Photo credit: RocketFAN
Mic'd up to capture ambient ice sound
Thing that make me go hmm….
Oct 18, 2023 | 8:00 AM
- Players get benched. Kelowna Rockets Head Coach Kris Mallette did just that with some of his best forwards in the third period of Saturday’s home-ice loss against Medicine Hat. Elite players in the NHL get the same treatment. The latest example came Monday night when d-man Damon Severson was benched for the entire third period. The Columbus Blue Jackets signed him to an eight-year deal worth $50 million dollars this summer.
- It is small but mighty. We use two ice microphones (photo), situated along the glass at Prospera Place, for both the WHLLIVE webcast and our 104.7 – The Lizard – radio broadcast. It captures pucks hitting glass, ice chatter, sticks slapping galvanized rubber, and goal posts and cross bars being rung. The aim is to provide you the viewer/listener the best ambient sound we can produce. The crew at SW Event Technology go beyond the call of duty to bring the games to life. I’d argue we have the best ‘ice sound’ in the WHL, with the Lethbridge Hurricanes coming an awfully close second. Listen closer next time, and let me know which broadcast sounds like it is being conducted in a phone booth as opposed to bringing the game to life with a little attention to detail.
- I’ve always been a nerd for quality sound. If your recording device doesn’t produce broadcast-quality audio, throw it out. Don’t get me started on iPhone videos of players that aren’t mic’d up.
- We may have gotten Medicine Hat Tigers coach Willie Desjardins on a good day, but we asked the longtime WHL bench boss, who spent three seasons as a head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, about why he still loves to be behind a WHL bench. “It is just the love of the game,” The 66-year-old told RocketFAN. “There is nothing better than to go out every night and get evaluated on what you’ve done. There are lots of jobs in life where you don’t get feedback, maybe once a year, but here we get immediate feedback. I love to see players do things that other people don’t think they can do. That is the fun part of coaching.”
- Desjardins told RocketFAN that Mike Johnston, the GM and Head Coach of the Portland Winterhawks was his best man at his wedding. The two were assistant coaches together at the University of Calgary in the late 80’s.
- Willie Desjardins son, Jayce, is with the Tigers on this trip to BC. If you don’t know, Jayce is the Tigers’ video coordinator.
- Last week, a Regina cable company was proud to announce that Daniella Ponticelli was the first woman to do play-by-play on a TV Broadcast for the WHL. Well done. Let’s not forget about Bev Lochart though. She called a Swift Current Broncos game on the radio (CKSW) in 1976. It was so groundbreaking at the time for a female to do a live sporting event, that she appeared on CBC’s Front Page Challenge as a guest.
- On Saturday’s broadcast between the Rockets and Tigers, I mentioned that Medicine Hat forward Gavin McKenna is a 16-year-old player. In hockey age, considering he was born in 2007, he is indeed yet his birth certificate still reads that he is 15 and won’t celebrate another birthday until December 20th. That means he isn’t eligible for the NHL draft until 2026. So was I totally wrong? No. Was I totally right? Not exactly.
- The Prince George Cougars are regarded as the best team in the BC Division. They play with incredible speed and have depth scoring. They often dictate the play. It is no wonder they are in the CHL Top 10 Junior Rankings thanks to an incredible start to the season. “It doesn’t mean a lot to me, but it does to the guys [players]”, Cougars GM/Head Coach Mark Lamb told RocketFAN. “Sometimes it is the kiss of death. You see yourself there and you think you are pretty good.” Lamb’s team is pretty darn good and can score with the best of them. “I like parts of our team”, Lamb continued. “We think we know where we need to add to get a little bit better. I like our top six and I like our bottom six. They are all interchangeable.”
- Manscaping. It’s a topic when you get over 50. My wife isn’t my best indicator of when to manscape and when not to. It is the elevator at The Coast Inn of the North in Prince George that reveals a massive black hair either coming out of my right nostril or dangling from my left earlobe. The lighting in that elevator reveals everything! TMI? Sorry, but it’s a thing.
- We had a quick conversation with WHL Director of Officiating Kevin Muench Friday night. RocketFAN asked him about the new referees added to his stable this season. Muench says seven new referees have been added along with eight affiliates. What that means is these affiliate referees also apply their trade in the SJHL, AJHL, and BCHL and often get called up to the WHL to handle a few assignments over the course of the season. Among the new faces I’ve seen work a game are Jarrod Lucoe, Alex Homer, and Brian MacDonald. I even hear Dakota Odgers is a WHL referee, after playing a few seasons in the WHL with Swift Current, Moose Jaw and Vancouver. Now 27, Odgers is the son of Jeff Odgers.
- The Seattle Thunderbirds have played a league low five games. If you rely on being paid on a per-game basis by the organization, the paycheck for the month of October is a little lean.
- Best dressed radio broadcaster? I am going with Cole Walde, in his second season behind the microphone of the Prince George Cougars. Who is the most disheveled? I won’t say, but wearing a team issued golf shirt on game night puts you close to the top of the list. That said, I still wear a sweater vest in hopes they come back in style.
- Social media is cruel. I saw an NHL color analyst pictured with a head coach, on stage, conducting a Q and A session. One responder pointed out the analysts cheap looking shoes, suggesting they looked like they came from Walmart. Keep this between you and me, but I can see cheap men’s dress shoes coming from a mile away. I purchased a black and brown pair of Cole Haan Oxfords a few years ago and won’t go back. I was introduced to them by Zoran Rajcic, the Chief Operating Officer of the Everett Silvertips.
- I was a guest on the Medicine Hat Tigers podcast appropriately titled ‘Tigers Uncaged’, and the discussion included attracting more fans, specifically those in the younger demo. One thing that wasn’t touched is the success the Spokane Chiefs have had with attracting the college crowd. Why do the Chiefs have so much success at it? What do they do differently? It is worth asking, as the Chiefs have found the magic pill, and it isn’t winning. Sure, it helps, but the team was dead last a season ago in the Western Conference yet were among the top five in overall attendance. I’d be asking questions of them during summer meetings and following their lead.
- Can you name the only Kelowna Rockets skater without a shot this season? The answer is forward Will Munro. Tij Iginla leads the team with 31. Zac Funk of the Prince George Cougars leads the WHL with 60 pucks on net. With the ability to be around the puck and shoot it, it shouldn’t come as a surprise the 20-year-old leads the WHL in scoring.
- Who has the most wins in the WHL among general managers? Oh, they don’t keep that statistics because gm’s don’t win games, but coaches do? Ok, just checking.
- An interesting observation from a Rockets season ticket holder who approached me the other day with these comments. He was extremely pleased that the games are now heard on FM as opposed to the AM frequency. He mentioned the crisp, clean sound of the broadcasts and how the signal didn’t go in and out, something experienced on the AM band. I can’t argue. I broadcasted games with the Swift Current Broncos on FM for the first five years, and even then, people raved at how much cleaner the sound was coming from their car radio.
- At 1428 words, it is time for me to pipe down. I am 428 words over my legal limit, as one-thousand is the threshold. Chat with you in this space next Wednesday with more questionable observations. Now go wash your hands…it is flu season for heaven sake!
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