Broadcaster Profile- Alex Giner, Connecticut Huskies

Moving right along with our Hockey East broadcaster profiles, we'll now take a look at the voice of the UConn Huskies, Alex Giner.

Alex Giner is in his 9th season as the radio voice of the UConn Huskies hockey team. Alex started his Husky broadcast career in 2006-07. He did a few games on play by play in that initial season and then transitioned into the full time role the following season. The radio role with the Huskies on WHUS-FM is Alex's first foray into hockey announcing. Alex actually came upon this broadcasting opportunity in a very fortunate circumstance... He went to investigate a problem with the tieline unit of the football broadcast team while working in engineering.. the broadcasters were forced to call the game on their cell phones. Alex was asked to stay in the booth to isolate the problem at the next game, and coincidentally one of the announcers failed to show up due to a previous engagement with ESPN radio. With the sports department seriously undermanned, they asked Alex to stay on and provide commentary. Through this experience the school asked him to do some hockey. He began by helping to board op UConn hockey games and provided technical assistance which got him the opportunity to call hockey for the Huskies.

Alex was shaped by listening to Chuck Kaiton broadcast Hartford Whaler games as well as Joe Castiglione calling Boston Red Sox games on the baseball side. He is very astute as it relates to hockey broadcasting- Alex listens to college games whenever he can and also listens to NHL games to pick up tidbits and strategies for use on the air.

In addition to his hockey work, Alex has done some work doing football and basketball commentary for two seasons on WHUS, with a highlight being a part of the 6 overtime broadcast between UConn and Syracuse at Madison Square Garden. He also did baseball and softball for three seasons.

Alex works with Will Moran on UConn hockey broadcasts and has been paired with Will since November of 2011, when they debuted at Yale. Will is a very talented young broadcaster who brings his own blend of passion and dedication. He is very well respected and brings great energy alongside Alex in the call of UConn hockey.

To listen to Alex and Will on the call of UConn hockey, check them out on WHUS radio at http://whus.org/live/. You can also pull up WHUS on the Tune In radio app on your mobile devices.

Broadcaster Profiles- Bob Ellis and Jim Connelly, UMass Lowell River Hawks

Thanks to all who have been checking in on my weekly posts which spotlight the great radio voices who call our great game of hockey on the radio. Continuing on with the theme as of late, we'll stay in Hockey East and feature the voices of the UMass Lowell River Hawks, Bob Ellis and Jimmy Connelly in this latest edition.

Bob Ellis (left) is in his 31st season as the radio voice of the UMass Lowell River Hawks. Bob is a decorated broadcaster who has won several awards in the industry. Those awards include being recognized by the United Press International, as well as becoming the 18th recipient of the Joe Concannon Media Award in 2009. Bob is as passionate about his craft as anyone in the business, as evidenced in part by his deep, booming goal calls. He is also one of the most technically sound, computer literate broadcasters I've met- he has taught me a few things, notably, cueing up highlight clips for the post game show, a skill I've always wanted to master. Bob also acts as a staff photographer for UMass Lowell, as he brings his camera to UML hockey games and captures the action for the River Hawks website.

Bob has made his mark in hockey, but anyone who knows him also knows his passion for baseball as well. He is an official scorer for the Boston Red Sox and also served in that capacity with the Lowell Spinners as well. Bob also did play by play work for the Spinners at WCAP radio in Lowell for nine years. He also co-founded and co-instructs at the Baseball Official Scoring Seminars, for which he conducts several clinics throughout the year. He graduated from Emerson College in 1975 and began his broadcasting career in Sayre, PA, in that same year. He came to Lowell in 1984 as a news reporter for WLLH radio and also has done work for WKBK in Keene, N.H. He has interviewed presidents, presidential candidates, and done reporting work overseas.

He recently accompanied the River Hawks to their first ever Frozen Four appearance in the 2012-13 season, from Pittsburgh, PA.

His radio analyst, Jimmy Connelly, is a highly respected and knowledgeable hockey writer for USCHO (United States College Hockey Online), who is in his 17th season of covering Hockey East. Jim won the distinguished Joe Concannon Media Award in 2012 and has been involved with college hockey in many different capacities, including co-writing a weekly national column, "Tuesday Morning Quarterback", while also co-hosting USCHO's weekly radio show, " USCHO Live." He began his writing career in 1999 and has covered every NCAA regional and NHL draft since 1999, as well as every Frozen Four since 2000.

Jim has also been published in the Hockey News as well as numerous national hockey websites. He has also appeared on CBS Sports Network and NESN as a college hockey commentator. Before coming to UML to replace Chaz Scoggins, he served in the role of color commenator on Vermont hockey broadcasts alongside Alastair Ingram (who will be profiled in a few weeks).

Jim attended UMass Lowell from 1992 to 1996 and served as an equipment manager for the River Hawks during that time. He also has built a solid career in corporate communications, leading to the founding of his own personal company, JMC Communications.

Both Bob and Jim added international hockey to their long and storied broadcast careers when they broadcast the inaugural Friendship Four tournament in Belfast, Ireland, in November of 2015.

Here is a clip which includes some excellent commentary from Bob Ellis along with some narration and an audio clip from Norm Bazin, the head coach of the River Hawks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QwBdlpQzME

And here is a NESN clip of Jimmy doing a feature on Jack Parker's imminent retirement just before it was formally announced:

http://nesn.com/2013/03/jack-parkers-legacy-will-be-defined-by-national-titles-beanpot-success-video/ 

To tune in to the call of UMass Lowell hockey with Bob and Jim, check them out on the ESPN New Hampshire website at http://espn.go.com/espnradio/playPopup?s=wgam-am. You can also hear River Hawk hockey on WCAP radio (980 AM on the dial) and on the TuneIn app on your mobile devices.

Broadcaster Profiles- John Hennessy and Brock Hines, University of Massachusetts Minutemen

We continue on with our look at the radio voices of Hockey East. This next feature will spotlight the radio team at the University of Massachusetts, John Hennessy and Brock Hines, two veterans with decades of experience of calling hockey.







Beginning with John Hennessy (left), John brought his considerable talent to Amherst after stints in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and the Albany River Rats of the AHL. John spent six seasons with the Devils, with his finest accomplishment most likely coming in 2003, calling the Devils run to the Stanley Cup. He has plenty of college experience as well, as he has been the voice of RPI hockey, and also has worked at Northeastern and Providence over the course of his career. In fact, John began his career calling the Friars on WDOM radio in Providence before moving on to Albany where had a seven year run as the voice of the River Rats. While there he hosted a program called NHL Face Off as well as a radio call in show. Over the course of his career he has also covered the New England Patriots and Boston College football. He is a 1982 graduate of Providence College and is in his 36th year of broadcasting hockey on the radio. John also survived a very serious bus crash while working for Albany after returning from a game in Lowell. Many broadcasters have stories to tell about buses and travel (myself included), and thankfully John was able to recover from that harrowing experience.

John is one of the most professional broadcasters I've ever met, very polished prepared and he possesses a wonderful pleasing personality. He blends well with everyone he comes into contact with and has an excellent symmetry with the man I am going to discuss next, Brock Hines.

Brock Hines was the color analyst for UMass hockey and held that position for 28 years, retiring from the Minutemen at the conclusion of the 21-22 season.  He was the senior member of the UMass Sports Network. He is an award winning broadcaster who has won two Massachusetts Broadcaster Awards, an Associated Press award for broadcast excellence, and the prestigious Joe Concannon Media Award in 2010-11 from Hockey East. He has been involved in the game of hockey for over 31 years and hosted the UMass Hockey Radio Show.

One of the things I admire most about Brock is the path he took to get where he wound up. He has done plenty of high school reporting and commentating (as I did myself when I broke in to the business 20 years ago).... he did work for Greenfield High school from 1989-1992, doing hockey color commentary and football sideline reporting. He then launched his radio career, hosting a weekly radio show on WGAJ in Deerfield. Brock also provided color analysis for UMass women's basketball for two seasons. He began playing hockey at the age of 12 and has also been involved in coaching as well, so between all of his hockey pursuits he has been involved with the game for over forty years.

Brock made history on the night/morning of March 6-7, 2015, as he teamed with Cody Chrusciel to call the longest college hockey game in NCAA history between UMass and Notre Dame, a first round playoff game that ended in the fifth overtime. The Minutemen won the game 4-3 in a game that began at 7:35 PM Eastern and ended at 1:25 AM.

Brock added international hockey to his resume in November of 2016 when he travelled to Northern Ireland to broadcast the second annual Friendship Four Tournament with Donnie Moorhouse for the UMass Radio Network.

On April 10, 2021 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA, Brock experienced broadcast history as UMass won their first national championship in school history, defeating St. Cloud State 5-0, sharing the radio call with Donnie Moorhouse and Adam Frenier. 

Here is a clip of John and Brock in action, along with some commentary from Adam Frenier during a UMass game against BC in the 2013-14 season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKYSp6bIEk8

And a second clip of John and Brock, with again additional commentary from Adam Frenier, the third member of the broadcast team during a game against Denver:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvuVYubShPg

Broadcaster Profile- Jon Rish, Boston College Eagles

I hope you have enjoyed the broadcasters profiled on the blog so far. I began by profiling the radio voices of Hockey East, and then took a look at some broadcasters at the AHL and NHL level while Merrimack was away from league play. With league play now back in session, I will turn my focus back to Hockey East and will begin by spotlighting the voice of Boston College hockey, Jon Rish.





Jon Rish is in his 18th season as the esteemed voice of Boston College hockey on WEEI radio in Boston and has been a huge part of the college hockey scene, not to mention the sports scene in general. A BC alum, Jon began his broadcasting career at WZBC, the Eagles 1000 watt FM radio station broadcasting to the Greater Boston area. He began calling BC hockey in the 1997-98 season before switching to play by play during the 1998-99 season. Jon has also done work for ESPN radio and for many years was paired with Ken Hodge Jr. on BC radio broadcasts. Ken was a former Boston Bruins winger and is now current color analyst for NBC Sports Network's coverage of college hockey.

Jon has covered many notable BC hockey games through the years, including the Beanpot on a yearly basis and Frozen Fenway games and is as crisp and clear with his commentary as anyone I've come across in the business.

Of course, Jon is well known for his work in baseball, too. He has done radio work for the Boston Red Sox on WEEI, working alongside Joe Castiglione and filling in for Dave O'Brien. And this past summer he filled in for Don Orsillo on NESN broadcasts alongside Dennis Eckersley when Don and Jerry Remy were on vacation.

Jon graduated from Boston College in 1994.

I will hope to add some audio of Jon on the call of BC hockey in the very near future, but for now here is a clip of Jon at the mike of a Red Sox-Indians game alongside Jerry Remy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LqFOlkl9cU

To tune in to Jon alongside Andy Powers on the call of BC hockey, the games can be heard on 850 AM on the dial, and online at http://www.weei.com/.

Broadcaster Profile- Bob Wilson, Boston Bruins (1964-69, 1971-1994)

My next installment of my broadcaster profiles honors a man who was a true genius and legend behind the mike, who we lost just three days ago. The radio voice of the Boston Bruins, Bob Wilson.

A few weeks back I talked about Fred Cusick, an iconic staple on my love of hockey on the radio and broadcasting the game. Fred was one half of my inspirational role models. The other was Bob Wilson, who did Bruins games on radio for three decades. Bob's booming voice and his passion for the game made you want to listen to every game. A quick history- Bob began his career in the late fifties at WCOP in Boston, breaking in as a DJ. He moved on to WHDH radio, which was back then at 850 on the dial (a spot now occupied by WEEI). He began his Bruins career as an analyst alongside Bill Harrington from 1964-67. He then became the Bruins radio voice in 1967, succeeding Jim Laing. He left Boston for one year- when the Bruins left WHDH for WBZ in 1970- and was not here, unfortunately, for the Bruins Stanley Cup championship in 1970.

However, as we all know, his departure was only temporary. After spending a year in St. Louis at KMOX radio in St. Louis, he came back in 1971 and was reinstalled as the Bruins radio voice when Fred Cusick moved over to TV to replace Don Earle. In his first year back, he called the Bruins championship season in 1972. He would remain as the Bruins radio voice until the 1994-95 season, at which point he retired due to the lockout that year.

Bob had a great reputation in the industry. He was picked by ABC to cover game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 1979 between the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens. However since the series ended in five games the game was never played, and Bob never got the chance to call the game- which was scheduled to preempt Wide World of Sports, which was a major program on Saturday afternoons at that time. After retiring he worked part time in New Hampshire on 104.9 FM hosting a music program.

He won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for excellence in hockey broadcasting in 1987 and is enshrined in the Broadcaster's Wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. He was elected to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2007, and the radio booth at the TD Garden in Boston is named in his honor.

Bob impacted so many people positively in this business. Two of my colleagues who I have already featured on this blog, Mike Logan and Ken Cail, have both shared their views with me on how Bob influenced them- Bob was Mike's inspiration to get into the business and Ken worked directly with Bob as a statistician and gave him his first big break in the industry. As for me, Bob was an indelible fixture in my love of hockey. He was the guy I listened to on the transistor radio with the headphone attached late at night when it was past my bedtime under the covers- it had to be that way because if my parents had found me listening the radio would have been taken away. He got me riveted into the game.

As stated earlier, I got to meet all the radio personalities when I worked at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and when I met Bob and John Bucyk, who were doing the games back then, it was a thrill I just can't describe. Bob could not have been nicer to me. With Bob, it wasn't just a case of him making the game interesting to listen to. He made it FUN. I also loved his passion for calling fights on the ice. The fans loved it. Even though not everybody was a fan of that approach, I thought it really helped me to enjoy the game more.

Here is Bob's classic description off a heartbreaking loss to the Montreal Canadiens in  Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 16, 1978. Bob was paired with Bob Lobel. Included are postgame commentary and a pre-game warmup show for the next game. This will give you an excellent look at the spectrum of Bob/s enormous talent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DBjhWfnqr4

And here is a video which shows the dedication of the radio booth at the Garden in his name, complete with commentary from Jack Edwards, the current TV voice of the Bruins.

http://blip.tv/nesn/bruins-honor-legendary-radio-voice-bob-wilson-prior-to-rangers-game-4955926

Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts on one of the all time greats in this business.

My next feature will be on Boston College's Jon Rish, as we return to spotlighting Hockey East radio voices.

Broadcaster Profile- Ron Weber, Washington Capitals (1974-1997)

Continuing on with the theme as of late, I will stay in the NHL with the next post to highlight another influence on my career, the longtime former voice of the Washington Capitals, Ron Weber, who called Capitals games for 23 seasons on WTOP radio in Washington, D.C. I will be returning back to Hockey East radio broadcasters very soon, as Merrimack gets back into league play on January 21. Following my look at the rest of the Hockey East broadcast voices, I will spotlight the rest of the NHL radio personalities.

I love to tell the story of my experiences in listening to hockey on the radio growing up- sitting at home with an AM radio by my bedside just tuning up the dial from bottom to top listening to radio voices calling the game I love. Getting to the top of the dial for me always meant listening to Ron Weber, who called the Washington Capitals on WTOP AM 1500. Ron was one of my favorites, so much so that he actually turned me into a Capitals fan (a pretty impressive feat, with me living in Boston). To be fair, it was a case of me being a Bruins fan first and a Caps fan second. But his descriptions really helped me to see the game in my minds eye, a skill that is crucial for any broadcaster to have. He also had a very folksy style which was very comfortable to listen to. I remember Ron hosted an in between periods segment called " Capitals Mailbag" in which he selected random letters from listeners and read them on the air. If your letter was selected, you won Caps tickets. He read my letter on the air one night, and I got my tickets. I took an Amtrak train down to Washington D.C. and got to see my game.

I'll never forget the night I met Ron, one of my childhood idols, for the first and only time. I was working for the San Jose Sharks in the early 90's at the old Cow Palace in San Francisco, doing security. My assignment was at the radio and TV area, so I got to meet all of the radio and TV talent from each team. Washington came to town, and I got to see him in action. I talked to him briefly after the game, explained who I was, and how much of a fan I was. To see him up close and personal was a thrill I will always cherish as a memory.

Ron called the first 1936 games of the Capitals existence. He also received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for excellence in hockey broadcasting and was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. I will never forget the Easter marathon he called against the New York Islanders in 1987, a four overtime game that went well into Easter morning. I had his call on WTOP while simultaneously muting the TV feed (no disrespect meant to the men who called that game on ESPN that night, Mike Emrick and Bill Clement, who were great in their own right).

Ron also did other sports, like the Minnesota Twins of MLB, the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, the Washington Diplomats of the North American Soccer League, Penn State football and tennis and weightlifting matches. He also covered the 1968 Olympic Games, but hockey was his bread and butter.

I remember listening to him in Calgary one night and he had a major disruption on the air- coffee or some other liquid spilled all over his notes. One of the skills you have to have as a broadcaster is to adjust and adapt to changes quickly, on the go- and he did it perfectly and seamlessly. It is through him I learned to keep calm and adapt in such a way that the audience doesn't even know that there was a problem.

Here is an excellent website with many great clips of Ron's outstanding play by play with the Capitals over the course of his career:

http://caps-audio.blogspot.com/

And, here is a brief video of Ron's induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji0uJeDHf3M

Ron retired in 1998, but his work will always be a major reason why I pushed myself to enter this field and live my boyhood dream.

Broadcaster Profile- Fred Cusick, Boston Bruins TV voice (How it all began for me)

I'd like to continue on with my spotlight of hockey broadcasters with this latest post here at Hockey On the Radio. Merrimack is still a couple of weeks away from returning back to Hockey East play, so I'll continue with the man who was my role model growing up- Fred Cusick, the legendary TV voice of the Boston Bruins who served in that capacity for 27 years. Although this is a blog about hockey radio voices, it's important for me to discuss Fred's impact on my life and decision to enter the field. And it is important to note that Fred also did radio work for the Bruins prior to his time on TV.

Fred Cusick (right) pictured with analyst Derek Sanderson during a Bruins broadcast.

Fred Cusick carved an indelible niche into the Boston sports scene. He served as the voice of the Bruins on TV from 1971 to 1997, on WSBK Channel 38 in Boston and then for two seasons on the Bruins cable carrier, NESN. In total, he covered the Bruins for an amazing 45 years. His career began in 1941 on WCOP in Boston while in his senior year at Northeastern. He played the game at NU, before going into the United States Navy, ultimately reaching the rank of lieutenant in charge of a subchaser. After spending some time in Washington during the Korean War, Fred was named the Bruins radio voice in 1952, a post he would hold until 1963. Also at this time he was the sports director at WEEI in Boston. In 1957 he would become the first broadcaster to call a National Game of the Week when he did so for the CBS network.

It was Fred who was responsible for getting Bruins games on TV, at first doing an experimental broadcast of a Bruins game from the old Boston Garden in 1963, and this led to a long run of broadcasting on WSBK in Boston (TV 38). He became the Bruins radio voice from 1969 to 1971, then switched over to TV when Bob Wilson was brought in. (I'll discuss Bob in a separate post). Fred replaced Don Earle on the telecasts (Don's voice can be heard on the vintage LP album, GOAL BRUINS! of which I still have the original album, since converted to the iPod).

Fred was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984 and was given the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for excellence in hockey broadcasting (he was the first ever recipient of the award, along with Montreal's Danny Gallivan, Rene Lecavalier, and Hewitt himself). He did the last ever game at the old Garden (an exhibition against Montreal in 1995) and the first ever game at the new Garden (then called the Fleet Center, now the TD Garden) against the New York Islanders, which was broadcast on NESN. He finished his career by calling the Lowell Lock Monsters AHL broadcasts with former Bruins defenseman Brad Park on cable television. He was then posthumously inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

I met Fred on a Saturday afternoon back in the mid to late 70's. The Bruins were playing an afternoon game at the Garden against the Chicago Blackhawks, and back then at the old Garden the broadcast booths were located as such that you could walk over and literally reach out and touch the broadcasters. I went over and introduced myself after the game and asked for his autograph. I am not much of an autograph person in terms of collecting them, and I'll only ask for one if I really have a compelling need to have it as a memory. In fact, I have only gotten two autographs in my whole life, the other being the great Irish ballad singer Tommy Makem.  It was a big deal meeting my role model.

In later years, after I got the radio job at Merrimack in 2005, I got in touch with Fred's daughter Martha in the hopes that I could persuade him to come on the air with me during a game. He accepted- but sadly he fell ill and I was unable to get him on the air. But it was wonderful having the chance to interact with him before he passed away in 2009. I watched him on TV for my entire childhood and emulated and copied his style. It was because of him that I would turn down the volume on my TV set and pretend to be the "voice of the Bruins." Listening to his work highly influenced me to choose broadcasting as a career path.

Here are some goal calls from Fred, teamed with analyst Johnny Peirson on WSBK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXRisXzn7Ik

And here is the pre-game intro from Fred and Derek Sanderson prior to the Bruins final game in the old Boston Garden in 1995. Sean McDonough also appears in this clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTWj1KilaR0

Thanks for stopping by Hockey On the Radio!