Kirk McKnight - The Voices of Hockey: Broadcasters Reflect on the Fastest Game on Earth

The Voices of Hockey

The Voices of Hockey

Broadcasters Reflect on the Fastest Game on Earth

Kirk McKnight

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McKnight, Kirk.

Title: The voices of hockey : broadcasters reflect on the fastest game on earth / Kirk McKnight.

Description: Lanham : ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016011744 (print) | LCCN 2016031007 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442262805 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781538107560 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442262812 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: HockeyHistory. | Hockey teamsHistory. | Sportscasters. | Radio broadcasting of sportsHistory. | Television broadcasting of sportsHistory.

Classification: LCC GV846.5 .M44 2016 (print) | LCC GV846.5 (ebook) | DDC 796.62dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016011744

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To my lovely little daughter Adaira, who let me take her to her first sporting event ever, a hockey game. She couldnt tell you the final score, but, to tell the truth, neither could I. As long as shes cheeringeven if my team is the one on the losing sideIm cheering, too.

Whether its hockey, basketball, or baseball, theres a major difference if youre doing radio or television, particularly in hockey. Doing play by play on radio, in effect, you are the game. That probably holds true for all sports. Its very descriptive. Its nonstop. The terminology is important in hockey as to where the puck is and to just paint the picture. In television, obviously, you see it and theres time to breathe a little bit. Hockey is just nonstop on radio. Its more difficult on radio for the analyst to get in. It has to be a quick in and out of the commercial break. On television, I feel play by play is a little more pulled back. The analyst has a little more time to get it in, but they still have to be very careful because things happen so bang bang. Its a completely different venue when youre doing radio and TV.

Marv Albert, former New York Rangers radio play-by-play broadcaster

I say this very often. I am extremely honored to be a part of the hockey broadcasting fraternity. One of the biggest thrills I have is to be able to do every game and to be able to visit and talk with my fellow broadcasters. There are young ones and there are old ones, but I especially get a thrill out of talking with guys who have been around for a long time. Not only the Bob Coles, but also the Rick Jeannerets in Buffalo, the Mike Langes in Pittsburgh, the Kenny Alberts of the Rangers, the L.A. Kings guys out there, and the list goes on and on and on. Mike Emrick is such a class act. Its really something to be able to be around him for a couple of games a year. We run into one another and are able to soak in some of the knowledge and the experiences weve had. Thats what really motivates me and makes me so proud to be a part of this fraternity.

Randy Moller, Florida Panthers radio play-by-play broadcaster

Foreword

Breaking the Ice... of Fandom

I was only a year and a half old when Herb Brooks coached the U.S. Mens Hockey Team to their victory over the seemingly invincible Russian team in Lake Placid during the 1980 Winter Olympics. Being a resident of Las Vegas practically my entire life, Im not sure the game and Al Michaelss call were even on the TV inside my house. The McKnight family, growing up, was baseball first, and that included a six-year-old Kirk. At about the age of 10, what I will refer to throughout this book as arguably the biggest trade in sports history took place. Wayne Gretzky, the biggest star the game of hockey had ever seen up to that point (and perhaps ever), was packing his bags for Southern California to play for the Los Angeles Kings. Still, even in 1988, hockey was a distant third or fourth to baseball, football, and college basketball. As a Las Vegan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was nothing going on in the sports world outside of UNLV mens basketball. Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, George Ackles, and Anderson Huntfour of whom would be drafted by the NBA a year laterwere dominating the hardwood floor at the Thomas & Mack Center, all the way to a national championship in 1990. In the meantime, Gretzkys former team was winning their fifth Stanley Cup championship title in seven years in Edmonton, but who knew in Sin City?

A couple of years later, I started taking a liking to the game of hockey. Wayne Gretzky and Super Mario Lemieux, arguably the two most exciting players the sport has ever seen, were exhibiting their craft on opposite sides of the country, Gretzky in the West and Lemieux in the East. Ive been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan since Bill Cowher became their coach, and, following the Steelers, I couldnt help but notice the Pittsburgh teams with their black and gold color schemes. My becoming a fan of hockey just so happened to coincide with the discovery of Hodgkins disease inside Lemieux. When Mario came back to the game after his treatments, I, and everyone else watching, was amazed by his resilience; I couldnt help but cheer him on. Theres no question my two favorite players to watch were the two best ones on the ice. How could you not enjoy watching such prolific goal scoring between these two Canadian-born players? Living in the West, I couldnt get Penguin broadcasts like I could for the Kings, so anything related to Lemieux was reserved for the nightly edition of ESPNs SportsCenter . Gretzky, on the other hand, I could watch on Fox Sports, and, believe me, I watched any game I could. Being a baseball fanatic, the transition to hockey was allowable, because the seasons oppose one another. While baseballs offseason was taking place, I was watching Lemieux and Gretzky, and, while those two were on their summer leave, I would go back to Frank Thomas, Cecil Fielder, and MLB.

Speaking of Americas pastime, the year before MLB decided to leave its millions of fans high and dry, and forego the last six weeks of the regular seasonas well as the postseasonLas Vegas was introduced to the minor-league world of hockey. The Las Vegas Thunder were the biggest thing to hit the city since Johnson, Augmon, and Anthony had raised a championship banner into the rafters at the Thomas & Mack Center. I was in the arena on opening night for the Las Vegas Thunder, watching live hockey and taking in the cool breaths of air, which I was not accustomed to after attending UNLV basketball games for all those years. There really is something about going to see a hockey game live. Whether it be the IHL, ECHL, WHA, AHL, EHL, or NHL, the feel of a professional hockey game is unimitatedthe acoustics produced by the glass boards, creating that puck right on the tape sound that precedes a 110-mile-an-hour slap shot, the chill of the arena making you feel like youre walking past a five-acre dairy section in the supermarket, and, let us not forget, the one thing that is to be expected in a hockey contest: fighting.