MLB analyst Ben McDonald, who works with ESPN, explained his side after his comments about the NHL spread online. While calling a playoff game on Wednesday, McDonald said he would not watch hockey. His reply drew attention from hockey fans, and some thought McDonald was disrespecting hockey.On Friday, McDonald joined Leafs Morning Take to clear up the situation. He said people misunderstood his words. "People made it out that I hate the game of hockey, and Ben McDonald hates hockey, which is obviously the furthest thing from the truth, you know," McDonald said.He described himself as an outdoorsman who avoids TV outside of baseball. He explained that he focuses on baseball during games and rarely listens to ad reads.Ben McDonald added that he respects the sport and its athletes. But he simply does not watch much hockey."I respect the game of hockey," McDonald said. "Obviously, I respect the athletes, are big time athletes. I just don't watch a lot of hockey, but I'm from Louisiana, ...we don't play a lot of hockey down here. I grew up playing football, basketball, and baseball, ... I have been to a few hockey games, not many, but I've been to a few."The former Orioles pitcher also believes social media exaggerated his remarks unfairly."I could see where people would be a little bit upset about that, and I get it," McDonald said. "Look, there's obviously a lot of hardcore hockey fans out there, you know, but it's just funny to me. It's weird to me that somebody can be criticized for not liking the same sport as somebody else, you know."McDonald said he does not criticize people for disliking baseball. He added that hockey fans can dislike it if they want, and that everyone has their own opinion. Ben McDonald did not know about NHL's ESPN dealBack in March 2021, the NHL inked a seven year broadcast deal with ESPN, which is worth $4.5 billion. However, during the Leafs Morning Take appearance, Ben McDonald said that he did not know ESPN had the NHL contract. "I never even realized that ESPN had the hockey contract this year," McDonald said. "... because I just don't pay attention to that kind of stuff, you know. So that was news to me, too. "McDonald's Wednesday remark was upfront, and it came after play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown promoted ESPN’s NHL coverage."There is zero chance I'll be watching, I'm just gonna be honest with you." McDonald said earlier.Now, in his clarification, McDonald has mentioned that he respects hockey.