Getzoff and Brand offered some insight into what it’s like calling those milestone moments that so few players have been able to accomplish, which will replay on highlight reels for years to come. This young season has already featured several from the captain and his fellow franchise center, with Evgeni Malkin at 498 goals entering the year.
After hitting 800 assists in the second game and 1,300 points in the third game, Malkin reached 500 goals in the fifth game, a 6-5 overtime win over Buffalo on Oct. 16. Getzoff wasn’t on that particular call since it was a national broadcast, so Brand got a ‘welcome to Pittsburgh’ moment early into his new role, with his hiring announced in September.
“I think the coolest thing about it was how the goal was scored, as he was falling down to the ice, just doing everything that he possibly could to reach that milestone – and it was big part of the game, too,” Brand said. “So, it definitely feels like it baptized me into Penguin fandom, because I've always been an outsider seeing what Crosby and Malkin have done in their careers. To be a part of that at that specific moment was pretty humbling.”
Meanwhile, Crosby – who hit 1,600 points with the assist on Malkin’s 500th goal – was eight away from 600 tallies coming into the 2024-25 campaign. He had one goal in his first 11 games before piling up five in three, getting to No. 598. Following a stretch of five games without being in the goal column, Crosby scored No. 599 on Nov. 16 versus San Jose, one week before it ended up happening.
When a player like Crosby is hovering around a milestone like that, “Honestly, I wouldn't say it’s all-encompassing, but it's definitely something that you think about a lot,” Getzoff said. “You have to always be ready for it. Especially because this is a guy who's on the ice for more than a third of the game. He’s always out there when there's a power play, he's always out there if there's an empty net. He's always out there in those kinds of situations.”
At first, Getzoff didn’t have something in mind. But because there was a week between 599 and 600, “I had way too much time to think about it,” he said with a laugh. “You start thinking oh, maybe I would say something like this, or something like that. I generally try, if there's a significant milestone, to think of something that's unique to that moment. Because it’s really about the player. I want to try to do justice for the player for that particular milestone.
“Those guys, those moments – to me, are massive. They are part of the reason why you get into this in the sense of being able to tell the story about the athletes that you're lucky enough to watch every single night, especially for Sid. I mean, this guy is the best of the best, salt of the earth in every single category you could possibly mention, and that’s extending outside of the rink and outside of the dressing room.”
So, heading into the matchup with Utah on Saturday night, Getzoff first thought back on something he heard fellow broadcaster Ernie Johnson say in a speech to the Alabama football team a few years ago. He’s since made it top of mind before every broadcast.
“One of the things I said to myself is, one, this is a ‘get to’ opportunity, not a ‘have to’ opportunity, to call a game in the National Hockey League,” Getzoff said. “You get to do this. It's something you've always wanted to do. Have some fun and embrace it. Two, especially when the 5-on-3 began, you may have a chance to get to call history – just lean into it, own it, and have some fun with it. That's what I tried to do.”
A few seconds before Crosby actually got the goal, he had a chance at the backdoor and knocked the net up. “I kind of hesitated – you'll hear in the call for a second – because I thought he knocked the net off its moorings. Then when I realized that he didn't, and it just kind of bounced up and came back down,” Getzoff said.
“Then there’s Sid just backing up, back door again, slams it in. You could see it happening when it was going to happen, like there was no way he was going to miss that shot. But in the 5-10 seconds before it, there's a little bit of chaos, which is never a bad thing. Kind of just dials you into the moment even more.”
Getzoff had scribbled down a note he had at the ready, but when he actually made the call, it came out slightly differently than what he’d written down.
“I was happy with how it came out,” he said. “So, did I have something in mind? Yes. Was exactly what I had in mind that I said live? No. But it was still exciting to be able to deliver it and not stumble over my words.”
For Brand, his approach is to try and say exactly what happens first, and then get into the premeditated message. While Getzoff touched on the fact that only 21 players in NHL history have reached that number, Brand wanted to highlight that Crosby is one of just six players to score all 600 with one team, and that the Penguins are the only non-Original Six team in that group. Brand also factored in a local tradition when the time came.
“I learned about Light Up Night in Pittsburgh just before the game. So, that's why I threw that in there,” Brand said with a smile.
Brand loved that Crosby himself drew the penalty that led to the goal, especially after dropping the gloves with Kyle Connor in the loss to Winnipeg the night before. For the second game in a row, the captain – the heartbeat of the team, as Mike Sullivan often calls him – gave the Penguins a ton of juice when they were down 2-0.
“It was almost like the hockey gods making it happen. But it was also just Sid making it happen. Setting it up and finishing it off, it's amazing,” Brand said. “To be a very, very small part of that historic moment is very humbling, but it just kind of continues to check me in the fact that I have this job in this sacred seat that was made that way because of the legends before me. Obviously, Mike Lange being at the top of that mountain. To just kind of parachute into Pittsburgh and find myself at this point, at this time, with these calls, I'm very, very lucky.”
