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		Emrick defines class in assist to Strader at NHL Winter Classic By Daniel Dullum January 3, 2009

	GLENDALE, Ariz. – As a broadcaster, Mike “Doc” Emrick is already in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Yet his assist to Dave Strader could land him a nomination for the NHL’s Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship, Emrick, NBC’s lead play-by-play announcer for its coverage of the National Hockey League, was slated to perform those duties on New Year’s Day for the second annual Winter Classic at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, won by Detroit 6-4. However, a bout of laryngitis sent Emrick to the sidelines and Strader, who calls the Phoenix Coyotes television games, found himself in a pinch-hitting role. “I got a call from Sam Flood at NBC on Dec. 27,” Strader remembered. “He said that Doc had lost his voice the night before doing a (New Jersey) Devils game. He said ‘We’re still five days away from the event, just put it in your back pocket.” Strader then notified the Coyotes that he’d been contacted by NBC and told them it was an “outside chance” that he would have to work the Winter Classic. After the team assured Strader they could cover for him if he had to leave for Chicago on short notice, he got a text message from Flood. “Sam told me that Doc is in Chicago, he’s feeling better, we think he’s going to be OK, but we want to make our final call on Wednesday morning (Dec. 31),” Strader said, noting the importance of having seen both Chicago and Detroit play the Coyotes in December. “So I went to bed the night before, I watched Detroit and Chicago on the Center Ice package from Joe Louis Arena (in Detroit) and made a couple of notes. But I was really preparing for the Coyotes-Avalanche game on New Year’s Eve. “I got up the next morning, turned on my Blackberry and it started bleeping with all kinds of text messages – ‘We need you in Chicago. Doc’s lost his voice and you’re doing the game.’ So I basically found out at 8 o’clock in the morning the day before the event.” In a statement from NBC, Emrick said, "Last year's game (in Buffalo) was a lifetime memory and I couldn't wait to call this year's game at Wrigley. I'm extremely disappointed but I know Dave will do a wonderful job." Emrick’s statement was brief, but what he did to assist his replacement spoke volumes. “When I checked into the hotel in Chicago, Mike Emrick had left a packet with his handwritten and typed notes,” Strader said. “And nobody prepares for a game like Doc Emrick. He understood that this was more about an event than a hockey game, so he had so many historical references of other events that happened at Wrigley Field, backgrounds on the players and their experiences playing outside. “Some of that, I had. What I didn’t have was the depth of what he’d already done because he’d spent so much time doing it,” he continued. “Doc left me a handwritten note on the first page saying, ‘Sorry this was so late. Thanks for doing this.’ He left me his two tickets as well. “He’s a Hall of Fame broadcaster, and a Hall of Fame person. He made it that much easier for me to settle in.” As broadcast anchor Bob Costas said in the pregame show, “Here at NBC Sports, we have a deep bench.” Strader said that on his long NHL broadcasting resume’ the Winter Classic ranks “toward the top.” Fielding over 200,000 ticket requests through a lottery system, the outdoor game drew 40,818 to the major leagues’ second oldest park, along with some strong television ratings. “Somebody asked me to compare it to covering the Olympics,” Strader said. “When I got that call, I was overwhelmed. It was my first Olympics for NBC and the first time I’d ever been to Europe (for the games in Torino). This was different because you’re outside; there was so much attention in this country for this one event, that it’s hard to compare it to anything else. “We found out the overnight ratings were better than the game last year,” he added. “They did a 2.9 national rating, a 12 in Chicago and a 10 in Detroit up against college bowl games. Those are great, encouraging numbers. There’s no question this will be an annual event.” For the second consecutive year, Darren Pang, Strader’s partner on Coyotes’ broadcasts, was on hand to do rinkside analysis at the Winter Classic. It’s an experience Pang describes as “very different “ from his usual duties for Phoenix. “You’re walking around, trying to find something within the game to share with the viewer. Here (in Phoenix), you’re sitting in a booth with your notes right in front of you. For me, (the Winter Classic) is more of an instinctive game. You’re trying to tell a bigger story than just the X’s and O’s of the game. To me, it’s one of the special broadcasting moments of my career – the two outdoor games.” “Last year, with all due respect to Buffalo, you’re driving into an area where there’s tailgaiting, and obviously a huge stadium. So there was really no sense of village or community,” Pang said. “At Wrigley, when you get to Waveland Avenue and Clark Street and Addison Street, the people were already in their jerseys, walking around chanting ‘Red Wings’ and ‘Blackhawks.’ People had Cubs and Bears jerseys on. “That would be the biggest difference – it seemed like a small city that surrounded the baseball diamond that really gave you a feeling that you were going to the ballpark. You could really interact with people as you were going in the building.” As a former goaltender, Pang noticed that the overcast sky would be an advantage to both goalies. “The day before, the sun was a factor,” Pang said. “In fact, the NHL was considering switching ends every 10 minutes in all three periods. The sun came from the south to the north, so when the goaltenders looked over their right shoulder, it was a real serious glare.” “(Blackhawks’ goalie) Christobal Huet tried wearing a visor in practice, but that wasn’t going to work because ice would come down,” he continued. “Even with the lights the goalies couldn’t look up in that area because you’d be blinded in that split-second.” Pang said the sky conditions were “perfect” and didn’t think the wind in the Windy City was a factor. “It wasn’t anywhere near the adversity the players faced last year,” Pang said. “Last year in Buffalo, it was just the way the snow was coming down and visibility was an issue. That wasn’t a problem at all this year.” Another improvement was the refrigeration system for keeping the ice at a constant 22 degrees. Pang said that the more level playing surface at Wrigley Field also helped. “(Ralph Wilson Stadium) needed help because the field there was crowned,” Pang explained. “They had to use plywood because they knew there would be an issue with the one corner. As the game (between Pittsburgh and Buffalo) went on, there was a hole in one area they couldn’t fix. “In the game at Wrigley, it was flat. It was perfect. They did a great job of getting the ice to those pristine conditions. I thought the ice was fantastic. I don’t think they’ll ever get it any better and the players had no problems with it.” Pang, a former goaltender, said he was surprised when Chicago pulled Huet in the third period in favor of backup Nikolai Khabibulin when Detroit scored three unanswered goals. “I was standing by (Detroit goalie) Chris Osgood when they pulled (Huet). I asked Ozzie how it would feel if that were you, and he said, ‘I don’t think that was fair. I didn’t think it was right that they pulled him out at that particular moment.’ “I stood beside Khabibulin for most of the game as well, and you’re not staying warm right there, so you’re putting him in a pretty vulnerable position.” As a former player – and a former Chicago Blackhawk – Pang couldn’t help but think about how much fun the outdoor game would be to play in. “I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that you don’t see yourself in that position again,” Pang said. “But in that particular setting, the Blackhawks and the Red Wings, even in my brief career, there were so many ugly and intense games. “That’s the difference between this and the game between Buffalo and Pittsburgh. No disrespect, but they don’t hate each other. The Red Wings and Blackhawks don’t like each other and that goes back some 80 years and 800 games. Besides that, they’ve been nip-and-tuck all season long. There was animosity. It was a much more ferocious game this year than last year.” As Strader noted during the broadcast, what could easily get lost in the shuffle is the fact that it wasn’t an exhibition. Two points in the Western Conference standings were on the line. “I mentioned that Ken Holland, the GM in Detroit, wanted to schedule a game against Chicago two days prior because he wanted it to be a home-and-home,” Strader said. “I think that kind of helped the event because I think people realized that Chicago is trying to establish that they’re trying to challenge the Red Wings for their division title. “The Blackhawks were four points out when the home-and-home started, they lose at Joe Louis and had a 3-1 lead in the Winter Classic before the Red Wings kind of strut their stuff, pull away and show they’re still the defending champions until somebody proves otherwise.” It’s only one game out of 82 in the grind that is the National Hockey League schedule, but it’s the one everybody wants to play in. Following their New Year’s Eve win over the Colorado Avalanche, Phoenix Coyotes forwards Shane Doan and Peter Mueller both said they’d be tuning in to watch the NHL Winter Classic. “It’s a special thing,” Doan said. “Of course, we’d love to play in that. It’s pretty unique, Detroit and Chicago is a great rivalry. Last year Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh at Buffalo was great. We’ve got to get better, but I’d love to be in it.” “I grew up on a farm, so we played outside. And I skated outside during the lockout year in 04. We skated outside one time in Winnipeg, I think, back in ’95 with the Jets.” Mueller added, “It brings back a lot of memories from playing outside, playing on ponds with the cold wind chill factor. But I think a lot of people are going to be watching. It’s exciting for (Detroit and Chicago) to play in it. It’s going to be a great game.” What Doan and Mueller didn’t know was that they’d have the rare opportunity to hear their own television play-by-play announcer on the NBC broadcast, wearing a stylish toque no less. “That was the first time ever,” Strader said, laughing. “The only other outdoor event I ever did was the first event I ever broadcast and got paid for. I was just out of college, it was in Mission Viejo, and I did a high school eight-man football championship, on top of a van, in the rain. That was the only other time I had to work in the elements.” Strader did confess to feeling lucky about the lack of sleet or wet snow to soak his research notes from Doc Emrick, or his own. “I have all my notes in plastic now anyway because I’ve worked with a couple of analysts who spilled coffee,” Strader concluded. “Mickey Redmond did it a few times in Detroit and I had it happen at ESPN, so I always use plastic sheets. “I made sure I had the plastic sheets this time because of what they went through last year in Buffalo, but we were fine. It was dry all day, no glare from the sun, it worked out great.” Is Darren Pang one of those butterfingered analysts? “Oh, no, Panger is pretty good. I don’t think he’s ever spilled anything,” he said. “He’s well behaved!”