MUST-LISTEN: Hockey Announcer's Life Flashes In Front Of His Eyes After Puck Comes Flying Up Towards The Broadcast Booth During Game
The "Must-Watch" has been a time honored tradition here at Barstool Sports [dot] com. You only have so many per year to work with, so if you label something a Must-Watch, you better damn well mean it.
I don't know if "Must-Listen" falls into that same category or not, but I have no other option but to use mine on this fella thinking for a brief moment that his life was about to come to a tragic end after a pass was deflected off a stick and sent floating out of play and over his head.
You have Al Michaels with "Do you believe in Miracles". You have Joe Beninati's "Simply sensational" call after Ovechkin's back goal. You have Rick Jeanneret's "Holy mackerel, roll the highlight film" after Maxim Afinogenov's spin-o-rama goal. And now you have this fella calling what appears to be a high school hockey game with "aahhhhhhh aahahhh ahhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhh".
All some of the greatest calls in hockey history. All of those plays/moments were incredible in their own right, but the fact that they had the perfect call to accompany that level of greatness allows them to live on forever.
The best part about this call is that buddy just want right back to calling the game like a true professional. The man almost died, for pete's sake. If that puck was about 10 feet higher and traveling about 150 mph faster, it could have blown a hole right through his chest. Guy almost died and he doesn't even take the rest of the night off. That's a Hockey Guy if I've ever seen one. Heck, he even has the courtesy to say sorrey to everyone AND say sorrey for saying "oh my god". Must be Canadian.
A basketball broadcaster would have retired right there on the spot. A soccer broadcaster would never be able to live with the trauma he suffered that day. But this man was born to be a hockey broadcaster, and he's not going to let a puck almost killing him by flying 10 feet over his head stop him from living out his dream. What a legend.
Sidenote: I would love to listen to a full period called by this guy. The elongated "theeeeeeee Rush" on that opening faceoff makes me think the man has some flare on the mic when he's not fighting for his life against rogue pucks.