The Hockey PDOcast - Episode 332: Broadcast Team Rankings

Episode Date: January 8, 2020

Greg Wyshynski joins the show to help rank the best and worst local broadcast teams in the league these days. We discuss what we need from a hockey broadcast in 2020, the various unique quirks we like and don't like, and the pursuit of a perfect play-by-play and colour commentator pairing.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

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my good brother, Greg Rusinski. Greg, what's going on then? Nothing much, colleague. Yeah. It's always fun to say that. It's always fun to go on, like, Reddit and see people. There's three stages of Reddit now. There's the first initial, oh, what does ESPN know about hockey thing?

And then there's, like, someone who steps up and says, no, no, no, you have to understand that the TV side's different the writing side. And there's a third level of it that says, they have Greg Wischinski, Emily Kappel and Dimitri Pilipovich and Chris Peters. And then it makes me really happy that like we've we've all, you know, contributed to the brand equity. And we all do different stuff too, which I really like. I think we've really kind of cornered in the market there in terms of a fun,

like original content. I think we're doing a good job. But obviously you and I having this conversation is we're coming from a pretty biased place. Very, very biased plays, but that's fun. And then you're right. Like it's like we're like the Avengers. Like everybody brings a certain thing to the table. You know, Emily brings heart and humanity, and you bring an analytical genius, and Chris brings prospects.

And, you know, I'm making the same jokes I made in 2010. So it's all one big stew of goodness over there, isn't it? I'm like deep diving, Blake Coleman and Anthony Sorrelli, and then all of a sudden Chris Peters comes in from the top rope. It was a like random Slovakian guy that no one's ever heard of. He's 17 years old and he's like, watch out for this guy. It's like, oh, my God, we've got it all. All right, Greg, so the plan today is you and I are going to do a bit of a informal, but we'll see how it goes broadcast team rankings.

And I kind of, I forget how, what the genesis of this was, I think, like Joe Schmo 69 or something on Twitter, like put out his rankings and then you commented on it. And then you and I started a message thread going back and forth about it. And we decided to just do it in podcast form instead. Indeed. Yeah, that's probably how it works. We'll just free will it. I mean, there's a lot of good voices out there. There's a lot of voices I don't need to hear out there. So we'll try to separate the laundry a little bit on this podcast. Yeah. Well, when I started doing this, I sat down to write it out. It was depressing that I actually had opinions for the most part on all of the broadcasting. It's like, oh, my God, I've spent way too much time watching hockey, the fact that I can distinguish between some of these names. But before we get into, to it. What's like, let's get into the methodology a little bit in terms of like what we're looking for from our hockey broadcast in 2019 in terms of personal preferences or, you know,

things that are deal breakers for you or what you need from your, your broadcast team. Is there a certain stuff that like sticks out to you and when you tune into a game that you really need first and foremost? Yeah, I need I need a play by play guy that's going to be able to not only bring the energy, but also maybe wink at us a little bit about how ridiculous, everything they're watching is. And I know that on a national level, Doc Emmerich gets stinked by a lot of people. But he's one of my favorite broadcasters

of that very reason, which is that when the action gets hot and heavy, he elevates it. He doesn't get in the way of it, but he elevates it. And there's always sort of this whimsical, winking, we all know this is all dumb, right? Kind of thing to the way he conveys the game.

That's what I wanted to be play-by-play guy. out of a color commentator, I want I want quirkiness and an occasional hard opinion that sneaks through the We're a Rights Holder filter

but not I'm not a fan of the this is going to be a reference that doesn't fly for a lot of people but there was a dude named Ralph Kiner who used to do Mets games back in New York when I was a kid like legendary

baseball player. I think he's a Hall of Fame where he used to play with the Pittsburgh Pirates. And, you know, he was like the fuddy-duddy. Like, he would say things and it'd be cute and whatever because he was an old jock. But he was, he was just sort of like befuddling rather than being interesting. And so I like, I like there being a certain kind of befuddling charm to a color commentator, but not to the point where they're sort of incompetent at what they do. But I don't, I don't necessarily a straight X as a nose guy. I need someone who's going to be a big personality, but be good at their job too.

I guess would be the summation of that. When I was going through this list, what I noticed that kind of stuck out to me is that I think we're in a pretty good place with play-by-play guys, especially with this. I actually know Chris Peters wrote about this recently for ESPN, but there's this like next wave of play-by-play guys who are, you know, whatever,

in their early 30s, mid-30s, that I think are really strong, whether it's Alex Foss or Brennan Burke or so on and so forth. There is a real lack of strong color commentators, I think, because what we find is it's a lot of former, I mean, it's pretty much exclusively a job for former players. And unfortunately, there's very few of them that are either well-spoken enough

or articulate enough to actually convey what I'm sure is a treasure chest full of experiences and anecdotes that would be interesting to the casual fan. So what makes guys like, I think, Ray Ferraro and Mike Johnson special, that they sort of have that gravitas of like we were successful NHL players and so we're coming at it from that perspective but they also can talk to you as if you're just a buddy having a beer with them and they're not talking down at you or just pretending that just because you're the fan and you never played in NHL you wouldn't get this and they kind of hand wave it so they do a really good job of kind of letting you into that circle and and letting you make you feel like you're part of the team

and I think that's what I'm looking for from the color commentators and obviously being able to actually sort of like the Chris Collinsworth of an NFL of like right after a play be able to be like all right this is this is what happened on this last play and this is why it's important like I think having that skill is is is incredibly useful for a color commentator yeah I mean to their credit like they certainly do not talk down to you and make you feel like you don't know the game that only happens on Twitter but I will also say that the the thing I also like from a local broadcast team and you kind of hit on this now is is is I like it to feel like a conversation.

I mean, I, and sometimes when you're a national fan or writer and you're, you're dipping into these games on center ice or whatever and, you know, you might not get a sense of it, but I think of like Washington, right? Like Joe Beninati and Craig Loughlin might not necessarily be everybody's cup of tea when it comes to a broadcast team. But if you're a Capitals fan, it's like inviting two old friends into your house. And, you know, these are voices that have been covering the team for a very long time. They understand the team. They understand the fan base.

They understand the psychology of the franchise, the players, the quirks. They know the stories. That level of sort of connectivity is very important to me as a consumer of television. And I think the NHL, for the most part, has a lot of teams that accomplish that. I think there's a very fine line in terms of homerism, though, where it's like, I get it. These guys are spending every day around this team they're covering, and then they're very close, very entrenched. and in some cases they're actually directly affiliated. Their broadcast team is with the actual NHL team.

And so clearly they're going to speak more highly of them and talk them up. And that is their job. But I do, there's certain teams that you can tell they're pretty big homers, but they can also acknowledge a good play or a great talent from another team or if the team they're covering commits a penalty, they're willing to admit it. And then there's certain teams and we're going to get into them here in my tier of, I have a tier of, oh, God, I hope they're not at home.

so NHL TV doesn't automatically default to them because I can't switch away quickly enough. And there's certain teams there where it's like you would just think that the team they're covering is this like flawless best team on the world at all times because they've never actually committed a penalty and they're always the best players on the planet. And it's really funny when it's coming from a team covering the Detroit Red Wings, for example, this year. So there's certain instances of that as well. Like I can take some homerism.

Like I actually think that the Jack Edwards hate is completely misguided. Twitter and I actually think that Bruins broadcast is one of the better ones and most informative ones in the league. But I can see why it would be off-putting because clearly he, you know, he's wearing his Boston Bruins Stanley Cup ring and he makes no bones above the fact that he's clearly a fan of the team as well. Yeah, I'll hold off of my Jack and Brick comments until we get into like top five area because I think they're that good. But I tend to agree with you. Okay. Where do you want to start here as far as this breakdown goes? Well, let's let's let's I have this, uh, I have this I just alluded to that tier.

I have like a tier of the bottom five teams. Go ahead. I really just like actively cannot stand. And I think my fingers do not respond quickly enough, as I mentioned, to switching away from them when an HL TV default to them. It's the Detroit Red Wings, in no particular order,

Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins. I just, I don't know, do you have any, uh, any takes on those four?

Because those ones are really stuck out to me as like, oh God, I really can't stand these for a red. of reasons. Yeah, the Penguins one, so two of them are sort of interesting.

The Penguins one is interesting because, well, let me start with the Red Wings, actually. The Red Wings are, Ken Daniels and then usually Mickey Redmond.

They also, yeah, throw in a couple of other guys. That's a broadcast that I think might have been one of those that has seen better days, let's say.

I mean, they've been in that job for a while. I think if you did this list of 10 years ago, maybe it's a different situation. But I mean, I tend to agree with you on that one. It's not one that really moves the needle for me. The Pittsburgh one is interesting because I feel like, you know, look, having, you know, Mike Lang there for a long time on either side on TV or radio kind of makes everybody else sort of pale in comparison.

But when I think of like the stagger walled years with the Pittsburgh Penguins and how abject, I mean, you're soliloquy about homerism and how that could be toxic is, I mean, for God's sake, his pictures on the cover of that book. By comparison, this Steve Mears Bob Erie team is better, but not, but not necessarily one of my favorites. But I will put the caveat that in comparison to what's come before them, I think that they're an okay team. I actually do like Steve Mears. I think he's a good player. The thing that bugs me is I feel like I'm triggered from like Bob Erie just saying Mirzy repeatedly like during the play. Like every time I hear that, I just like the hair just like sticks up on the back of my neck for whatever reason. It just really bugs me.

It's the danger of putting an ex player in that spot because he's just going to, you know, nickname it up too much. It's brutal. I actually had the Panthers in this tier. I actually really do like Steve Goldstein, but Dennis Popvan was so bad. I know he's not there this year. I'm not sure if Brandy Molo was much better, but they were on in my honorable mentions here. But I like the play-by-play guy enough where I didn't want to drag them through the mud that much. Yeah, I like Goldstein too.

And Mueller, you know, Mueller back in the Puck Daddy days was somebody that we could very much depend on for all of his crazy, wacky pop culture references as a play-by-play. guy. So I can't, I mean, this is going to come as a shock. I don't know if I've logged enough time watching the Florida Panthers to really assess Renny Muller as a color commentator. So I'll take a TVA on that one because I did like him as a play by play guy. All right.

Well, let's go to do you have another sort of tier or another like wherever you want to take this? Well, let me hit on my Devils for a second. All right. Listen. The Devils are another team that's had many incarnations of really good broadcasts in teams. And keep in mind, Doc Emmerich was a local broadcaster for the Devils for many years. Gary Thorne, who many people still hold up as one of the best hockey play-by-play guys in the last 30 years, was a local play-by-play guy for the Devils as well.

So I'm not trying to goof on Steve, Steve Cangeloisi. He's serviceable. I like Candanico as a person and I like Candanico as a devil's legend. And I've, you know, had cigars in Candanico. He's considered a quasi friend of mine. I don't know if he's necessarily cut out for the color commentator game. He sort of fits in that category of franchise legend who gets this gig and, does what he can with it and is a big personality that people like, but maybe not necessarily

on the ball. You know, I think, I think is he more on the ball than Chico Resch was who kind of fit the same bill? Absolutely. He actually talks about the game rather than the sausages most of the time. Right. But, but, but is he like top 20 color commentators? Probably not.

You know, it's, it's fine for what it is. If you're a devil's fan, that's what you're looking for. but I never really thought he fit that role very well. Danicoe reminds me of, like this is a real pull from the past, but a couple coaching stops ago, Mark Crawford used to do like the late games on CBC, and you could tell that he had this wealth of information that he wanted to share with you, but the game, for a color commentator, the game was moving too fast for him to like actually spit the words out

in a coherent manner. And so I feel like that happens with Danico sometimes where he starts making a point and then by the time the point's over, three different plays have happened. And so it's kind of a blessing and a curse because it's like I really want to hear what he has to say, but it's just like the timing is also very important in this as well. I do like the unintentional comedy before the games

when they're teeing it up and kind of going over the keys of the game. And it's like this is just unintentional comedy picture of Danico just towering over Gengelosi. Like I think like in terms of a buddy cop spectacle component, like they're right up there in terms of a pair. I'll stay in the New York area. Sam Rosen is sort of a institution in New York. And so, you know, I think that's one of those deals where, like, if you close your eyes and think of watching a ranger's game, you're never going to hear that voice.

It's that iconic. So even if there's been some miles per hour taken off the fastball, I still think he's pretty good at it. And then, you know, Joe McEletti, who's, you know, does caller, I think is. a really insightful guy. And so it's a pretty good pairing right there. And then they didn't make my top five. So I'll talk about them now. I don't know if they made your top five.

But Brennan Burke is really good. And Butch Gorring's okay for the Islanders. But Brennan Burke is somebody who, to me, like, in five years, we're going to look at this cat as a national game guy. Because I think he's got that potential and that ability. And I'm not just saying that because he was on Puck's two once. Yeah, I had the Islanders on my like strong play-by-play tier of guys where like I like Brennan Burke a lot. I think butch-bucharing, I get it. I'm sure. I'm sure.

I was actually an accidental one. But no, I think it's apt from the, I'm sure there's a sentimental value for Islanders fans, but for myself as an unbiased observer, I'd like someone that can kind of keep up with Brennan Burke when he's throwing his basketball. And I just think Butch-Goring at this point can. So I don't have them there. I also think that like, you know, they've used AJ Molesco there and they've used Jen Baderl there. And like that's to me that, I mean, I don't know.

I think this is going to sound weird. But I think Brendan Burke brings the right kind of energy to bounce off a woman doing color on that broadcast. And I think if they went in that direction full time, it might benefit the broadcasting. It's good. The other thing I'll say is that on the Philadelphia side, I can't speak to Jim Jackson as a play-by-play guy, but I can speak to Keith Jones as a color commentator. And I think he's actually might be better in that role

than he is as a studio guy. Yep. I agree. I completely agree, yeah. Yeah, he's always kind of weird on those NBC broadcasts when he's standing at that table. It's like, I feel like his talents are being wasted a little bit. looks very uncomfortable. I think so too. I think he's one of those cats. Like there are certain

certain guys on NBC broadcasts. I don't need to hear Milbury in the booth ever again. And Lord knows they realized, you know, finally that Ronick isn't necessarily cut out for that thing either. You don't need to see Jeremy Ronick interacting with pigs. I'm still bummed about that. I mean, if you're asking what he would have done had he not been suspended for the Winter Classic, definitely would have kissed a pig or had a pig kiss him. Oh, something weird with the course, I think. Well, I think he would have been on a horse in the intro, but I think what they would have done,

but people might not know this, but there was a bucking bronco mechanical bowl on the field around the rink for the winter classic. So I think he would have definitely ridden that. But, you know, and that's neither here nor there. Keith Jones probably belongs in a booth rather than behind a thing. I do like Keith Jones. Back to a ranger's point,

I, uh, for whatever reason, Sam Rosen and Joe McAletty, whenever I watch those games, especially the games in MSG, I always get this big game feel. It doesn't matter if they're playing the Ottawa senators or whoever. It's like it just, I really enjoy tuning into those games. I kind of wish that, uh, you know, as much as I like Sam Rosen, that Kenny Albert was and being wasted on radio for Rangers games. Yeah. Yeah.

And he, you know, he sparsely gets sprinkled into playoff games here or there, uh, for NBC. But, um, you know, hopefully one day he'll be doing that job full time because I think, he's certainly right up there in terms of the play-by-play guys. Yeah, that's a whole other category that we could have done, which is, you know, who has better radio guys than they do TV guys? Most teams, I think. That's kind of the problem. What do you think about Buffalo?

So I had them on my, I had the sabres and the Blackhawks. I know this is going to irritate people on Reddit, but they're on my two of my irrational dislike teams, because I really, for whatever reason, just the voice is a big grading to me. I get the schick. I understand it. I just, I try to not watch too many Sabres broadcasts. Yeah, no, I feel you on that.

And I feel like that's that sort of schick of a certain error in a certain time. And, you know, eventually you go to the next thing, right? And so, yeah. I mean, Pat Foley on these Black Hawk's games is like, I mean, it's attica. control the drama is like it really i i get it i get it there's a there's a certain crowd for it it's just not for me so it's not you don't need to be mad about it it's just uh we have different different tastes yeah and also you know to speak to the kee jones thing like eddie lcheck also you know good at what he does and uh and and obviously enhances local broadcast now

how do you feel about like like eddie olchick doing black hawks games on nbcc Like is it ever an issue for you when the guy who's the local like color guy and kind of I mean let's face it like a quasi ambassador for the team is covering the team on a national level? I can see why it would be an issue. I think in this particular case, I've never really, it's never really stuck out to me as like, oh, like he's really crossed the line here. I think Eddie Ochochuk does a really good job of kind of maintaining that impartialism and sort of, you know, if anything, I think he can sort of provide some. added insight not that we need it for the blackhawks at this point because it feels that they kind of just regurgitate the same storylines and narratives about that team every single year but um i think that uh i'm okay with it in that in that case although i do i can certainly see um in the

wrong hands where that could be an issue let me hit my uh my local guy here um randy hahn now who better live in san Jose i think that randy hon and drew remand at the height of their powers were one of my favorite broadcasting teams maybe ever in modern NHL broadcasting. They had a certain kind of snarky tone to them that I always really enjoyed watching those West Coast games. I walked back when I was living in New York. And they'd also kind of like do this thing where they would sort of just park whatever was going on on the game for like a few minutes to just rant about things happening

in the NHL, which I always appreciated because I feel like I feel like one of the real failings of American hockey coverage on television is a lack of league-wide takeage. And that goes for NBC too. I don't think they'd do enough. The fact that NBC never developed their own like hot stove segment is insane to me. But I always appreciated that about Drew and Randy. Then Drew left and then Randy said like a few different people like Jimmy Baker, but Hedekin and Kendall Coyne kind of cycling through.

I like Randy Hon a lot for what he does. And I think that the cast of characters that have sort of tried to replace her men to haven't necessarily done so. But I find it to be half an entertaining broadcast. Yeah, I'm right there with you. And I think Brett Hedekin's actually a very serviceable color commentator. So I'm okay with that call. Let's get into a, do you want to do our like our top shelf? tier here, like the very, very best

if you're the top five or however many you want to lump in there? Sure. Honorable, sorry, I got a little frog my throat. Honorable mention for me might be John Kelly and Darren Pang and St. Louis, only because

Pang's so good. He's real good. He's always been one of my favorite guys to talk to about hockey, and I enjoy listening to a guy breaking down hockey. So I appreciate him. He's just outside of my top five. Let me give you the, do you want my full top five?

Do you want just five? We'll just, however you want to do it. Let's just do the full top five. All right. Number five of my list is Jack Edwards and Andy Berkeley. For the very reasons that you stated before, which is that people that don't understand the schick, don't understand the genius going on there.

as far as making homerism and art, really are missing the boat. The two things I love about this broadcast. One is that Andy Brickley sounds like the people watching the show. And I can't tell you how much that really irks me and has irked me for years when the NHL expanded into the sunbelt and different places. Like the fact that there was never anybody on Nashville, Bill's broadcasts that sounded like they just stepped out of an RV at a NASCAR race is insane to me.

Like, how do you not get people that speak the language of the people that are watching the show? Like, that's how you get more people to watch your show. It's not having Terry Crisp on there going, you know, out and about. Like, it never made any sense to me to not have voices on your broadcast that would be recognizable to voices in your audience. So to have Andy Brickley on there, who literally just sounds like he rolled out of a Dunkin' Donuts at 6.30 in the morning with a cigarette, like, is a beautiful thing. And I always appreciated that about that broadcast. And then Jack Edwards, obviously, you know, through the years, the verbal assaults on opposing players, I know comes off in some people's minds is classless. But the world is separated into two types of people.

those who feel it's classless and those who occasionally go back onto YouTube to hear Jack Edward's scream, get up when Roman Hammerlick tried to dive for a penalty in a Abbs Bruins game. So they're number five of it list

maybe should be even higher. I really adore them as a duo. They actually have, let me just make a point on that. I think they, you know, when we think of them and if someone just kind of casually tunes in on occasion or sees some ridiculous clip of Jack Edwards, you know, yelling about something or making fun of

on an opposing team's player. They think that's all there is to it. But beyond that, there's a legitimate, like, intellectual conversation about hockey that's happening throughout the game and them getting into stuff. It bugs me sometimes how much Jack Edwards talks about plus minus and how he still propels it as, as the, uh, his top metric in 2019, but, or 2020 now, but at the same time, beyond that, I do think, uh, they really add a lot to the table in terms of, uh, you know, of just informing viewers at home and talking and breaking down plays and really for people, especially that aren't following the league as closely as you and I, and maybe you're watching a game every other day and you don't see the opposing team that much.

I think they do a really good job of sort of painting a picture, telling a story about both teams that are playing, and I think that's really important for a broadcast team. I completely agree. Number four for me is Josh Bogorad and Daryl. And now keep in mind that this group, this pairing would be higher than this. If Ralph Strange was still doing play-by-play for the Dallas Stars, I thought Ralph and Daryl were a really, really great pairing through the years. Josh is doing play-by-play now and was a puck daddy reader I came to find out at the Cotton Bowl.

So, hello. Darry, who we just had on Puck Soup, is without question like my favorite. color commentator in the world. I feel like he has that unique ability to break down a play in a smart and succinct way and then also be an absolute goofball. And just someone who is borderline distractingly funny when he does a broadcast. And it also fulfills that very important thing. that we talked about with Danico earlier, which is local icon.

You know, fans love this guy. He is sort of their guy. He is the guy who brings them the games and, you know, has developed his own little cult of personality through the years in Dallas. So Darryl, based on the strength of him, carries this duo to fourth on my list. Where do they stand with you? Yeah, I had third on mine. And I think the important distinction here for Razor is, is,

You know, he certainly, the flashy part of the headlines are going to be the alliteration and the thesaurus he basically uses for kind of throwing out these crazy words on occasion. But I don't think he uses it as a crutch. I think, you know, he kind of uses as a supplementary tool to add that kind of flare and to be a bit goofy and show some personality. I think he actually, the analysis component of it that he brings to the table as well is important here. So, you know, sometimes like watching these NBC Brum,

podcast and I think you like Doc Emrick at this point more than I may because of the devil's nostalgia but I sign I'm like oh my god if one more guy elevators or waffle boards or or does some other word than no other human being would use in their dictionary on a daily basis it drives me up the wall sometimes whereas with Ray like it kind of blends it in more seamlessly and doesn't actually just use it as sort of the be all end all on occasion so I really like that and I think that's an important distinction yeah maybe it's because when I was growing up Vince McMahon was my favorite wrestling

play by play guy because he also didn't know all the moves names so maybe Doc Emmerich has a place in my heart like if Doc Emmerich was just on the air going oh my God oh my goodness what a maneuver I'd be fine with it too

but no no your point on Ray is great and I will always be curious as to why his stick didn't catch on with NBC when he was doing games to them occasionally. Because I really think that, I really think, and this is going to sound like a hyperbole, but I really think he has that sort of ability to maybe even be kind of a John Madness kind of guy on hockey broadcasts. And I don't mean the former devil's checking center.

I mean the football guy. And so I think that the broadcasting in the U.S. has missed the book in a lot of ways, but one of them was not latching on to Razor when he was doing games nationally. He's really, really quite good. um so listen i i know this because i dip in and watch it but so i don't really know what the overall opinion of the canadian audience is on these guys but i do enjoy the vancouver broadcast am i wrong on that i had them in my uh similar with islanders and brennberg in my uh strong play-by-play uh tier because i do think john shorthouse just in terms of like the technical

uh calling the game component of it is right up there with the very best uh You know, I get the John Garrett thing. It's kind of like you're like kind of a silly harmless grandpa where he's just talking about food and hot dogs and ketchup. And, you know, for me, I just in terms of like how deep I get into hockey and sort of how much time I spend thinking about it, I prefer guys who can do more X's and O's breakdowns just because that's my cup of tea. So I'm not like just looking for these kind of affable stories about the Canucks from

20, 30 years ago. But at the same time for a lot of the fan base and for people who just kill. about the Canucks and watching those local broadcasts, he strikes a really nice note and nice balance with sort of the sharpness of Shorthouse. So I think the compliment between those two guys and the rapport goes a long way because you can tell that they spend, I mean, all these guys spend a ton of time together on the road, but you can tell they actually enjoy each other's company. Yes, and that chemistry can go a long way from me.

I think maybe I like Garrett, because it kind of reminds me if like what Chico Resch could have been had he not been so scatterbrained. Yeah. And, you know, I find it to be very interesting, though, now that you bring it up, that like the primary color commentator for the Vancouver Canucks is a grandpa type who spins yarns in a market where the coverage of the team, if it's not happening expertly analytically, it's happening in a very sharp and cynical, smart sons of Bottsford kind of way. And I find it kind of the juxtaposition between that voice. and what most of the voices covering Vancouver and speaking about Vancouver sound like to be a very interesting juxtaposition

in that market. Yeah, he has been kind of grandfathered in, though, where he's been doing it for so long, whereas if I think like he was just starting out right now, I think there'd be more pushback to that. And it feels like it's kind of, it'd be just weird at this point to tune into a Knox game without him calling it.

So I think there's something of that as well. Number two for me is John Foresland and Trip Tracy, especially now that they have something to talk about on Carolina broadcasts. Foreston's great. I've always been a fan of his play-by-play. You know, he's without question one of those guys that comes up, his name comes up in conversation a lot as far as like,

who should be the main voice in U.S. hockey. I don't know. I feel like we talked about with Washington earlier, you know, certain guys just seem to fit the market right. And these guys, I think, fit the market right. And I always find their broadcasts, when I've watched Carolina games from local feed to be pretty entertaining. And I think they just,

they just seem to fit the suit correctly for me. Yeah, how is, how is, like, the main NBC team for all of these, like, primetime,

especially playoff games, not Foresland and Razor as the, as the play-by-play color guy. Like, yeah, I feel like that is a match event in heaven. I think Doc's iconic. Well,

here's the thing about NBC that you got realized. And I know them a little bit. I've done some basics with them in the past. Sam Flood, the guy who runs the operation over there, loves his guys. And that's the reason why you've not seen any turnover in, what has it been now, 15 years since they got the rights, I think. It's been the same guys over and over again. And then adding to that with ancillary people like Patrick Sharp, for example. And then, you know, Ronick when he retired.

So Sam loves his guys. Sam thinks that he invented between the bench's thing. that's why we're stuck with Pierre there. And I think that when he envisions what the apex of what his broadcasting team would be, it would be, you know, Doc Eddie and Pierre doing the games. And I don't think he's right. But there's one guy with his hand on the wheel and he's not letting go of it when it comes to the people that he likes. And so that's why you're stuck with the same people for the same 15 years.

Yeah. I do think, you know, Fawson's obviously great, Trip Tracy. I really, he's really out there, and I say that in the best way possible. I really enjoy those broadcasts, and I think it's one of those match made in heavens. You're talking about sort of the weird dichotomy there between the Canucks broadcast team and sort of the fan base, I think, in terms of how fun and sort of creative and exciting this Hurricanes team is with that broadcast team. It really is perfect, and it's great for, you know, growing the,

game and and building out that fan base even further. Like, I think the hurricanes are striking all the right notes right now. It's no surprise beyond the fact that they're a really good hockey team, why they are so successful from a sort of marketing and PR perspective right now. Yeah. And, you know, what a fun time to be a Hurricanes fan, right? Like, your broadcast team makes you feel good when you watch the show. You read like Sarah Sivian and the athletic and you feel good about life because, like,

she's a great writer and has certainly captured the. the sort of enthusiastic that guy you said that team as well like you know everybody else is tuning in and listening to guys probably should have been off the air

10 years ago and and feeling like you know your team's been treading water for a decade or whatever and like it's just such a joy to watch a team with forward momentum

and true joy and so many facets of the organization you know now that they've gotten rid of the guy who was kicking and punching players for example I mean that's probably not too joyous all right that brings us

number one. And you mentioned this cat's name a few times. And I do agree with you that I think he is one of my favorites. And again, not just because he was on Puck's Sue. But Alex Faust and Jim Fox doing King's Games to me is my favorite broadcast.

Maybe I watched a little bit more of them now that I did before because I'm on the West Coast. But Faust is so good. And like, I really feel like, along with Renan Burke, you know, rising star amongst American broadcasters and and, you know, took over for a legendary guy in LA and has acquitted himself quite well.

And I don't know if he'll ever reach his destiny of hosting Jeopardy. I don't know if you know this, but infamously, Alex Trebek once said that he thought Alex Faust could be the next host of Jeopardy. And it was determined that he said that because Trebek used to spend so much time watching Kings games that it might have been a name he just pulled out of thin air when he was asked. But it becomes kind of legendary about Faust that that. could happen. For the record, by the way, in case anybody's wondering, the next host of Jeopardy should either be Ken Jennings or what's his face? John Hodgman, who's, you know, comedian you may know

from Pottias and such. But those would be by two choices for someone to, God forbid, ever replace Alas, you're back. But Faust, the Foxman number one. Faust is great. I actually, I've never had him on the show. I had him. I had him. I recorder a podcast with him last year and we were doing it in like a busy hotel bar and the the audio was just uh it was too out of control there was too much background noise and um we just decided made the executive decision not to run it but it was a it was a good time it's the uh the lost episode maybe maybe one we'll keep it in like five years later we'll uh when he is hosting jeopardy we'll uh we'll put it out there and try to get some of some rub from that yeah put it put it if

I invite you to put it on the Puck's suit Patreon so we can all make money. I actually didn't have the Kings in my top five though. As much as I love Alex. I don't know. The Jim Fox thing, I don't know. I could go for a better,

better. And maybe honestly, maybe the thing that's tarnishing it for me here is that the Kings are so unwatchable as a team. And maybe just the fact that they don't have content to work with. Like if they were calling hurricanes games, maybe I'd think differently. so there may be some bias there as well.

But I just, I didn't have them. I'm actually stunned that you didn't have the, the TSN team as, as your number one. Oh, of, for which one? Well, so that's, that's the good call here because I, I'm not sure in the States if you guys were getting them, because I tuned into some, some sketchy online feeds for games that I didn't have.

And it was like, the NHL network. And I was like, oh, my God, what is happening here? Like, it was, it was an abomination in my head. opinion especially compared to the uh the gourd miller ray ferraro combo which i i have to say it brings back i get it where people are like oh i love uh right i love doc amric or i love rick or i love rick or whatever like that nostalgia for me is with uh ray frarro and gordon miller called these world junior games it it just makes it extra special it's great yeah yeah i guess i didn't pick the toronto group because i didn't know which combination to pick like what it's it's

Freebird rules. Like people seem to be jumping in and out of that broadcast now and again. But I mean, if I was going to pick two from that group, I mean, Miller and Ferraro would definitely be in my top five. There was, well, one of my favorite things every playoff season is, is tuning into NBC games, and it's usually like the late game. And Chris Cuthbert was randomly calling it. And those are my favorite.

He is, he's so, so, so, so good. And I think, like, Ferraro and Cuthbert were calling, what was it, two or three years ago. It was the Vegas's first season when they beat. the Kings when they swept them in round one and they were randomly calling that entire series and it was like the biggest mismatch between quality of series and quality of broadcast team like I don't know how they got assigned to that but it made it it made it worth tuning in just for those two guys yeah that's the reason I left them out is they didn't know a combination to put but I mean

if you were going to give me like Miller and Ferraro let's say as the primary duo for the leaves then I mean they'd probably be number one to be quite honest to you because they're that good but Ray is the best color guy out there, I think. Like you said, I mean, the ability to succinctly break down plays and do it in a manner that's not

interfering with the game flow and interviewing with your enjoyment of the game, I think is key. And we've talked a lot about comparisons and juxtapositions here. And, you know, I don't know if you know, but here in the States, we do have a

commentator that stands between the benches during games and commentates on the game. And so to compare Ray Farrar with that even makes him look that much better. Oh, I love Pierre. Good stuff. Why do you love, why do you love Pierre? I mean, I, I'm a purely. Go ahead. It's purely ironic perspective.

It's a purely ironic perspective. Yeah. Yeah. I, I'm like, I'm in on the joke. I think if you You know if you're tuning into these games and and you're expecting something else clearly it's going to be very Off-putting and distressing I just I just at this point it's kind of like a white noise to me I've tuned it out

It's a Does he is he in on the joke? Does he know that they gave him the corn dog to you know No he's on the internet Otherwise I imagine he wouldn't be he wouldn't continue doing it I imagine he'd but you know to be Pierre McGuire you need a certain level of a lack of self-awareness and um It's amazing. It was amazing watching him call Igor Shusorkin's debut. I just kept waiting for him to just automatically recite his entire elite prospects page off memory. It's just the stick is classic. I've said this for years about him because I need to balance my abject hatred of his place on national broadcasts with acknowledgement of his talent. put him in the studio like he is on TSN and I feel like I would enjoy him a hell of a lot more.

Not only because then there's a clock on how long he can speak and there's a focus to his analysis that isn't necessarily there during the game. But I also think that the social awkwardness of Pierre McGuire works for me much better in the, studio than it does during a game because I don't want to be distracted by it during a game. So when you have those moments like the Jeff O'Neill girth thing that happened on TSN that we all remember, like that's hilarious. And those types of moments to me would be very endearing and funny and shareable. But they sometimes happen during a game that I'm watching and I don't need that. I want to enjoy the game. I don't want to. I find him to be so damn distracting during the game that I just don't want to hear it anymore.

But put him in the studio and you have something, though, in my opinion. Well, I'm really curious what they do this postseason because, you know, they made this sort of, especially the start of the year, this, they made the effort or at least, or they made it public that they were going to dial back his workload and that he wasn't on the top team anymore. And come the postseason, I'm really curious to see what his workload is like, because I think, you know, it's one thing to, the quality of it itself, but it's like no one would succeed in the usage that they give him during the post season where it's like he's just flying from city to city

and doing games every single night and it's like yeah clearly he's going to be doing that shtick where he's just reciting the same old notes all over again because no one in their right mind would have enough time to prepare a unique material. Not that he would otherwise, but it's like maybe if you're giving him to us once every four days instead of literally every single night

maybe it would be a little bit different. So I'm very curious to see what happens there come the postseason. But I mean you made that point of like NBC has their guys. It's like they act as if they're, for people in the world that are qualified to call NHL playoff games. Yeah, and it's a little, it's a little bit of a bummer. And I mean, the bigger bummer for me is, again, like I mentioned earlier, like the fact that they would, they, they import Drager and McKenzie to do like insider stuff rather than

developing their own, you know, people and, you know, there's a lot to unpack there on my end, I mean, you know, I think that they could definitely acknowledge their digital side a lot more than they do. I mean, the NFL side certainly does more than the NHL side does that end. But the idea that like, the idea that both intermissions that there isn't some, I mean, they've borrowed everything else from Canadian television. Why they didn't borrow like hot stove is beyond my comprehension. It's, and I think it's because my own theory on this is that because NBC's approach to coverage of the NHL has always, and they've admitted this. This isn't, This isn't like me analyzing it, is swinging for as large and broad an audience as possible.

So I think they think that their time is better spent with three-minute vignettes about Henrik Lundquist than it is talking about the news of the day or trade rumors or things of that nature. And I've always felt that that was a huge disconnect. I always felt like that was just a big, big, big, huge mistake. strategically on their part because the casual fans not tuning in to watch their team on a Tuesday night. Like, they're just not. And I never understood why they couldn't comprehend that the people watching these games are the people that consume, you know, Twitter all day, are the people that consume Elliot's column, are the people that are, you know, constantly bickering about major stories in the league and don't really care about your, you know, personality piece that should run on. the Sunday afternoon game. So it's never made sense to me that they don't recognize that about their audience.

And I think that speaks to why they haven't necessarily developed much talent beyond the core group that they have there. Yeah. No, I'm right there with you. There's three other broadcast teams. I had two of my top five and one honorable mention for hilarity, which isn't in the top five. It's probably in like the 500th ranking. They Colorado Alphalange.

Altitudes sports. Oh, my God. Mark Moser and Peter McNabb. Peter McNabb used to be a devil's broadcaster with Gary Thorne, and it always shocks me that, like, a guy that I listened to when I was a kid is still chugging along in Colorado. But yeah, not my favorite, yeah. Although he did reveal that Taylor Hall's bag was packed in the hallway a couple of weeks ago, which I thought was a really nice little touch. Tune into the intermissions when Mark Rycrofts in studio and check out his hair slash facial hair combo. It's pretty great.

I'll just leave it. Yeah. I'll just leave it. But in my top five, I actually did have both the Predators and the Golden Knights broadcast. Yeah, the Golden Knights broadcast. The Golden Knights broadcast overall, like beyond what they have on the air. And I think that Shane 90s really good. But like everybody, the entire cast of characters they have doing stuff for them, including Nadarimilar, is pretty entertaining. It's a really good collection.

Yeah, no, they did a good job. And for the Predators, what I really like. about them is I think they're sort of right up there in terms of embracing stats and actually you know citing like they're like they're like putting up graphics of natural statric and and all this stuff and sort of throwing us a bone and doing exactly what uh what mbc doesn't which is appealing to the niche uh diehard fans as opposed to trying to cast this wide net and and scoop in casual viewers and i really enjoy that sort of especially when you compare it to what mbc does yeah and and chris mason their color their color guys is um

the ball too he's he's good at what he does so that's good that's good choice all right i wish i i listen to more arizona radio because i don't think i've ever heard paul bisinette call a game that i think about it yeah and i'd like to see him on tv because uh tyson ash leaves a bit to be desired for me a bit too a bit too eccentric how do you leave paul bison on your bench man like that's like he's like he's like the most sellable guy in the league right now forgot who among us uh is doing both a barstool podcast commercials for American Express and a video series on NHL.com. Doing it all. Swiss Army Night.

All right. Greg, plug some stuff. What are you working on these days and where can people check you up? Well, as you guys know, I'm ready for ESPN.com. My column, the wish list runs on Thursdays, most weeks, Fridays, other weeks. ESPN on ice, my podcast, Emily Kaplan drops on Tuesdays, sometimes Wednesdays. This week we get Bill Daly on for a long interview that produced probably like 20 different

bits of news. And then, of course, Puck Soup with Dan Goes Brown and Ryan Lambert that runs every week. We also have a Patreon for Puck Soup as well if you want to check that out. And yeah, it's all very good. I get to talk to very interesting people and write some cool stuff and couldn't be happier with the world these days as far as the yield career. Beautiful, man. Well, I co-sign all of that.

And it's a pleasure being your co-worker and your colleague. and let's do this again soon. You got it. And apologies to any of the broadcast teams we missed. Dmitri panicked DM'd me last night saying we needed more time to prepare for this podcast. And I said, we'll just bring it. Yeah. So if there's anyone we missed and you're like, why have you talked about my team?

That's the reason. You can blame me. I threw us into the water to see if we could swim. And I think that at least we doggie paddled. So I'm very proud of us. Yeah, we need it. I'm proud of us. All right, man.

Talk soon. Take a breath. The Hockey P.DEOCast with Dmitri Filipovich. Follow on Twitter at Dim Filippovich and on SoundCloud at soundcloud.com slash HockeyPedioCast. Looking for a new podcast to listen to? Here's what we love, courtesy of ACAS recommends. Hey there, I'm Reza Aslan. Each week on my new podcast, Rough Draft,

I sit down for cocktails and conversations with the writers who are changing the landscape of contemporary culture. And it's not just literature. It's writers of all kinds, like rapper activist Vic Mensa, Rami Yusuf from Hulu's Rami, an award-winning poet Robin Costa-Louis. These conversations are wild, thought-provoking, and a whole lot of fun. We're going to dive into not only how they write, but why they write. That's Rough Draft with Reza Aslan. Subscribe now on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.