockey lifer who masterminded the Vegas Golden Knights' best-in-class in-arena experience, which made such a splash when the expansion NHL franchise debuted in 2017. 

Now, the NHL on TNT crew is tapping Gordo's unique talents to help prepare for its first-ever Stanley Cup final coverage this spring.

"What if we brought that same person in, to take our show up a notch and do something fun and different?" pondered Tyler Lassiter, the associate creative director for NHL on TNT parent company WBD Sports. "He is pulling from all these different sorts of hockey traditions to do something for our show."

With 11 Sports Emmys on his shelf from his work with Inside the NBA, NBA on TNT and March Madness, Lassiter shifted his focus to hockey when TNT acquired part of the NHL's U.S. broadcast rights package two years ago. He started developing Gordo St. John's backstory more than a year ago.

"Some people love him. Some people hate him," Lassiter said. "But if you're in the hockey world, you've heard of him, you've had an interaction, you have a story. We thought that would be a fun way to develop the character."

The first big step in bringing Gordo to life came at last fall's player media tour. Prior to the pre-season, the NHL gathered the top names in the game to help create content that can be used across various platforms throughout the year. 

With the cameras rolling, Lassiter asked hockey's top stars to share their impressions of Gordo — with great results.

"I was shocked at the delivery some of them gave me on some of these lines," Lassiter said. "And I saw a lot of the comments were like, 'Who knew half the NHL could act?' 

"Having them embrace it — they're used to just coming in and like, 'OK, we need you to stay here and stop here and pose for this and we're going to shoot this specialty stuff or do this social gag,' " Lassiter said. "This was, 'I get to act today.' They had so much fun with it."

With players often accused of being wooden or repressing their personalities, the finished product is another feather in the cap for the NHL on TNT crew, who have also been lauded for the authenticity they've been able to draw out of interview subjects during their broadcasts.

With those video clips in hand, Lassiter set out to find his Gordo. Actor David Harbour, an avid New York Rangers fan who is often spotted in the stands at Madison Square Garden, was on a shortlist of potential candidates.

"There was a photo that I saw of him at a Rangers game where he's standing up, yelling and screaming," Lassiter recalled. "I was like, 'Oh, that's Gordo. That's the guy. That's the energy right there."

Lassiter was also impressed by Harbour's resumé.

"Anything that I've ever seen David do, I know he's an actor who's fully committed," he said. "He will deliver, and he's legitimately funny, too. "In Stranger Things, you see a little bit of that."

From there, it was time to flesh out the rest of Gordo's story, including the execution of his master plan for the NHL on TNT studio show.

"He means well," Lassiter said. "But he's overzealous, eccentric. Some of the stuff that he's going to suggest isn't gonna hit the mark."

Harbour delivered in a big way when bringing Gordo to life in TNT's full-length, eight-minute mini-movie.

"In that long-form spot, he takes you on an emotional rollercoaster from being the over-the-top, ridiculous and aggressive to when he starts crying, talking about hockey and how much he loves it," Lassiter said. "I was just like, 'Gosh, this is more than I could have asked for.' He over-delivered, but it was awesome."

For all his quirks, Gordo's heart is in the right place, just like Ted Lasso. And don't forget — Lasso was also originally conceived for promotional purposes, stumping for English Premier League coverage on NBC Sports back in 2013.

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Fans will see more of Gordo throughout the playoffs, including a piece with all-new content that will be unveiled shortly before the beginning of the Stanley Cup final.

First-round coverage continues this weekend on TNT and TBS, with some of the broadcasts, including the Hudson River Rivalry between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, being re-broadcast in Canada on Sportsnet.