How did your return to Chicago come about?
"The phone call comes from Jamie Faulkner (Blackhawks president of business operations) to the Blues just asking permission to talk to me. I was like, 'Wow.' It was humbling to get that call from my agent to say, 'Hey, there's one team that's called really early.' As the playoffs played out and it got more realistic, I honestly got more nervous with the whole process. Leaving somewhere you've been for 14 years, you've got your play-by-play guy in John Kelly, your production team, it's like family. I had two or three conversations with Rocky and he just made me feel so comfortable. I remember the one thing he said: 'I understand with the grandkids. I've got six.' At the end he said, 'It's OK if you decide that you don't want to return.' He always said that. 'We think it's great, we want you here, but if it doesn't work, it's OK.' The way he said it was very comforting.
"So everybody agrees on the fact that I'm signing with Chicago, everyone in St. Louis, everyone knows about it, everything was pretty transparent and up front. At that point, [the Blackhawks] don't have the first overall pick. Then I see [the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery] and I remember staring at the TV like, 'I'm going to be the broadcaster for Connor Bedard. Wow.' That was a moment that not a lot of broadcasters get that opportunity."
Have you gotten to know Bedard since the Blackhawks drafted him?
"Right away I got in touch with his agent. It's something I try to do and try to start out a relationship and show the trust factor that basically, I can't wait to meet Connor and I'm looking forward to basically having his back and keeping things even keel. That's always a nice way to start it. I met Connor, I interviewed him at the Salt Shed (where the Blackhawks held their draft party), we interviewed him on the stage, so that was the first conversation.
"And I thought this was an incredible gesture that he was at the church service for Rocky. We were all in the same room for an extended period of time before we went to the church, and then Connor sat on my row. We had several quick conversations, whether it be up and down the elevator, in the reception and I fixed his collar. I just remember thinking, 'What was I doing at 18?' I was playing my second season of major/junior A and I couldn't do the knot on my tie. I kept it tied the whole year. I'm thinking, this is such a young man but what a start for him to show that kind of respect for the Wirtz family and the Blackhawks.
"Like everybody else, I'm plugged into everything he's doing at BioSteel (camp), I know he's trained with a former teammate of mine, Gary Roberts. I've just been watching the clips and watched enough of World Juniors last year and his playoff run. Until you see him with a summer of really hard training under his belt, I know he's a very dedicated worker, but it's always different when you go into your first pro camp. Every weight you lift, there's a motivational meaning to everything. You can see that in his training from the start of the summer to what I saw the other day in clips from BioSteel."
What impact can he make?
"Well, the first game is on ESPN in Pittsburgh, no coincidence. Second game is on TNT, I'll be doing that game for TNT in Boston and then you look down and it's at Colorado, it's against Tampa, it's Edmonton, these are significant games that national TV has picked up. Every single building we go to, every practice, every morning skate, there'll be more media members to talk to him.
"The impact is going to be, at times, probably overwhelming and that's great for the game of hockey and great for the Hawks and great for Connor, because he really appears to have the ability to handle all this. It didn't just land on him now that he's a top-end player. He's had it his whole life. It's just a different level of scrutiny and that's what I'm looking forward to as a broadcaster, to be a part of that. To be able to level things out a little bit and make sure that when everyone gets too high, not to get too high. When everyone gets too low, not to get too low. It's important, he's just a young man. He's going to have a lot of bumps in the road before he finds his way in this League."
So where did your catch phrase, "Holy Jumpin!", come from?
"It came from a game I did, national game on ESPN in New Jersey, a player named Steve Sullivan was recalled to the Devils from Albany. So I met this small forward who I heard had good hands. I talked to him about golf, where he's from, he knew a friend who I played with in Saginaw. The game starts and (ESPN broadcaster) Steve Levy and I are there, and this kid's not doing much. Every time he got the puck, he gave it away, or he shied away a little bit, and I was getting down. I'd been pumping him up the whole game and now I'm like, maybe he doesn't have what it takes.
"Then he got the puck, made a move, and I said, 'Whoa,' he made another move and went forehand, backhand, top shelf, and before Levy could say, 'He shoots he scores,' I said, 'Holy Jumpin! Holy Jumpin!' It was genuine excitement from me because he did what I thought he was going to do. I've often told 'Sully,' 'You were my first Holy Jumpin!' Levy afterward said, 'I don't know where that came from, but it was great.' And usually play-by-play guys get sour when analysts jump in there, but Levy was the one who encouraged me. He said, 'That's you.'"
You hosted the celebration of life for Wirtz at United Center last month. How difficult was that and what did Rocky mean to you?
"For me, I was touched by the fact I was asked to do it. It went from going to Chicago to pay my respects to the Wirtz family and Danny (Wirtz, Rocky's son and Blackhawks CEO) and his family. Then it became kind of an, OK, take a deep breath, now you have to get some work done here.
"I just wanted to make sure I talked to enough people and tried to add some humor to it, which is always important because people want to laugh. It is a celebration of life. Three weeks before that I was in his office, my wife and I were meeting with Jamie and Trevor (Bray, broadcasting director) and we were going through some things we had to talk about, and Rocky was in his office. He went to put his hand out and I gave him a big hug. Honestly, I left Jamie Faulkner sitting in the office for about 45 minutes extra, because I was there spending time with Rocky.
"So three weeks later, to be speaking for the first time in front of a lot of close friends and Chicago fans, that wasn't something I was planning on. It's just sad and that's the only way to describe it. But I was so glad I got to see him and spend that time laughing and talking. I would do that often. I'd always say hello, even if I had five minutes. I kept in touch with him and Danny through all the years. It's sad he won't be there. I'd just love to see his face, see how proud he is of Danny and the job Danny's going to do."
