Who Wants To Be A Flames Broadcaster?
By Ryan Pike
9 years ago
The past few weeks have been a bit melancholy, as it seems retirements of beloved Flames broadcasters has become the norm. Last week, it was Peter Maher. This week, former Flames TV host and play-by-play man Grant Pollock announced he’s hanging it up after a long and distinguished career.
But the slight silver lining to these retirement clouds is that a few new faces could be joining Calgary’s media landscape as the new broadcast team for Calgary Flames radio broadcasts.
And Rogers has helpfully posted job descriptions in an effort to, most likely, get some competition going for these positions. And if nothing else, these postings can provide some interesting insight into how these positions are framed internally.
PLAY BY PLAY
Filling the shoes of Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Maher, this will be a tall order. Understandably, the bar for qualifications is set a bit high.
Responsibilities
Perform Play by Play for Every Calgary Flames game, Preseason, Regular Season, and Post Season
Participate in all Pre Game, Post Game and intermission programming for Flames radio broadcasts
Be available for 2 daily talk show phone in segments on Sportsnet 960-The Fan, Monday to Friday
Fill in on Sports Talk Shows for 3 different weeks during the off season
Write game day blogs; be active on Twitter and or Facebook under the Sportsnet 960 brand
Participate in various station promo and sales events and meeting
Qualifications
Minimum of 5 years of Play by Play experience with NHL,OHL,WHL,AHL,ECHL,QMJHL or similar leagues on radio or television
Able to interview some of the biggest names in hockey, in a conversational style
Able to write a daily blog for each Flames game for station website
Social media savvy a must
Be able to legally travel to United States
Have experience participating in many charity events with examples of such
Sports talk radio hosting experience
Strong historical knowledge of the Calgary Flames and National Hockey League
Experience in dealing with Professional Sports Teams as a broadcaster
Outside of the level of social media and radio fill-in work, nothing here is surprising. The five-year minimum experience level probably eliminates a lot of people from consideration right off the hop. (Granted, if the BCHL or similar leagues are included, then some candidates may remain.)
Notable locals that could be considered include long-time Calgary Hitmen voice Brad Curle and the FAN960’s Ryan Pinder, who has previous experience calling games for the Abbotsford Heat and the Penticton Vees. Beyond those two, Peter Loubardias could also be considered, given his extensive resume calling junior games throughout Canada.
COLOR COMMENTATOR
The bar for color-man is a bit lower, as the shoes aren’t quite as big to fill. It’s also noteworthy to consider that there’s a posting for this job does not necessarily mean that Peter Loubardias won’t return for 2014-15. Granted, we don’t have any inside info about this, but many times companies hire people on contracts and then open things up to see what options are available.
Anyhow, there are a few requirements here that probably mean you won’t be hearing Kent Wilson or myself on Flames broadcasts…
Responsibilities
Be the color commentator for all Calgary Flames Broadcast
Prepare for each game, attend morning skates and team practices
Participate in all pre game, post-game and intermission shows on Sportsnet 960 for Flames Hockey
Be able to write a game day blog for every Flames game
Be active on social media with the Sportsnet brand
Appear weekdays in season on a selected sports talk show on Sportsnet 960
Qualifications
Some experience in the National Hockey League as a player or coach
or 5 years min of being on an NHL broadcast in a play by play, color or
host position
Be able to articulate the technical side of hockey in an easy to understand way
Able to travel legally to United States
Great presentation skills
Able to interview big names in hockey in a confident manner
Develop a strong relationship with Flames coaching staff to be able to record insightful interviews for air
Once again, the ideal candidate is framed towards having some NHL experience (we’re out of the running, Kent!), which does make a great deal of sense. The requirements listed could mean that we see a return of Loubardias, or Rob Kerr swapping TV play-by-play for radio color. Or perhaps we get somebody brand-new in the chair, an ex-player with little broadcasting experience?
Either way, it’s rather interesting that these postings are up, and also interesting that there aren’t any postings (as of yet) for the TV jobs – which were vacated earlier in the spring.
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