EP 159: Unleash The Kraken W/ Everett Fitzhugh The Voice Of The Seattle Kraken

I pierced in Harnish, but a huge third-down conversion game on yep on the move down to the 24-yard line of St. Francis Who's winning he won't say the score wait up and waited for the past short drop on who's winning post towards the right corner complete to Vanderkuhi who steps across the play say the damn score You're listening to the original say the damn score podcast part of the say the damn score podcast network Here's your host Logan Andersen welcome to episode 159 of the say the damn score podcast as you just heard the big voice guy say I'm your host Logan Andersen freelance sportscaster and owner of game time media in the twin cities in this show I talk with sportscasters from around the country to share their stories and help listeners improve their broadcast craft and Build their own careers. We're recording from the almost world famous say the damn score studio today in Rose Mount Minnesota We just finished our final week of fall sports coverage for my game time media business My personal last game was an exciting five set volleyball match for a section final But our actual final day of broadcasts. We had five different football games that we were doing as a contract gig And it was an adventure as I said five football games three of them had nice indoor booths Two of them were outside in unprotected outdoor broadcast setups And if you're not familiar with Minnesota in the late fall It's generally not pleasant outside at this time of year and last Friday was no exception It was low forties with a constant steady light rain and we had to get creative Figuring out how to make the broadcast happen without ruining our equipment So what we did figure out how to do and one location was We just squeezed the announcer in the booth behind the coaches had him protect to the computer and The microphones and that fun stuff and then we just wrapped the camera and the camera operator in plastic So they sat at the top row of the bleachers ran the HDMI feed into the booth through the window and that was how we made that happen The other one was on a roof and our Broadcaster that day actually had a really good idea that at first I laughed at and then as I thought about it was like That actually might work and it was they brought a small pop-up ice fishing shelter Which we set up on the roof kept the equipment in there. I think the broadcaster still got nice and wet but The equipment survived and the games were broadcast. So that was our story for the week not too harrowing But sometimes that's good. We don't want to have too many harrowing stories at this point of my career anymore So with falseboards being done that means high school hockey in Minnesota is right around the corner Which is why I figured we should talk to a hockey announcer with that in mind I'm super excited to welcome on Everett Fitts you He is the radio voice of the Seattle Kraken and we're recording this the day before the start of the NHL season So it's been in the can a little bit. So we're gonna go back in time and Everett Fitts you. Welcome to the pod Logan doing well man. Good to see you again. Good to talk to you again. Happy to be out on the show So tell me first before I think the most pressing question that we're gonna have for this entire interview Yeah, what is the plural of Kraken? The plural of Kraken is Kraken. There are There's one Kraken or there there may be two Kraken. We don't know That's the that's the mystery. That's the legend of the Kraken is you never see its face You don't know how many of them are down there. It is a very Large creature. Maybe it's mythical. Maybe it's real. We don't know So yeah, but there the Kraken is singular and it is plural So it's like moose if for a Minnesota guy exactly. Yeah, they're there there's there's one moose They're no they're not two mooses. There's not two mists. Yeah, it's one moose two moose three moose four moose Do you have Like a ritual that you have developed to kind of prepare for the season in the couple weeks or month or whatever amount of time That you that you have before a season starts during the offseason. What do you do to kind of get ready to for the first game? Do you just focus a game at a time or do you have some like overall prep that you do during the year You know, I think the cool thing about it is that The difference from working in the minors where I came from where we're turning over 15 guys at least every season you know on each team To now in the NHL where you might get five new guys at most Per season so it's really easy to keep up with who's on what team especially if you know you're in general fan of the game I've been a fan of the NHL my entire life pretty much so you know, I watch games for fun So my my prep work when it comes to preparing and when it comes to getting ready for you know the crack and open up tomorrow At the time of this recording the crack and open up tomorrow against anaheim well anaheim we played them back in March They're rosters largely unchanged they had a couple of additions But you know for the most part you're going in having a basic general knowledge of your opponent and as far as The players that the crack in sign or that your team signs in the offseason You you study as you go when those players are announced you read the press releases and I like to go back And you know if we've played them before I'll go back and look at the stats against Seattle I'd love to look at highlights. I'll just go on YouTube for an hour or so and just you know Medicine Marshman check out some highlights of him and see what we're getting because you know There's always going to be an interview the crack and sign x player and so tell me about this guy Well, what what can the crack and expect and then you know, I will have just watched you an hour of highlights or maybe I'll go back and Watch one of his playoff games, you know that he was in so you know the the ritual the prep for me typically will start Maybe about a week or so before the the preseason start so preseason for us started like uh September 14th Usually Labor Day. Um, I'll pull out my notes. I'll dust off my notes the the three teams that we play in the preseason I'll actually go through and I'll fill out entire roster cards of all 50 players each that those teams have Um, and you know a lot of guys aren't gonna play for for Calgary or Edmonton or Vancouver So you know, you're doing all that work, but when they get called up, you know, you're you're that much more familiar with them But it kind of happens as you go along um, and I enjoy that part of the job getting ready for the season But you know you get to the ring. She start talking about folks. She start talking to the guys that you signed and um, it's uh It kind of it becomes smoother the longer you do this for At the end of a season just kind of just spur to thought at the end of the season After you've been through the grind of a long 80 plus game season. Yeah, you know the players a lot of times will take Ten days two weeks a month however much where they just won't even think about hockey and they go to gangcune or they do whatever they do What do you do as a broadcaster to just kind of refresh and kind of get back to what you want to do after a season? Oh Dude Logan, I am a glutton for punishment man every year. I tell myself This is the year. I'm not gonna watch any hockey. I'm not gonna watch the playoffs Especially, you know last year The Kraken didn't have the season that we wanted to have and I'm like, you know what don't me and my son We're gonna go outside and play. I'm gonna go to mariner's games But Logan I watched every fricking playoff game that I could find I was I was dialed in to the Stanley Cup playoffs So I once once I get through lying to myself Immediately after I'm like I said, I'm a hockey fan man like I I watch the playoffs It is nice to to be able to watch a game as a fan for a little bit because even when you're in season You're always prepping, you know, you're always trying to find information that you can use we go on the road You're sitting in your hotel not a whole lot going on, you know, I'll watch a movie maybe or maybe we'll go grab a beer or something like that But there's always hockey on but you're not watching it as a fan. You're watching it because hey, you know We're in pickaxe. We're in Minnesota. We're in Minnesota this week and and St. Louis and The avalanche game is on television. Well next week at home Colorado comes So you know what let me watch this St. Louis Colorado game and and start taking some notes and just getting an idea of How these two teams play and what the Kraken can expect It's nice during playoffs. You can just sit and watch a game and I can break it down You know me and jt brown our television color guy will text back and forth my color guy alken isky And our pre and post host Mike betton wool. We're in a three person group chat and we're out man You see you see that play from jack ikel did you see mcdavid whatever the case may be So I get to be a fan for a month and a half two months at the end of the season Um, but you know once the Kraken are done I don't have a lot of team specific responsibilities until we get back to training camp, you know We've got the draft in late June. We have our rookie in development camp right after that So I'll usually do a few things around that but for the most part You know for me the the summers are just that I get to be a full-time husband I get to be a full-time dad You know, I go into relax mode Brain shut off hockey shut off mode pretty quick with the exception of watching the playoffs as a fan Even though every single year I tell myself I'm not going to What did you do to get better at being a hockey broadcaster over this summer Yeah, every summer um, I go back and I I listen to I'll pick four random games five random games that we did um over the season and literally It's kind of like just throwing a a dart uh at a map, you know, I'll pick some random games Um, and I'll go back. I'll listen to them. I'll take some mental notes. You know, you're you're listening for Am I repeating a lot of words? How do my goal call sound because in the moment I do I do a lot of critiquing During the season. I know a lot of guys, you know, I'll like John Forrest, then our television guy One of the best whoever do it. He goes back and he watches every single game. Sometimes twice JT same thing Um, you know, it's it's a little bit more difficult for us on the radio side because Our games and our clips full clips aren't readily available But you know, I'll take some notes down week. We cut some pretty extensive highlights of each game I go back and listen to all the highlights of every game But in the summertime when I like to do I'll go back. I'll pick four or five games And you know, I'll write some notes down But more and more more still up in my head and just to get an idea of okay, you know, you said this word quite a bit Your energy starts to dip here a little bit So so there's that I also think, you know, we're always trying as broadcasters. We're always trying to get better With our prep work. So I'll go through my notes. I'll go through my notebook and see where can I where can I shorten things? Where can I change? Where can I add? You know with us being still kind of a fairly new ish hockey market Um, you know, we're still educating fans in Seattle on their team and on the sport and all of that So there are times, you know, when you have all these notes about the opponents and and you have all this homework that you're doing On other teams, but then you're like, well, wait a minute There's folks still trying to figure out our team. So this summer I went through kind of a delicate not a delicate balance But I went through this little this exercise for me as I went through all of our opponent sheets that I do I do my own roster sheet for each team and I'm like, what information do I need? What information don't I need? What are some things that our fans are going to love and want to hear? So there's a lot of that a lot of the self-critiquing from a notes perspective from an on air perspective Um, you know, so that that's typically what I like to do every summer Quickly we'll get into your background a little bit anybody who has followed the NHL or broadcasting for the last five years probably has seen one of the many features or news stories about you as The first ever African-American person hired as an announcer of any kind in the NHL As far as I know still the only one but as a play by play announcer Again, a lot of people have talked about this but I do still think it's important like what does that mean to you and How long do you think it's going to be until we get another one? Hopefully tomorrow um, you know, I There's a movie that I used to But I watched when I was a kid a kid and teenagers called not another teen movie And want to one of the lions in there the guy goes, hey, I'm supposed to be the only black guy at this party Um, that's not me. I hope I hope that there are a lot more black eyes or or gals Coming to this party sooner rather than later um, you know, I think for me I've said this many times um, and and it's still it still rings true for me I don't think anybody I certainly didn't set out to be The first black of anything, you know what I mean, but I do think that Now that I find myself in that position. I owe it to the sport that is Over a hundred years old and is just five years ago Gotten their first black full-time play by play guy. I owe it to the culture. I owe it to myself to be that um Positive black influence within the game of hockey that I never had and I remember growing up in Detroit as a hockey fan You know Detroit is is Demographically one of the blackest cities in America But there weren't a whole lot of black folks into hockey growing up, you know, hockey is historically banned a predominantly Straight white male sport. So when you're the first of of a marginalized group to Come into this space. It can be a little bit daunting. It can be a little bit overwhelming You know, but I think for me I've I've always thankfully I've always been treated as an equal amongst my peers when it comes to My jobs whether that was in the USHL whether I was in Cincinnati in the ECHL whether I was a college student at Bowling Green State University I've never been seen as you know the black Broadcaster for Bowling Green Youngstown Cincinnati's black PR guy. I've always been oh, yeah, that's their PR guy So I'm lucky and fortunate in that regard You know, but but it is something that I don't take for granted and it's been it's been so very cool Living here in Seattle and seeing so many Diverse faces and so many different people coming up to me and saying hey, you know I'm Filipino, but I've been a huge hockey fan and it's been so great washing Person of color do what you're doing or you know the largest growing demographic amongst hockey fans and and and hockey Customers if you will has been women. I mean female hockey is exploding from little girls all the way up to Adult learn the play and you know, I've had a lot of of moms and parents say you know again My daughter just loves you because even though you know, you're not a woman. You're still You know, you're someone who they told is not allowed to do this and here you are doing this thing So it's been really cool in that regard, but There is a certain responsibility of being able to to continue to Hopefully, you know grow the game and um, you know inspire others and tell others that not only are you welcome within this space But you're needed you're required to for our sport to grow. I remember growing up I became a massive Edminton Euler's fan the Detroit Redlings were winning back-to-back cups They were the best team in the NHL and I was an Edminton Euler's fan because they had three black players on their team And that was huge to see Mike Greer, Anson Carter and George the Rock three black dudes on the same team at the same time For a kid growing up in Detroit like that let that let me know there was a place for me Within the game of hockey so um, it's it's been cool I know we talk about it quite a bit and and you know, and I know folks will say all if he's good enough to do the job Doesn't matter who he is. Yeah, I agree with that. It shouldn't matter if I'm black or white or or or female or gay or straight It should not matter But the fact of the matter is it does because it's taken so long for Black people and Hispanics and Asian folks and Women and and members of the LGBTQ+ community. It's taken so long for marginalized groups To be accepted and to be welcomed within this arena literally within this arena within this world of of hockey. So I can't wait for the day when we don't talk about this anymore But when we stop talking about it That's when people start to feel like it doesn't matter and right now today. It's still very much matters Do you feel added pressure like man? I better not screw this up for the next person obviously you have the chops You're really really good, but do you have that feeling in the back of your mind? Just based on what you just said You know Logan. It's funny. You say that because I would I'd like to sit here and say no but Maybe maybe not consciously maybe not actively But you know any any black kid my age you know older. I'm I'm I'm 36. I'll be 37 in January. So let's say any black person you know under the age of 45 50 in our country They have been told the time they were little the time they were growing out growing up as as a black person as a black man black woman in this country You need to be twice as good as some at something just to be considered average um, and I think there is that pressure of You know the margin of error for me might be smaller than for Someone else right my Opportunity might not be as plentiful. I might not get as many second chances as as the other person So I would like to say you know that I think I've gone about my career in a way where I pay my dues I have I have shown The respect and the reverence for the job and for the leagues that I work for and for the people That I work with and I've been able to put myself in a position To have the success that I have right now but also in the back of my mind just as As a black person in America, you know, you can't help but think man I am very fortunate to be here even though I worked hard There still is someone out there that's gonna say well. He only got this job because of who he is And and I think that may be a motivating factor is like I don't want that to ever be a question I don't want every I don't ever want anyone to say oh He was just a DEI hire the Seattle Kraken we have done such a tremendous job within our company And hiring you know Women and people of color and folks from different backgrounds because you know, we want to see that that fundamental Foundational change within our sport. So we've been very intentional in trying to help that along But there's always going to be the detractors of well, they're only there because of Of DEI and this that the third and and I never want that to be said about me It's going to be said you can't help what people say, but you know I always set out to prove that no like I I spent five six and a half seven and a half years Riding the buses in the Miders and and if you want to count college 10 years Riding buses and and and all this other stuff to be able to have earned the opportunity to get to get to the NHL Perhaps it's a little bit ironic that a lot of the people who would say something like that If they just listen to you on the radio and listen to the name of Everett fits you Probably wouldn't guess that you were black to start. I can't I cannot tell you how many times I I've met someone in person for the first time and There always is kind of like you know when you see a confused dog they turn their hand like There's always there's always one of those kind of oh Wow, wow. Oh your Everett fits you. Oh, oh so nice to meet you. You know what I mean like that you you can always tell when there's that initial Shock of like oh wow, okay. Hi. Hello. I was not expecting you know, but again Everett fits you when you when you show up like I remember my mom Um, you know my mom told me a long long time ago when I was a kid Um, you know, I named you Everett because I didn't want folks to know you were black until you got to the interview I was not about to let your name get in the way of Of any opportunity for you. So we we still joke about that to this day But yeah, no, you're you're bang on man. I'll you know young black kid a young Everett fits you from Detroit, Michigan And then I show up and it's like oh Okay, you're yeah, yeah, yes, yes, you're ever absolutely that's to meet you miss if it's you So the reason that I really wanted to talk to you as we get close to hockey season as I'm looking at our high school calendar and think we're about a month away from girl's high school hockey starting in Minnesota I just really want to dive into what it's one of the things that I'm newer to I grew up kind of really focusing on basketball and football And then I moved to Minnesota and very quickly realized. Oh, if I want to make money doing this and take advantage of the opportunities out there I need to learn to do hockey and then I want to say I've become okay at it, but not great Hey, there there's sometimes what I I'm like man. I'm Didn't have it tonight like all right. I'm all right. It's my die. We were all we all we all get there man Well, here's the thing with hockey and I don't even do it on the radio. I'm doing it on a live stream Doing hockey on the radio has got to be maybe the single most difficult play by play task to do. It's so fast. There's so many touches How do you Decide because you I mean, it's just impossible even for the best to literally Describe every touch of the puck. How do you make your decisions on what's important enough For description and what you just have to leave to the imagination for just because there's not enough time to get everything in Yeah, you know, I think like like anything in this world, you know what I mean? You practice Enough you do it enough It's gonna come to you And I think for me I've always that that is part of my style is that anybody who listens to me I want them to feel like they're sitting in the 10th row behind the benches Watching this game. I want to put you there at the rink. So You know when I say that you're painting that full picture. I mean you're getting everything and you know while maybe I might not get 100% of the touches. I'm shooting for 95 or higher. I'm shooting for 95% Who's got the puck where the puck is on the ice? You know, and and there are times when you know if you're just going D to D on the blue line Four or five times in a row. You're not gonna say you know done back to Larson to done once again Here's Larson you know, you're not gonna go back and forth like that But maybe you'll do you know done in Larson play catch at the line Larson takes it here looking for an option Another given go Larson gets it back from his partner. You know, I mean you'll find different ways to to make it interesting But I think for me, you know, I want you to be able to close your eyes. I want you to be in the car driving I want you to be at the house. I want you to be sitting on a patio or something like that and I don't want you to have to worry About what you're missing. I want to be able to I want you to trust me enough that I'm giving you the accurate Complete information on a broadcast for you to see what's going on and and it's a work in progress and I remember When I first moved here to Seattle My my boss Katie Townsend her husband Ross Fletcher long-time soccer Broadcaster here in Seattle with the sounders. He did some stuff over in England as well He's done Olympics and World Cups and he is such a Such an amazing talented broadcaster him and I we we actually did a couple of workshops together and and so we be able to learn from him And and one thing that he taught me and that I didn't even realize that I was doing Was was that change of possession and and where the puck is because I've always been able to tell you Who has the puck, but you know, it's who's what team got the puck? So if I say our fans know Maddie baneers and Shane Wright and James Schwartz and all that So if I'm like, you know baneers over to Schwartz now the past picked off mcdavid coming back Well, who's mcdavid who who who has the puck what team is it and if you're a novice hockey fan You might not understand what that is so I really learned really on And my job here in Seattle, you know, when when your team loses the puck you have to identify Who's got it, you know, so Shane Wright for the Kraken in the near corner puck behind the net Edmondson picks it off here. They come the other way mcdavid up the left side oilers into the offensive zone You're trying to to make your fans Be able to visualize Who's got the puck where it is on the ice? What's going on? So, you know hockey is very very hard I think in that perspective, but like I said with anything you do it enough You can make it seem easy and I'm gonna disagree with you a little bit I think the hardest sport to do is baseball especially on the radio because I mean Yeah, you're painting the picture, but there's so much time so much downtime in baseball And especially if you're working in the minor leagues where you're doing a 142 games by yourself for I got a couple of buddies of mine Who work in the minors who who or who have worked in the minors? They'll have a color guy at home Maybe the bus driver will be a color guy every now and again on the road But you know, you're sitting in a in a you know middle of nowhere double a single a press box eating hot dogs and popcorn Calling a game for two and a half hours by yourself and you have to make up all the stories and Obviously, you can let baseball breathe a little bit more on the air. You don't have as much room for dead air and downtime and hockey But you know, I That's something that I pride myself on is being as descriptive as I can but also being understandable being legible if the audibly legible Where folks can understand and they can see that picture and they never have to worry about what's going on where the puck is What's happening because I'm giving them all of that information? How did you develop the economy of words to do that Because if you are calling 95% of touches in a hockey game Yeah, you don't have much time to get all that in what did you do to kind of develop that skill Well, you do your homework. You do your research And I remember when I was in college I was I went to boulding green in Ohio I was the bowling green hockey color analyst the let's see second semester of my freshman year All of sophomore all of junior year my senior year. I became play by play I came back for a fifth year in school had a victory lap love to party Did play by play there for my fifth year And then my first year out of school. I came back. So I was play by play for three years When I was in school. I used to listen to every broadcaster in the NHL at least twice So, you know, I'm sitting in my dorm room doing homework and Dallas and San Jose are playing right and I'll listen to San Jose, you know, Dan Rosinowski I'll listen to him for a period or two and then I'll flip on Dave strainer listen to him for a little bit or Whatever the case may be and you you pick out you pick and choose different guys that you like and even to this day You know, I love going back and I'll be cruising around, you know, driving around I'll listen to serious XM and I'll flip on some of my favorite broad. I still have favorite broadcasters in the NHL that I love listening to You know, there are guys that I still I try to emulate a little bit You know, I've been doing that ever since I was a 17-year-old freshman in college So you never stop learning and I think you study guys you learn from guys. Obviously doc emric one of the best you ever do it They call him doc because he got his doctorates doctor Mike emric from bowling green. So he is a legend Where I went to school. So, you know, you know, you look you talk about word economy and you talk about A walking facoris of terms and I don't think I'm ever going to be as as talented as him and I think I saw somewhere that he's got 50 60 different words For for pass you're right or for shots things like that So you just you study you do your homework and you go back and you listen to yourself because there are some games I remember in the past where you know, and even maybe still today you get caught using different words like my color guy one time My first year in Seattle. I guess I said fires multiple times for a shot like oh fire fires it fire And he goes man. You're really you're digging fires today. I was like oh crap. I said that a lot all right Well, try again So you go back and you listen to yourself and and you know those are some of the things I talk about that I critique myself in the summertime I'll pick those five random games and you know how sometimes I'll go back and I was like man I feel like I've heard that word a few more times and probably necessary. So Well, that's how you do it a lot of studying a lot of of homework, you know And again, I think it also truly comes from being a student of the game no matter how long You do this no matter how old you are no matter how many years you've been in this industry I think the best broadcasters are still students of the game and I'll even go further than that Listen to other sports if you're a football guy Go listen to some basketball games go listen to some baseball games listen to some hockey games if you're a baseball guy Go listen to some sports, right? I love listening to other sports, especially on radio because that's my job But it's it's like, you know You're not gonna play Football year-round right if you're in high school and you're an athlete and you're on the football team of the basketball team You're gonna switch things up. You're gonna work out different muscles. You're gonna find different ways to get better And I think for me, I love listening to non-hockey broadcasters because they bring a different perspective to the profession to the sport Of broadcasting broadcasting is a sport. I think it its own right, you know what I mean. So That's another area is that, you know, I love listening to NBA games Love still to this day. I love listening to to college football on the radio ESPN radio I'm driving around town. I'll listen to Tony Castricone doing a Huskies game, right? Like just stuff like that Really helps you become an overall better broadcaster I think because if you're only playing football if you're only playing basketball Sure, you'll be good at basketball, but like I think doing other things gives you an appreciation and it'll help you Use more muscles and more areas that you might not normally use and I think the same goes for broadcasting Mix it up a little bit. Listen to a few other guys try a few things out and that's how you develop your style and what you want to do The other piece of hockey that I have personally found really challenging Some of the high school rinks you don't have a very high vantage point probably you have the opposite problem where You're stuck off in a corner about a million miles away trying to identify Who had a tiny little redirect on a goal and Identifying who the actual score is oftentimes or where the deflections were in front of the net How have you developed the ability to do that? Are there any tools that you've or tricks that you've worked on to Be good at that Well, I mean, I'm going to start off by saying you know, especially in the NHL and then and the NBA The NFL MLB, you know, when you're at the top level the top leagues of your sport We are very fortunate to have all the camera angles. We have all the spotters. We have all the set Okay, so let's go back to six years ago when you're doing the Cincinnati cyclones. How did you get the right one? So, so I'm going to preface this by saying I'm fortunate now however Um, again, this is also where you learn a few tricks of the trade right if you're watching The play usually, you know, if you're trained to follow a hockey puck If you're trained in that regard, you know, you can you can kind of tell If a puck maybe changes directions or if it shoots Off of a body or if it goes into a crowd and honestly, there is a super easy way To cover yourself, you know shot from the point through traffic scores Adam Larson took the initial shot. There was a crowd in front May have been tipped may have been deflected on the way through none the last the Seattle Kraken have a one nothing lead Right there. There you go. Like I gave myself an out, you know what I mean like so it's super simple now There are also times when you can 1,000 percent tell when a shot Is tipped or deflected or goes off of a skate or something like that Um, you know Again, I'll say here in in the NHL, but also when I was in Cincinnati and a lot of ECHL rings you've got very good ice mics I don't know how they develop these but you know in the NHL obviously is one thing when you're dealing with these budgets that we have But you know when I was in the minors I remember going to some of these buildings and like the on ice Effects or just phenomenal and you can hear that little tick you can hear that little paint you can hear that little smack Okay, so it hits something it definitely hits something Also players know guys know so puck goes into the net immediately turn your attention To the goal scrum right when when they're given high fives and handshakes who are they patting on the back? Who are they celebrating who leads the handshake line? That's typically You know, that's typically a good indicator and hockey whoever leads that handshake line first And is getting those doubts from the bench first typically 90% of the time They're the ones who scored the goal. So always give yourself an out. It's super easy And and again, you're human you're in the NHL Yeah, we're high above the ice, but we're high above the ice and a lot of times you know you're 200 feet away from the play and there's bodies in front. It's a scramble I can I can look at the replay monitor that I have but it's it's the dirty program feed from the TV truck So I'm at their mercy like I can't radio down and say hey run that back real fast So I have to look and wait for TV to break it down and then I can see what actually happened But give yourself an out, you know, don't if you're unsure that's okay Can't try and cover try and and and stall and kill some time until that you're sure that you can punch out that call infatically and with conviction The last kind of specific nerdy broadcast type of thing that I wanted to kind of just get your input on for hockey on the radio where you have to spend so much time narrating the touches there is just not much time for an analyst to get in there where where the spaces that you You hand it off is it mostly face-offs and when there's a pile in the corner How do you handle that? Every every broadcast is different and I think that's also why Your relationship with your analyst is so important. I mean You know me is me and Al you know, we go to dinner on the road He just had my wife and my son and I over to his house and we did dinner with his family We hang out together a lot where we're not him and I are not co-workers. We're not colleagues. We're friends I think and and he'll tell you the same thing We've got such a good relationship and you need that with with your analyst and I think for for him I know where he likes to jump in it's a it's a very give-and-take relationship because There are some play-by-play guys out there who will tell you I'm the play-by-play guy. You're the color guy All right, I'm gonna talk I'll shut up now. It's your turn and and and that's how it's gonna be I'm very conversational. I want to feel like you just pulled up to a bar or we're sitting in the living room And you joined our conversation and we're just talking about the game. That's going on in front of you. So I mean if I had a rule of thumb, you know, I tell Alice, listen man wherever you feel like you can ship in with some info Don't be afraid to but also realize where the puck is and he does a good job of this all analyst at this level do You know, but but typically the rule of thumb is once the puck gets to the red line That's when you start to finish up your point and by the time you get into the offensive zone Then then that's when you take over now if there's a pile up in the corner You can get in with a quick quick you know Pucks against the boards man Seattle Kraken going off for a change behind the behind the play or whatever You'll let you'll let your analyst get in there, but You know typically if it's in the defensive zone if they're cycling if they're in the middle of a lion change They're coming through the neutral zone not a whole lot happening if it's sloppy You know, then I I tend to lay out a bit and and it lets me get a simple water It lets him get some points in you know, because you want to have that relationship Obviously, it's a lot easier on television But but you need to have that relationship and for me I wanted to feel more conversational than anything And I think we've done a really good job Of of establishing that and and I think that you know When when you're educating and when you're you're you're bringing in new fans every game every every month whatever the The the case may be you need to have that relationship because it's not just you was a play by a play guy that you know Fadja listening to it's your analyst. It's your host Mike Betten. He's A former minor league junior hockey broadcaster himself and he is super talented. So we're we're a three man group of of Voices and different experiences and opinions and you know, we've got that a relationship to make it all work and gel together But that that's how it needs to be and you need to have a really good relationship With with your analyst and you know, I know for some folks who we're going to be listening to this and you know Maybe you don't know who your analyst is going to be. I know there's a world where you know You're doing a high school football game or a basketball game and you know You may have a different analyst every game and if you're able to get your analyst's Information the night before a game you got a high school football game on a Friday Paul him up on Thursday have have a half an hour conversation and say hey, you know Just want to get an idea of Well, what are some of the things that you like to do you want to talk about what's your style? How can I make you better because at the end of the day as a play by play guy? Yes, you're going to be carrying the show But it says so much about a play by play guy That can welcome and work in his analyst almost seamlessly and you want to have That relationship. It's not you and him. It's not you versus him y'all are a partnership you guys are a teen you're working together And if you can make it sound like you and your analysts have been together for 10 years and you just met this guy at 10 hours ago That's that's going to be huge What was it like getting hired during COVID where you didn't necessarily even have You didn't know exactly what your role was going to be you were going to be part of a broadcast team either a radio or tv or what I don't think they told you and then having to wait A long time before you were ever actually able to do a game Man, I'm going to say you're right now. So one of our owners one of the the cracking owners is Jerry Bruckheimer the the the Hollywood producer and I met him once uh also from Detroit where oddly enough he grew up About six blocks down and three blocks over from where I grew up weirdly enough But again, he's got a few years on me and I told him I said the story of of my hiring here I don't think you could have written a better story for one of your movies. Hey, it was insane You know our CEO emails me out of the blue because you read an article about me. I didn't even Um, I didn't respond to it for a couple of days I left it on red because in our business like the CEO of a of a major league team with NHL team They don't email you personally. So when I saw you know Todd Atts whatever it was Todd and NHL see whatever the email was Um, and he had one D and I was I thought it was my guys having a little fun with me and and turns out it was him. We go through interview process COVID hits I get furloughed for my job my my girlfriend at the time now my wife She's like, hey, I know things are kind of rough, but if you ever followed up with that Seattle Um, broad that hockey team in Seattle. I'm like, uh, we're a COVID the whole world's gone to hell They're not looking to hire a broadcaster right now and I kid you not Two hours after we had that conversation we give back from the grocery store. I have an email from Todd sitting in my inbox He said the literally the same thing. I know the whole world's gone upside down. We're still building We're still growing and you know, I want to start the interview process and So I go to the interview process. They fly me and my wife Out there and out here to meet everybody. We tour the Arena sites and and all of that in July 14th 2020 smack dab in the middle of COVID. I get offered my my dream job That I had been hoping for since I was a 17-year-old college freshman You know, so that was cool. We back up the car. We move out to see we start the drive out to Seattle on September 15th which or sorry September 16th Because oddly enough September 15th was supposed to be our original wedding date So we had to push our wedding back to go. It was crazy man. And then we move out here And you know, you're you're drinking from a fire hose because when we moved out here Ron Francis Was our general manager and he was really the only Spokesperson type that we had so Ron is going on all the partnership meetings He's meeting with all the sponsors and doing all the the hockey content and Dave Tippett who Was a coaching consultant for us for a while back with us now in some capacity, but They they did a Tuesdays with tip segments So you're trying to find all these different areas so that I get hired so that I assume the role of Of host slash, you know, community guys slash everything that you would send a player or coach to do I did it for the first, you know, 12 months on the job and You know, they finally we're like, yeah, no, you're going to be the radio guy John Forzlin is our television guy again I said it before one of the best to ever do it someone that a lot of us grew up watching and listening to and all that so It was it was a crazy time Logan. It was a real crazy time and I look back on it. I didn't I didn't Believe it was real, you know, I actually Once I got furloughed from my job in Cincinnati with the cyclones My wife got a job offer in Boston and I was actually we were going to move to Boston We were we were looking at apartments and stuff in Boston and I said, you know what? Maybe I'll put my my job on hold for a bit We'll see what what we can do and and all that well then her job gets put on hold because of the pandemic And then that's when the crack and got back to me and so crazy how it works But no man, COVID was a crazy time. It was fine. We were just talking about that the other day about because we're coming up on our year wedding anniversary next week and You know, I was like man, do you remember that at all and we spent a good hour just talking about COVID and what all happened and How we got this this wonderful opportunity and now we're here in Seattle with a beautiful three-year-old boy and making the most of it man Was there ever any anxiety that like COVID would for lack of a word kill the team or they'd like change their mind as you're waiting for all this to happen Like to get that job and then have to wait just seems like it would be so Especially when it's your first one with a brand new just seems like it would be a very anxious situation I would be 100% yes, it was slogan 100% and honestly to man There was so if I'm not mistaken. I'm almost positive. I'm not mistaken The crack and we're supposed to begin in October of 20 But things before COVID even happened. I guess a couple things you know, they were trying to the the arena timing was something was off And they said all right, we're gonna push it back to 21 But I'm almost positive the initial start date For the Seattle NHL team NHL Seattle was supposed to be October of 20 so the 21 season as opposed to the 21-22 season But yeah, no, that was something that I definitely was thinking about the back of my mind. I'm like here. I am at 30 Health 32 right 30 31 years old um My first NHL job I've reached the summit the pinnacle of of my career to this point And I was just waiting for COVID to snatch it right out of my hands and um, you know I don't know if if you who you or what you believe in but I was I was my wife and I we were manifesting and we were doing all this other stuff like please let's just let's get through it You know Seattle, which I I'm thankful for you know Seattle was always one of the more um, you know Conservative places when it came to all the restrictions and all of that like you know, we were we were shut down for quite some time But we were very careful within the organization, you know, whatever the government mandate was whatever the state mandate was We went above that to make sure that hey no one's getting COVID on our watch We're not this is not getting shut down because of us so that you know, I was very fortunate Um for that, but yeah, it was it wasn't nerve-wracking time and I think you know Luckily a lot of the A lot of the really Narlie COVID-ness You know was was starting to wind down when we move so we moved I guess said mid-September of 20. So by then, you know, the vaccines were rolling out. You're you were starting to see a lot more of that You know, I think It wasn't if this was March or April, you know, it told of the ballgame But I think the fact that we were going into the wintertime and and and things were lightning up a bit that definitely helped But until that puck dropped You know and I was nervous and I'm gonna go further than that. I'll tell you a story So we get to Opening night of 21 we get to opening night October of 2021 I go through preseason I go through a year or just over a year of promotion and and gearing up and getting ready to launch the Seattle Kraken And I get COVID and I have to miss the first five games of our franchises history It was a five game road trip Vegas, Nashville Columbus Philadelphia and I forget the other maybe the islanders maybe didn't know what the islanders we played there that year new jersey the devils So Vegas, Nashville, Columbus, Philly, Jersey. I missed the first five games And I was a wreck. I man. I was this is it. I'm getting fired. I'm done my guy. I can't even do my job They were they were able to get someone to cover which was great I got to give a special shout out to Elliott Friedman from sports net He called me out of the blue. I was on my couch struggling to keep down some Gatorade and he goes, hey, man This effing sucks. I get it, but I want you to know that your career is going to be filled with so many moments And this is just going to this is just one moment of a career. That's going to have thousands millions of moments It stinks right now, but I want you to know it's going to be fine. You're going to get through this We're all pulling for you. We're all proud of you. You're one of and it was just such a it was so cool To hear Elliott say that and he didn't need to do it. I don't even know how he got my phone number from me and honest And my first thought was how do you get my number? Thank you. I'm proud. I'm happy you did But yeah, man that that whole COVID that whole first two years year and a half From when I was called By the Kraken to when I finally made my debut on the air For the team Wild times absolutely wild covering a team that is an expansion team Yeah, I can actually relate to it a little bit because I covered a small college football team That was like a charter team that had never existed their first season And not having any history to draw from or any Anything to lean on kind of going into a season or a broadcast, but Being able to kind of look forward to the future and talk about what is coming like It's just kind of a unique situation to be in not a ton of people have been in it What was it like for you and what was I guess what did you intentionally do Knowing that situation was coming like what was your philosophy? Yeah, um, you know, it's it's it's been it's such a cool experience. It's such a fun experience being The first broadcaster for a team because you know, you're here You're a part of the history, but you get to see the history right like all these teams have been around for decades I mean we've got what Detroit New York and Chicago celebrating their centenials um the Boston just had their centennial and that's like some of these teams have been around for hundreds of you A hundred plus years, but you're here from the beginning. You know the history You know the first goal scores. You were there for the first coaches in the first playoff runs So that way you can help shape that narrative for for decades generations to come but I think for me The best part about being with an expansion team is is Watching this market go from Oh hockey's pretty cool. Oh the NHL is new. It's exciting. It's sexy. Oh the the old Kierina They renovated it now. It's a beautiful new building. Let's go see it. We've gone from that to Like people are bought into the Seattle Cracket. They know the players. They know the stats They're holding the team accountable. Why aren't we playing this guy? Why didn't we sign? Why aren't we doing it? It's been so much fun watching our fans in our community embrace this team and you know I said I grew up in Detroit. I remember when the Redwings were winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in the late 90s and you know they they were on One of the best teams in the NHL for for a generation and I see that same passion here in Seattle for a team going into year five That I did for the Redwings who were you know at the time going into year 85 right like it's been it's been Or 75 right it's been so Fun just to be around it and to watch this city grow and to watch people Become hockey fans and want to go to cracking games and and they know the stats and they have their favorite players and all of that So that was the fun part and I think for me When you're broadcasting to that audience You you have to walk a very fine line because there are plenty of people here Just the nature of of Seattle. It is a it is a Transplant town because of Amazon and Microsoft and Boeing and all the companies the international companies who are based out of here I'm that just as many people from Michigan, Boston, Florida you name it I've met just as many people not from Seattle better from Seattle. So you've got hockey fans here We're so close to Vancouver. A lot of canucks fans will come down to our games and you know you're you're you're you're you've got people in Northern Washington who who were canucks fans if they were a hockey fan now they have their own team But they get the game so you've got people who already know the game But you also have people who don't know the game and you have to walk that fine line of education versus condescending A condescending guys and people so Being able to teach but also entertain being able to talk to the audience who For those of you who might not be aware this is what icing is. This is how a major penalty versus a double minor penalty works Right, but you can do it in a way that isn't condescending to the hockey fan who's been playing his whole life And you know who was a lifelong Boston Bruins fan who saw body or score the goal and was in the building the last time They won the cup, but now they live in Seattle You you need to walk that fine line. So it's been fun trying to find out where that line was and it's been fun watching and and finding those people Who have gone from casual fans to die hards and watching the die hard fans who grew up in Chicago Boston St. Louis wherever they're from who are now in Seattle and you know They they have a new favorite team because oh my my kids love the crack in the my grandson my granddaughter this that the third So that's that's been the fun part about working for an expansion team is just watching the change and watching the growth and the Passion and the buy-in from the people here in the community who are now fans of the team What I particularly enjoyed was the fact that you got to You got to call a lot of milestones, right? So yeah, the first Touchdown the first win the first winning season the first senior class What milestone and you I don't know what the record was those first five games So I don't know if you got the first win or not, but we were I did not get the first win. I got the first home win We were let me see if I can get this right we were I think we were one one three and one in those first five games So what was your favorite milestone that you've you've got to do over the last five years? Oh Boy howdy um It's a great question um First milestone I man you know I'm three of them immediately come to mind Three of them come to mind um, but if I had to pick one I think it's it's the first home game. We we lost to the Vancouver Canucks but It had been you know at the time a hundred and 105 years 106 years since the NHL had been played in Seattle the 1917 Seattle Metropolitan's Beat the Canadian's they were the first US based team to win the Stanley Cup There's a book a wonderful book by an author here in Seattle called For for those who mattered most or for whom it mattered most that talks about those old Seattle metropolitan teams and all that but that first game against Vancouver even though it was a loss you know Being there for that first home game They're renovated arena people who'd grown up in that building going to Thunderbirds games and then they went to Sonic's games and for all the people who Worked continue to still work for the organization. All the sacrifices. They made the the fan base the community That first game I I always said and I still contend that that first game The wreck the results of that game if that game would have ended up in a win That would have just been the icing on the cake but I think it's the culmination of decades of people Trying to get a team in Seattle. They almost had a team twice and it fell through We've had a number of fans who I'm I'm close with and I'm friends with now here in Seattle who have been um, you know They were at the early city council meetings. They were making homemade science one of our old social media managers Zach Paggins who now is the social media manager for the Brooklyn nets in the NH and the NBA He's from Seattle and he was a college student at the University of Washington Making signs and going the city hall meetings and say bring uh, you know bring the NHL to Seattle So it's the people like that who are finally rewarded, you know with their team. So I think that for me is is my Favorite milestone the other two When we beat Arizona In in our second season to clinch the spot in the playoffs our first trip to the playoffs in our second season of existence um, and then Jordan Eberley's game four overtime winner at home against Colorado the defending Stanley Cup champion um, and then we went on to beat the abs in seven and then we lost two Dallas in seven In the second round and Jordan Eberley with nine seconds left The puck bounces over his stick if his stick was Two inches higher off the ice wide open backdoor tapping and we're still playing so but I think that's my most of that's my famous That's my favorite milestone But there's a few in there definitely in the in the running Your time in the minors at youngstown and Cincinnati I know just enough to know that it's a real grind to be in minor league hockey. There's not a lot of money There's some really bad rinks. There's some really bad meals provided by cheap owners after the games bad hotels Like what is your advice to somebody in the minors trying to grind it out? They've been there for six to ten years. Whatever it's been Yeah, I mean I'm gonna say I'm gonna tell you what full stop Hands down and and I I will go on record with this. I will go off record with this um My time in the minors uh still to this day Was the most fun I've ever had doing this job and I love working in the NHL. I have a blast in the NHL doing what I love doing At the highest love, but when you look at what you're doing in the minors you're wearing 25 different hats you're You're so close with your staff and the people that you work with and um, you know the the the fan bases are so passionate You're on 18-hour bus rides to the middle of nowhere Doesn't sound fun when you're in it, but I When you're out of it and I go back and I look back man, we had some fun time. So I'm gonna start off by saying that What I learned most about that working in those those stops sure a couple things number one I learned how to be more than just a broadcaster when I went into Cincinnati when I went in a youngstown I thought I was gonna be there for a year I was gonna have some good calls and then I was just gonna work my way up and and You know be become the next you know bob costus the next mic brain the next Uh doc-americ, right? No, that's not how it works, right? Like I learned so much more about the marketing side about the sale side about the Content side of of the business and I I went in as a broadcaster who knew How to market to becoming a marketer who knew how to broadcast and and I I love that I was able to make that turn you know because When you're selling minor league hockey in Cincinnati, Ohio right next door to the red stadium Right down the street from the Bengals across town from UC and Xavier across the river from northern Kentucky University And all the sorted in the sundry high schools that are their high school football in Ohio I'm sure you got some listeners in Ohio high school football in Ohio is akin to high school football in Florida and Texas in California And all these other places it is king in most places Um and being able to sell minor league hockey in a place like that is not easy work. So I learned a lot about that um and I also learned that you know Enjoy the ride and even when I was in it when when you're pulling into Wheeling West Virginia or Kalamazoo Michigan or Fort Wayne, Indiana You know moly and Illinois when you're pulling into these places at three o'clock in the morning You're unloading bags you have to get back to your hotel and finish your notes and maybe get four hours of sleep before practice the next day And you're just like man, it's all this worth it And then you you quickly like well, absolutely It's worth it because this is what I want to do like my goal is to get to the NHL and you know I think so many folks in our industry Have that north star so bright, you know, I want to get to the NBA the NHL the MLB whatever it is But they forget to live in in the moment live where you are and it sounds so cliche But be present where you are if you're in a minor league city If you're working for a minor league team or if you're doing High school freelance games or if you're working, you know overnight Sports desk at a at a you know rural tv station Yeah, might not be the most glamorous, but that's okay Enjoy it because you're you're you're never going to get these experiences back and I and I remember You know when I lived in Chicago. I was working for the USHL league office making $27,000 a year before taxes my lights got cut off a handful of times. I had to Stretch a hot and ready pizza for five days Yeah, you know until the paycheck came um, but I look back at that experience and it's like man I had some fun, you know, I got the travel for hockey. I was working in hockey Youngstown Cincinnati at same thing might not be the most glamorous life But damn it. I had so much fun doing it with the people that I was doing it with um and and also to it it gives you A certain sense of of accomplishment, right? Like I get here to the NHL and I walk around our office and you know I I'm very involved with Various departments, right? I do stuff for partnerships. I do stuff for community. I do stuff for marketing, you know All these areas I had a hand in working when I was in the minor so all of those skills have now been transferred to the NHL This job for me when I was in in the minors Play by play was 20% of my job 80% was the other Here in the NHL. It's probably 80% play by play, but the other 20 Is just as important So, you know, that's my advice to folks who were in in it like yeah It's not going to be glamorous all the time Sometimes it's going to bleeping suck and that's okay. That's okay because the ride that you're on Enjoy the ride live in the ride You're always going to be looking for that next opportunity and that's fine We all want to move up. We all want to get to that next level. We all have dreams and goals of getting To the peak of our sports of our profession But I've met so many folks who've got one foot out the door the second they get someplace and they forget you know Live here stay here be here and and make the most out of this opportunity your next opportunity will come You are going to get that promotion you are going to get Noticed and get to that next level. You're working for a D2 school. There's a D1 college out there who knows who you are Your freelance and somewhere driving the college football state or high school football stadiums in Nebraska I promise you somebody knows who you are and recognizes the hustle and they see you It's okay and and it might seem hopeless. It might seem worthless. I promise you. It's not and and it's fun You're gonna have so many stories to tell your kids tell your friends, you know, you're gonna laugh. We some of the shit man Oh, it's a party some of the stuff that we did when I was in Cincinnati. I would say your story. We were driving to um We're on a on a 18 hour bus ride from Cincinnati to Estero, Florida. Which is outside of Fort Myers to play the Florida ever blades Our bus breaks down and Bumble scum middle to nowhere. Georgia. All right, and it is early November So it's still hot Bugs are about the size of my fist. We are in Georgia. All right pull off to the side of the road on this in this abandoned gas station and our trainer whips out her The the training table and was doing treatments on guys in this parking lot There was a public grocery store about half a mile Korma or a mile down the road Me and about five of our players are walking down this Georgia highway To publics to get sandwich trays and stuff to bring back as our backup bus wouldn't come from like four hours And the guys are hungry and we're miserable. I'm like man. I just want to go to our hotel and and I look back on that I'm like, man, that was a fun time. We had a three and three uh Fort Wayne indeed or Indianapolis for the indie fuel on a Friday We played the Fort Wayne comments on a Saturday eight o'clock Saturday game One of our guys in that game got injured so we had to go to the hospital He's fine uh picked him up in the hospital And then we made a seven and a half eight hour bus ride to Brampton, Ontario So India on Friday Fort Wayne on Saturday Brampton, Ontario for a two o'clock game on Sunday We pull into the hotel at Brampton at 10 o'clock in the morning I shower I get my notes done and I call a 401 win One of the the goalies in that game Joey Decorde is the goalie here in Seattle We talk about that sometimes too. So like a lot of a lot of those stories where you're like, man, what the hell am I doing? But in the moment, but you look back on it you're like, man, that was so much fun, you know, and like it's I'm rambling now because I just I'm so grateful and I'm so thankful for the time that I spent in the ECHL in the USHL at bowling green I've had to push I helped push the bus out of a snowbank when I was in college We got stuck I think was Omaha Nebraska something like that got stuck in a snowbank push the bus out of the hotel parking lot It was snowing like just stuff like that little things like that I'm not pushing buses in the NHL the unload bags up here, right? But you know you miss that part of of the job when you're not doing it anymore So I'm gonna stop rambling Logan. Uh, but that would be that that's my minor league advice. Enjoy it. Love it Live it. It's gonna be okay But if you ever get to a private jet on an NHL team you can enjoy that too Wow Listen, I'm they treat us the NHL also stands for never hungry league and I've not been hungry for four years So I will tell you right now we they treat us very very well the hotels we stay in The meals that we have you know the the benefits that we get I'm gonna tell you right now it yes, it is wonderful and and it is It is definitely a blessing. It is definitely. There's still a lot of pinch me moments that I get Simply from the treatment alone However You still appreciate where you came from to get to where you are now If anybody wanted to reach out to you what would the best way to do so be I'm on social media I'm on Instagram and Twitter. It'll always be Twitter. I will dead name Twitter for the rest of my life At the voice fits F-I-T-Z My DMs are open my wife and all my friends will tell you that I'm the worst Texture in the world. So if you do DM me. I promise you I will respond Eventually don't take it personally But yeah social media is the best way to get ahold of me And and yeah man, I'm just gonna Il thank you for this. This was fun Logan. I really appreciate this conversation Once again, we are visiting with the voice of the Seattle Kraken Not the crack eye or the Kraken's the Kraken Kraken's Everett fits you. Thanks so much for coming on the show. They Logan. Thanks buddy. I had a blast doing this. Hopefully your listeners Can glean something and and take something away This has been the say the damn score podcast Subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast app or visit say the damn score calm and click the big red subscribe button If you like the show, please share it on your favorite social media platform at radio underscore Logan on Twitter or X or whatever We're calling it these days. I'm also on Instagram at say the damn score And if you would be kind enough to leave a review on apple podcasts We would sure appreciate it. It helps me to make the show better and it makes me feel good both of those should be worthy causes Please reach out to our guests on social media and let them know how much you enjoyed their appearance on the podcast As always I'm Logan Anderson and the next time you're on the air make sure to say the damn score just a little bit more Hey, thanks for listening to the say the damn score podcast My name is Matt Cundle and if you enjoyed Logan's show you might like my show the sound off podcast It's the podcast about broadcast and we interview people behind the microphones in radio television and voiceover As well as the newer forms of media like podcasting and video streaming the show is available on Apple podcasts Google podcasts Spotify and at soundoffpodcast.com