Keilback’s Quest To Become Winnipeg’s Voice Once Again

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, Curt Keilback is a sentimental choice to become one of the new Winnipeg Jets broadcasters.  The Winnipeg Free Press has a great article up about Keilback and he continues to express his desire to make a comeback.

The longtime voice of the Winnipeg Jets is hoping to get back behind the microphone when the new incarnation of the team takes to the ice this fall.

He has been in contact with Sports Radio 1290, which the Free Press reported last week will broadcast the games this season, as well as True North Sports & Entertainment, the team’s owner.

“I would like to be involved,” said Keilback, who did play-by-play and colour commentary for Jets’ radio and television broadcasts for 17 years. “Given my druthers, I’d certainly rather do play-by-play, but if it meant being involved in a different capacity, that would certainly be of interest to me.”

Source & More Info:

Ex-voice of the Jets hopes to return to airwaves this fall – Winnipeg Free Press.
Previous story on the Jets and their broadcasting rights:

https://paranoidpuck.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/jets/

 

TSN2 To Air Prospect Game

It’s the middle of the summer, but that doesn’t mean hockey isn’t being played someplace and since Canada is always hungry to watch it, the folks at TSN are happy to show it. The NHLPA and TSN2 are partnering on a new prospect camp that will end with an inter-squad game, The Allstate All-Candians Mentorship Cup. The Mentorship Camp runs from August 2 to 6 at Mississauga’s Hershey Centre and is led by former NHLer Gary Roberts.

The Cup game will be broadcast by TSN2 on August 6 at 2PM EST.  Steve Kouleas, Mike Johnson, Kerry Fraser and Katherine Dolan will cover the camp for TSN2. There is no word yet if the NHL Network will show the game in the United States.

This is not the first time that a prospect camp has gotten national television coverage. The Detroit Red Wings host an annual rookie camp in Traverse City, Michigan which features six teams facing off each other in a tournament. The NHL Network broadcasted games of the 2008 tournament on a daily basis.

Source:

TSN2 showcases future hockey stars with Mentorship Cup.

 

College Hockey’s Instability

The folks at College Hockey, Inc. are dealing with plenty of issues. CHI’s job is to market NCAA ice hockey and for the most part, it has succeeded. Since the quasi-lobbying group’s founding, college hockey has seen growth in virtually all facets. Even with that, college hockey is now at a crossroads. The folks at the Big Ten have decided to start their own hockey conference, and while on paper, that’s a good thing, especially for TV purposes, it’s also leading to an upheaval of several conferences and that instability may be sending players to the Canadian Hockey League just as college hockey is on the brink of signing a major broadcast deal with Versus.

 

Bettman Gets A Raise & The League’s Million Dollar Club

The Sports Business Journal’s Fred Dreier has a story up detailing the NHL’s latest tax filing. The filing details expenses during the 2009-10 season. The filing reveals that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman saw a raise of 4 percent in 2010 for a total salary plus benefits of $7.5 million. That’s double his pre-lockout salary of $3.5 million.

Other members of the league office’s million dollar club are Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly ($2 million), Director of Hockey Ops Colin Campbell ($1.5 million), CFO Craig Harnett ($1.1 million), COO John Collins ($1.2 million) and Director of Officiating Don Koharski ($1.1 million).

The league saw total expenses rise 10 percent with legal fees of $13 million.  Employee salaries equaled $24 million, travel costs equaled $7.3 million, officiating costs were $5.2 million while team-related costs totaled $4.5 million.

Source & More Info:

Bettman’s compensation reaches $7.5M – SportsBusiness Daily | SportsBusiness Journal.

 

NOTES: NHL Meets Phineas and Ferb, Versus Name Change, Lalime Joins RDS

It’s the weekend and after a wild week of announcements, it’s a good time to slow down and catch up on some notes from the past week.

NHL EXCHANGE & DISNEY LICENSING DEAL

For those who don’t know, the NHL Exchange is the NHL’s major retail merchandising convention.  The 6th Annual show was held on July 20 and 21 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. At the trade show, NHL licensees, retailers and sales representatives get together for meetings, sales deals and previews of upcoming merchandising for the new season.  The NHL is on the heels of a record breaking year when it comes to merchandising and that leads to some peculiar licensing deals.  One bizarre one was announced this week with Disney.  From the press release:

The National Hockey League (NHL) and Disney Consumer Products have revealed plans to co-brand merchandise featuring characters from Disney Channel’s Emmy Award-winning animated series, Phineas and Ferb, in the 2011-12 NHL season. The NHL made the announcement today at the 2011 NHL Exchange licensed products and retail trade show inside the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

The Disney and the NHL collection will include apparel, headwear, house and home products and collectibles featuring characters from Phineas and Ferb wearing NHL and team-branded merchandise. NHL and Disney licensees will deliver the new products to retail stores throughout North America in fall 2011, just in time for the new school year and the 2011-12 NHL season.

“The Phineas and Ferb brand evokes creativity, youthfulness and high energy, not unlike the NHL brand,” said Jim Haskins, Group Vice President, Consumer Product Licensing. “The NHL is thrilled to be working with such a premier Disney property as nearly one third of NHL fans are between the ages of six and 17, and 65 percent of those fans watch the Disney Channel.”

“Just like the game of hockey, Phineas and Ferb is successful because it appeals to a diverse demographic—kids and grown-ups, boys and girls,” said Stephen Teglas, vice president and general manager of Fashion & Home North America at Disney Consumer Products. “We look forward to bringing the humor of the series to NHL fans with a fun campaign at arenas and through clever products that showcase our two brands. It also seems like the kind of adventure that Phineas and Ferb would imagine.”

I never thought those two went together but good for the NHL! What’s next, Spongebob merchandise?  It’s certainly an interesting combination and hopefully we’ll see some NHL themed products in non-traditional places like the Disney Store.  Of course, Disney and the league have a long history with ESPN and the Anaheim franchise. Also, the league announced a renewal of it’s deal with Franklin Sports to produce street hockey gear.  For some more info on what the exchange is and what went on there, check out the links and the videos from The Hockey News and NHL.com below.

 

Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?

With Mike Emrick and Dave Strader giving up their regional gigs, there are a couple of big job openings out there.  Both are among the biggest names in the business so it won’t be easy for whomever takes over for them.  In the case of the Phoenix Coyotes, the team is in charge of filling the job, while for the New Jersey Devils, MSG will primarily be handling the search. Today, we look at some of the candidates. There’s no guarantee that any of these guys will get any of the open jobs out there but they are good possibilities.  They are names to keep in mind and it wouldn’t surprise me to see any of them fill the openings and at the very least you will likely be hearing more about them in the future.

Steve Cangialosi- He’s the Devils MSG host and reporter and has already been Doc’s fill-in.  He’s an obvioius choice since he’s comfortable with the team.  He’s improved year after year and may be ready to get a shot.

Kenny Albert- He already works for MSG as the Rangers’ radio voice.  He also has a full plate with his national broadcasting gigs.  That said, he’s a big name and would help keep Devils games a premier broadcast.

John Giannone- Another MSG employee, he’s filled in for Sam Rosen in the past.  He’s not as polished as Cangialosi but he’s put in his time with the network and he lives in New Jersey.  Maybe he wants to work for “Jersey’s Team.”

Matt Loughlin- The Devils’ radio man has also filled in for Doc in the past.  He’s fairly popular and previously had Cangialosi’s reporting job.  Might be the easiest transition of any of the other MSG/Devils employees.

Matt McConnell, Dan Kamal- Former Thrashers voices looking for work.  McConnell has worked on a national stage before so he’s pretty well known.  Kamal has a pretty loyal following but he was under in the radar in Atlanta so most people aren’t familiar with him.

Dan Duva, Josh Heller- The Devils’ minor league broadcasters.  Duva is now without a job with the Trenton team folding.  He has very little experience.  Heller formerly worked for Toledo and South Carolina in the ECHL.

Doug McLeod- If the Coyotes want a blast from the past, McLeod would be that guy.  He left the Yotes in 2002 to take a job with the Avs.  He was fired after working a handful of games for the Avs and now works in marketing.

Bob Heethuis- The Yotes’ radio voice.  He has been with the Yotes for over a decade in various capacities and has lots of experience calling games on a minor league level.  It might be time for another promotion.

Dan Weiss- The voice of the San Antonio Rampage.  The Rampage are no longer the Yotes’ AHL affiliate but he’s familiar with their prospects.  He’s popular and has a loyal following on Twitter.

Curt Keilback- Worked for the Yotes/Jets franchise for decades.  Ended up being let go with some controversy is now angling to work in Winnipeg once again.

Todd Walsh- Works as host for Coyotes broadcasts.  He has little experience calling hockey games.  Also juggles reporting gigs on FS Arizona for the Diamondbacks.

Peter Loubardias- Just lost his Rogers/Calgary Flames gig.  Is somewhat controversial, but he’s high profile and one of the most knowledgable people about hockey.

Gary Thorne- A true wild card.  Former Devils voice but ESPN and baseball are his current priorities.

Paul Hamilton, Dan Dunleavy- A couple of radio guys.  Hamilton works in Buffalo and has worked a few Sabres games.  With Kevin Sylvester getting the part-time Sabres PXP job, he may be looking to go somewhere else. Dunleavy works in Toronto and was a candidate to replace Loubardias.  He’s best known for calling the Olympics and the World Junior Hockey Championships on The Fan radio network across Canada.

 

Jets Go With TSN TV & Bell Radio

To no one’s surprise, the Winnipeg Jets have reportedly signed a deal with Bell Media for their broadcast rights. Bell has been looking for ways to grow TSN Radio and putting the Jets on AM 1290 fits into that plan.  For TSN, this is their third regional sports deal.  They previously had regional rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs and they currently hold English-language regional rights to the Montreal Canadiens.  Bell Radio holds rights to Montreal, the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks.  TSN will create a sub-feed for the Jets television territory which will likely include Manitoba, Saskatchewan and parts of Northern Ontario.

While the news may look like a blow to Rogers Sportsnet, they were always considered underdogs in the bidding for several reasons.  One factor was the lack of room for the Jets on Sportsnet.  Outside of airing a Manitoba sub-feed, Rogers largely lacked the infrastructure to carry the team.  And since it’s possible that several team’s TV territories may overlap the Jets’ broadcast market, this would make it difficult to balance network schedules.  The real blow is to Corus Radio’s CJOB.  CJOB is the longtime home of the Manitoba Moose and carried the Winnipeg Jets in the past.  For Corus, it was a deal where they lacked a partner and didn’t have the dollars to make up for that.

There has not been any official announcements when it comes to talent for the Jets’ broadcast team but it’s widely believed that TSN’s Rod Black will be involved somehow.  Black is a native of Winnipeg.  There’s also a good chance that former Jets voice Curt Keilback may be involved.  Keilback had a sour exit with CJOB in the past, but with them out of the running, that may re-open the door for his return. Keilback was a fan favorite and so far, it appears that the Jets are following the fans’ wishes to bring back the past and Keilback fits right in with that strategy.

Source:

Jets reach broadcast agreement with TSN – Winnipeg Free Press.

 

Emrick Signs With NBC, Is Edzo Next?

As I mentioned yesterday, I believed that NBC would be adding more exclusive talent. And as I previously speculated, Mike Emrick will be the latest to join the list. Emrick’s hectic travel schedule and his expiring Devils contract led to rampant reports that Emrick would either go national or drastically cut down on his broadcast work. Emrick has now confirmed that he will be leaving MSG and the New Jersey Devils to strictly work for the NBC Sports Group.

Even with Emrick joining NBC exclusively, there’s a good chance that he will cut down on his workload even more. Dave Strader will likely anchor a “B” team with Brian Engblom and Darren Pang that will now get more of the load on both NBC and Versus.

The next shoe to drop will be Ed Olczyk. He reportedly signed a new contract with the Hawks last year. What we don’t know is what’s in it and if NBC will now get full priority. We’ve also heard some rumblings about John Forslund going to Versus, but so far those only appear to be rumors and nothing more.

Here’s my previous story where I mentioned that NBC was looking for more full time talent – https://paranoidpuck.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/pierres-move-the-future-of-nhl-tv/
Emrick’s letter to Devils Fans:
Emrick joins NBC/Versus exclusively – New Jersey Devils – News.

 

Rob Kerr Named Flames TV Voice

As we reported after Peter Loubardias’ departure from Rogers Sportsnet, Rob Kerr was one of the top candidates to take over and today, we have word that Kerr will be the new TV voice of the Flames.  Kerr previously handled play by play for the Calgary Flames through their pay per view operation.  Kerr is a natural choice for Rogers since they already employ him and each party is familiar with him.  Kerr currently works for Rogers’ Calgary radio station, The Fan 960.

There are no other changes in the Flames booth, as Charlie Simmer will continue to be analyst and Roger Millions will handle host and reporting duties.

Rob Kerr joins Sportsnet broadcast team – Calgary Flames – News.

 

Strader Joins NBC & Versus Full-Time

As we previously speculated in an earlier post when Pierre McGuire made his move, NBC is adding more of their own full-time broadcasters.  The latest to make the move is Phoenix Coyotes broadcaster Dave Strader. Strader first joined NBC during their days of having regional games and has since filled in for Mike Emrick on a couple of occasions.  When Versus joined the NBC Sports Group, he took on a more active role, becoming their number 2 play by play man, replacing Joe Beninati.

Strader is a familiar voice to hockey fans after getting his NHL start with the Detroit Red Wings in the 1980’s and then moving to ESPN as Tom Mees’ successor. After ESPN, he was with the Florida Panthers for two seasons.  He leaves the Coyotes and FS Arizona after four seasons as their play by play voice.

This is a great move by NBC to make their broadcasts more professional. A long pet peeve of mine has been the rotating wheel of personalities on Versus, and it appears that the wheel is finally slowing down. I for one applaud this move and Strader is one of the best in the business.

The Coyotes are already looking to fill the post.  Even with all the uncertainty that the franchise has, I have to believe that people will be lining up for a shot at the job.  For those interested, apply within – National Hockey League Jobs