Tom Renney 0:00

Greetings, everyone. This is uh Tom Rennie. I'm uh really happy to invite Kenny Albert to our little podcast today with Tom Talks. Kenny is a legendary voice in in all sports, which we'll get into in a moment here, but really happy to have Ken here and and uh thanks for taking the time to watch Tom Talks and uh listen to some very intriguing people and hopefully learn some lessons through all of this as well. Kenny, welcome.

Kenny Albert 0:22

Tom, it's it's great to be with you. We spent some fun years together when you were here in New York with the Rangers, and it was great seeing you when you came back this past season, and uh look forward to our chatting.

Tom Renney 0:34

Thanks, Ken. I appreciate that. And hopefully there's uh more uh in the front in front of us as well as we share this phase of our lives. You have a lot more runway than I do, Kenny. So I might have to move quicker than you. But uh in any event, it's great to have you on and and I appreciate that. The the the first question that comes to mind for me with you is you know, coming from a broadcast family, you know, that's legendary, when did you finally say to yourself, you know what? I like this. This is what I want to do. When did that happen?

Kenny Albert 1:04

To be honest, I was about five years old. And as you referenced, grew up my father, his brothers, so my two uncles, they were all broadcasters in multiple sports. So when I was a kid, I would get to tag along, whether it was hockey, basketball, football, boxing on occasion. But really, when I was five years old, my my parents gave me a tape recorder for my birthday, a a toy tape recorder, and I would set up my bedroom like a like a radio or television studio, and I would have my desk and the bed in the middle and the TV on the other side, and I would announce games into the tape recorder. This is 1973, 74, 75. And it was really something I always loved. I grew up around it, as you referenced, and had the opportunity to go to a lot of games, but I really knew at a young age, and that toy tape recorder turned into, you know, bringing it to actual games when I was twelve, thirteen, fourteen at Madison Square Garden, Shea Stadium. And I just was always practicing, getting the reps and bringing friends along to help out. And really the first huge break, aside from growing up around it, and whenever my uncles came over, I felt like I was listening to the first all sports radio station because they would always the three of them would be having conversations about the various games they worked and the people they worked with and the athletes they covered. When I was in in tenth grade, by total coincidence, I was always around the the gym, the fields at my high school covering the games for the school newspaper. That was really the only outlet back then for kids my age. There were no broadcasting stations at that level at high schools like there are now, 40 years later. So I was always covering the games for the newspaper. I was always around the hockey rink, our local rink. I skated, I played hockey. There was something called puck shooting on Friday nights. So uh the goalies would get in for free, and a bunch of us would go and shoot pucks for like two hours. So love being around hockey. That was really even though I loved all sports, hockey was a little bit above the others. And uh, when I was in 10th grade, by total coincidence, a local cable station came to my school to film a girls' basketball game. And they didn't have any announcers. I was introduced to the producer, and he clipped a microphone on my on my shirt and said, All right, you can announce the game. So if if they hadn't come to my school, that opportunity wouldn't have uh been there. And we spoke on the phone the next day, and he said, We don't have anyone. If you want to do all these games, we have basketball, hockey, baseball, football, lacrosse, soccer. So of course I volunteered and over the next three years, really had the opportunity to work, I would say, 75 to 100 games, and I would bring my friends along to help out. And that was the greatest experience ever because I was getting the reps, getting the practice, really three years ahead of anybody who wanted to do it. And at that time the opportunities weren't there until college. In college, I went to NYU in New York. We had a really good Division III basketball program, men's and women's. So my friends and I signed up for the radio station. We we announced those games. I actually played club hockey in college. Another student, my freshman year, started a team, so that was a lot of fun. And then I know I'm giving a long answer to the original question, but my goal at the time growing up was always hockey on the radio. That was what I loved, that was what I wanted to do. And I had the chance to fill in on some Islanders broadcasts, both on the pre- and post-game show, and got to do four games of play-by-play at a really young age. And I used those tapes, I sent those tapes around and wound up getting hired by the Baltimore Skipjacks of the American Hockey League. And two great years there, wouldn't trade it in for anything, aside from the radio, worked in the office doing PR and marketing and sales. But those two years in Baltimore, I often look back, 1990 to 92, that was the greatest experience ever following what I had the opportunity to do in high school. So I wouldn't I wouldn't trade those years in for anything.

Tom Renney 4:49

Kenny, that's a super answer. That's exactly what I'm just the enlightenment, you know, that you provide the people that have a chance to watch this is really, really important and I think super cool. And and I appreciate that. I I have to say, doing all those sports at a young age, I mean, you do the four major sports now, you know, in North America for that matter, and and you've also done the Olympics and you've done women's and men's Olympic games, and I mean there isn't a whole lot that you haven't done. You referenced the Baltimore Skipjacks as being critical and just a real joy for you. Is that where you were you were sort of tested in certain ways, too, that maybe you hadn't at to that point in time that helped you grow?

Kenny Albert 5:24

Well, I was so fortunate to get that opportunity at the American Hockey League level. You know, at that time, you would send cassette tapes around. These days, and I talked to and help mentor a lot of young broadcasters, and there are so many more opportunities now with different levels of leagues. And in college, for example, we broadcasted basketball on the radio station, but we had a fight with the music department just to get the airtime. Then something called the internet came along. And kids these days, you can go broadcast a soccer game on the internet. You don't need the radio station, for example. So a lot more opportunities with technology these days. Uh, so I was really lucky to get that opportunity. And you'll appreciate this. So I had the interview in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And the team owner was a gentleman named Tom Ebright. He owned the Skipjacks at the time and went on to own the Portland Pirates, he and his wife Joyce, and he lived in Harrisburg, so that was where the interview took place. I was in Vancouver helping cover the draft in 1990 for one of the radio stations in New York that I helped out at at the time and got the phone call while I was in Vancouver at the draft. So that's where I was when I was hired initially by the Skipjacks. But it was the first professional job right out of college and moved down to Baltimore alone, didn't really know anybody down there. But again, the people in the organization were so were so gracious. Our head coach, and you'll know all these all these names really well. You you'll know all these folks, but Robbie Laird was the head coach in Baltimore, went on to win Stanley Cups as a scout with the LA Kings. Our assistant coach was a fellow by the name of Barry Trotz, who was also my road roommate for two seasons with Baltimore. Uh they stuck the assistant coach with the radio guy to save money. So uh we had Robbie and Barry as the coaching staff, and a player by the name of Joel Quenville was at the end of his NHL career and Washington traded for him as a depth defenseman and wound up sending him down to Baltimore for about a half season. So uh you can imagine having those folks to learn from. And we had some great players on the team. Uh so many that went on to NHL careers. The goalies were Jim Rivnak, Byron Defoe, Ole Kolzig. Uh we had Tim Taylor and Simon Wheeldon and Steve Connell Walchuk and Keith Jones came in at the end of the second season, and many, many others. Alfie Turcott. So uh players who had you know long careers in the NHL. But I learned so much. I was the same age as a lot of them, and I was on the bus rides. We would have a 10, 12-hour bus ride to Portland, Maine a couple of times a year, and Hershey was our closest rival. That was an hour and a half up the road, so we played them 14 times. But just getting that experience, announcing those games, oftentimes alone. Sometimes I would bring in color commentators to help out. But again, those years, it feels like it was yesterday, it was 35 years ago now, but just learned so much about being around to professional organization, how things work. You know, to be honest, those road trips, spending time in the hotel room with Barry Trotz, I learned so much. You know, he'd be on the other bed editing the tapes and and going through the clips and just learn so much about hockey and about life, really, from the two years with Barry.

Tom Renney 8:22

Who who along the way, I mean, your your entire family would certainly provide the mentorship you would be looking for, but outside of your family, who who is that broadcaster or broadcasters that you went, that's what I want to do, that's how I want to do it, you know, or just people that you're able to interact with through that stage of growth and in broadcasting that helped you the most, Kenny?

Kenny Albert 8:41

Yeah, that's a great question. There were several, aside from family members, of course. And I learned so much via osmosis and just watching and tagging along and learning about the preparation. That's the number one thing that I learned was the preparation that goes into it. I still use many of the same, you know, the checklists, so to speak, that I go through prior to each and every game, no matter the sport. And I've been so lucky to be involved in in so many different sports, hockey now for 36 years and and the NFL for 33. And as you referenced, I've done, I still do some baseball about eight to ten games a year. Haven't done as much basketball game over the past year, but did a lot for sure through the years as well in the Olympics. But I really have the same checklist that I go through, and and it's it stems from learning, you know, back in the day when I was growing up. But some of the other broadcasters, so I grew up on Long Island in the New York area, and we did not have cable TV until I was 17 years old. So I was a big radio listener. We got the road games of of all the New York teams on over-the-air television, but couldn't see the home games, so I was always listening to the radio. And many of the local announcers here in New York, in hockey, for example, when I was growing up, a guy named Barry Landers was doing the Islanders on the radio, Jiggs McDonald on TV. It was Jim Gordon with the Rangers, and then Sam Rosen took over in the mid-80s. Howie Rose is a big mentor, the longtime voice of the Islanders on TV and the New York Mets. He's retiring this year. And I actually worked with Howie during my college years as his associate producer on the Mets pre- and post-game show. So I spent a lot of time around Howie, and he, of course, had the famous call in '94, the Mateau goal, which put the Rangers into the Stanley Cup final. And he's had an unbelievable Hall of Fame career. So he was a big mentor, getting to know Sam Rosen many, many years ago. And then I was his colleague with the Rangers for 29 seasons. We would sit together on the plane, learned a lot from him. Uh Doc Emmerich was a big I always used to love watching Doc and got to know him. During my high school and college years, I helped out with some of the statistics during the broadcast at MSG, and and Howie Rose and Doc Emmerich actually filled in on some Rangers radio broadcasts before their careers took off. So got to know Doc, and then we became colleagues at NBC. And another crazy story, Tom, I've now worked seven, been so fortunate to work seven Winter Olympics, and we've run into each other at a few of them. I remember a restaurant, and uh it was either Sochi or Pyonchang. I can't remember which one. We ran into each other at a restaurant in one of those cities. Um and you know, calling the gold medal games this year on both the men's and women's side were certainly a career highlight, several gold medal games prior to that, men's and women's hockey as well. But my first opportunity, and sometimes it takes something crazy. And and I was a last-minute fill-in for Doc in 2002 in Salt Lake City when he had a pull out about a week before doing a personal situation, and and that was how I got the first opportunity to work hockey at the Olympics back in Salt Lake in 2002.

Tom Renney 11:30

That's quite a roster, uh, you know, a depth chart of broadcast greats, that's for sure. And and I can appreciate that they would all be mentors in in one way or another. And I think too, Kenny, I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest very strongly that you're doing exactly the same for others. You mentioned it earlier with young broadcasters and paying attention to their journey, and I think that's that's the nature of of you, certainly and your family. I I get that. And I think what we we we do have to pay it forward, but we also you recognize these these people, uh, you know, and we have to also take the time to kind of pay it backwards almost, you know, to to have the gratitude to thank these people, you know, and and make sure that they're aware of what they've done for us. And I and I I'm curious to know in terms of paying it forward, you know, what is your most prominent advice to a younger person that might be getting their feet wet, you know, and looking to grow and and pursue it seriously. What is your your most prominent advice for someone that's trying to pursue broadcasting?

Kenny Albert 12:25

That's a great question. I I speak to a number of broadcasting camps every summer in the New York area, high school, college students. Uh there's a I'm sure you know you remember Bruce Beck, a prominent New York sportscaster. He runs an unbelievable camp every summer for the last 20 years or so. And it's always fun to meet the kids. They get younger and younger. There are some 10-year-olds at these camps, but uh a lot of the advice that I give is always similar, and it has to do with uh number one, the preparation. Things were a lot different these days. When I started out, it was newspapers, weekly publications, the hockey news, the sporting news. Even when I started professionally, the internet did not exist. So when I was with the Skipjacks, and even when I started out with the Washington Capitals for three years and with the NFL on Fox around 93-94, we would have fax machines and we would have articles sent to us statistics and and notes about the teams, and we'd have to buy this fax paper and it would come out on a big roll. You know, now you one click and you can read anything you want. So everything's at your fingertips. Also, when I started with Fox, for example, on football, they would send us VHS tapes every week of our game from the prior Sunday and each team's previous game. We wouldn't get that until Wednesday or Thursday. Now you can watch any game on any device. So technology has has changed for the better through the years. So my advice is always the preparation, how much time you have to put into it. It's a lot of work, but it's fun work. You're you're reading about sports, you're watching games, you're studying the rules and the strategy, for example, the history. You know, I think the generation now, they don't necessarily sit down to watch entire games, they'll watch clips on their phone, uh, on their devices. But I think it's important if you want to get into broadcasting to watch full games and listen to the announcers and watch, you know, whether it's the replays that are shown, the graphics, there's so much that goes into it. I'll also always mention how many people there are that are actually involved in getting these broadcasts on the air. If you're a youngster sitting at home, you only hear and see the two or three announcers. But when they're going off to college and have these opportunities to work at radio stations, TV stations, podcasts, a lot of the college conferences have their own stations that students can get involved in, both on the air and behind the scenes. There are so many jobs out there behind the scenes. The producer, the director, the cameramen and women, the people who handle the replays, the graphics. So I think that's an eye-opener when I speak to these youngsters is if it's not in front of the microphone or in front of the camera, that's your interest. There are many, many jobs. I just worked a football game, preseason game in Nashville the other day, the Seahawks and the Titans, and there were 75 to 100 people there as part of our crew to get that game on the air. And it's again, you only see or hear the two or three, but there are a lot of folks behind the scenes. And just to get back to the prior question, two other longtime NHL announcers that I wound up having relationships with and didn't really hear their work that often because, again, back then you only got your local games for the most part. But Jim Robson, the late Jim Robson, who I know you knew well, longtime voice of the Canucks. I think I've told you the story, Tom, but living 3,000 miles away, I was actually a Vancouver Canucks fan as a youngster for some reason. Not sure how it happened. My room was painted in Canucks colors, and I couldn't see any of their games, and I wouldn't get the box scores until sometimes two days later in the newspaper. But I started writing letters to Jim as a young Canucks fan, and then I would go visit him at the broadcast booth whenever they played in New York three times a year. Yeah. Rangers Islanders, and then when the Devils came in, and again, did not hear a lot of his work, but he became a friend, and I always enjoyed seeing him in Vancouver. And Chuck Caden, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Forever. We had this one radio in the kitchen on Long Island that if I angled it the right way, we would pick up the Hartford station, the Hartford Radio Station. So in the late 70s and early 80s, I would listen to Chuck, and he gets a kick out of hearing the story because it makes him feel old. But that's right. But I was a pen file with Jim Robson, and I would try to get that signal to listen to Chuck Caton. So they were two others that around the NHL that I always enjoyed listening to.

Tom Renney 16:20

What a great conversation. And uh again, in just insight into the business, you know, it's amazing. I the one thing when I think way back as a youngster, and I'm certainly older than you, but I you know, I remember Foster Hewitt on on the radio and then ultimately on TV, Danny Galavan, you know, there Dick Irvin. There are these broadcast names, but not just the name, Kenny, the voice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that has got to capture the audience. You know, you gotta feel like you're there. I don't care. I because I I first of all, I'm amazed that you can do all these sports and not call somebody by a hockey name as opposed to the football name, but uh it's remarkable. But I'm I'm just curious, how did you hone your voice skills to I mean you were born with what we've got, but how do you I mean you're so good at it, Ken. I just I love listening to you. I'd I'd listen to you call a marble match, to be honest with you. I just I I love the voice. And so tell me about that. Well, I appreciate it, Tom.

Kenny Albert 17:13

And and just last week, I listened to a tremendous podcast, John Shannon, the longtime producer of Hockey Night in Canada, had Dick Irvin on his podcast last week, and I think Mr. Irvin's 93 or 94 years old, and his memory was incredible. The stories that he was telling, if you haven't heard it and if your viewers haven't listened, I highly recommend the stories he was telling about working with Danny Galovan, and also as a youngster, his dad, Dick Irvin Sr., was a longtime coach with Montreal and Toronto, and he would get to tag along as well. And eventually he became a broadcaster, and he did it all. Uh, Dick Irvin Jr., he was a play-by-play announcer, a color commentator, a studio host, so he really worked at all facets. But his stories about the early years of Hockey Night in Canada working with Danny Gallivin, I was a little young to listen to them, but I've heard a lot of the stories. But this interview was just incredible, and his memory I just could not believe. But like I said, I grew up listening to a lot of radio, a lot of hockey on the radio, and my father, who also did a lot of sports and was probably best known for basketball with the Knicks and then the NBA on NBC, but also did the Rangers for like 30 years on the radio. And they only did the home games back then. They didn't do a lot of the road games, so he was working a partial schedule, listening to his games on the radio, and and a few of the announcers I mentioned earlier, Howie Rose and Doc Emmerich, when they did radio hockey. Larry Hirsch was the devil's original radio announcer, and I was 14 years old when they came in, so I was listening to all the devil's games. And his color commentator was Fred Shiro at the time. So it was a very entertaining uh radio broadcast, and I learned a lot. So just from I think from listening through the years, from the mid-70s through the mid-80s, those 10 years of my life when I was about seven through seventeen, listening to a lot of hockey on the radio and turning the sound down on the TV and announcing the games in my head or into the tape recorder. I think it's just something that by listening as much as I did, and then by practicing, I would bring my tape recorder even during the college years to the Nassau Coliseum. And because of some of the internships and work that I was doing, had access to sit in the press box and I would I would find a spot with nobody around. I didn't want to bother anybody with doing play by play, but just the reps during those years, bringing the recorder to the Islander games, and then the two years with the Skipjacks. When I listened back to some of those tapes now, first of all, I can't believe what my voice sounded like. It's so much different, but that's where I developed the rhythm, the cadence. I would listen to games during those high school years, and I would make lists of the various the geography, the near point, the far point, the near corner, the right corner, behind the net, the slot, the red line, the blue line. I would have a hundred hockey terms written on a piece of paper. Not that you want to copy anybody else's style, but just to get those terms in your head because you don't want to be repetitive. And I think we all in the early years are repetitive, and when you listen back to your own tapes, you can hear that. But uh so those two years in Baltimore, and then I went to Washington, and for three years I was working the Capitol's home games on television, so I didn't do any radio during those years. And then when I wound up, long story, but Howie Rose had been doing the Rangers radio, he took the job with the Islanders and Mets on TV. So I was offered the job in '95 with the Rangers and MSG on radio. And it was a really tough decision at the time because I loved Washington. Uh the people I was working for, great organization. I was also filling in on some Bullets basketball and Orioles baseball at the time. So it was a great situation down there, but ultimately couldn't pass up coming back to New York and did radio for 29 years. And it was so much fun. Sam Rosen retired about a year and a half ago, so I took over on the TV side. And ironically, Joe Mikeletti, the great Joe Mikeletti, retired at the same time. So Dave Maloney, my partner on radio for 20 years, moved over to the TV side as well. And Brian Boyle works many of the games with us. And Tom, Dave and I often talk about our first season together, and Dave had done some fill-in work in the prior years, but our first season together working the Rangers on the radio was 05-06. And that was such a memorable season. And we we often talk about that first game in Philadelphia. You guys won 5-3 and went on to make the playoffs that year when nobody expected it. And that was Henrik Lundquist's rookie season, and Yarmir Jagger was unbelievable and should have won the MVP, but we still reference that season to this day because that was our first full season together, and it had so many memorable moments.

Tom Renney 21:25

Well, that's um yeah, as do I out of that that season as well, and my whole experience in New York, Kenny. And and uh it's it's just so great to kind of go back and touch on that memory because they they were great for sure. And I I have such admiration for play by play and color. And my my next question is you know, that's a team, and it's not just a two person team. I mean, they're like you meant, there's certainly a depth chart of uh talent below you guys and around you and and whatnot, but play by play and color really have to be in sync, you know, with with the call. And is that something that ultimately becomes just second nature, or do you tap each other or you give each other? cues on when you're jumping in and jumping out or how how does that work? Because it's very proficient.

Kenny Albert 22:04

All of the above. And it's a great question. I get it all the time about the the teamwork. And there are also major differences between radio and television. So hockey to me, most people that ask me the question what's the hardest sport to call play by play wise? Most people think the answer is going to be hockey. And for many people it probably is. To me it's the easiest maybe because I've been doing it for so long it's like riding a bike. Hockey on the radio you're just calling the game for 60 minutes. The puck's in action for 60 minutes. TV's a lot different because the viewers can see what's going on. So from a play by play standpoint you don't have to say as much. You definitely pull back. There's more time for the color analyst to come in during the play if the puck's in the neutral zone you don't want the color analyst to be talking when a goal scored for example but there is time where I could pause on a TV broadcast whether it's Eddie Olcek on TNT or Dave Maloney on the Rangers or any of the color analysts that I'm working with. Basketball to me is similar to hockey but slower, more whistles, more stoppages, but the ball's in action for 48 minutes, same concept going left to right, right to left, trying to score football's the most rhythmic. It's one play and then it's 20 or 25 seconds. It's another play 20 or 25 seconds. So I set up the play second and seven from the 33, call the play, quick recap, and then the color analyst comes in and talks about what happened and why it happened and there's usually a replay shown. Baseball to me was always the most challenging I only worked anywhere between 10 to 15 games a year so I wasn't around it all the time. And there are so many periods of downtime that you have to fill between the pitches, between batters, etc. Now I will say the pitch clock the last couple of years, that has really helped. It feels more like a hockey game now. It's a lot faster. There's not as much time between pitches, between batters, etc. So that's the difference between the four major sports. I've also done a little bit of boxing and that's totally different. There's no ball, there's no puck. You want to use a lot of your good information early on because it could end right away. I've had the opportunity to use some other Olympic sports track and field, volleyball, water polo sports that I wasn't as familiar with so you really have to learn and do a lot of studying. But as far as the teamwork with your color analysts, you are a team. And on football for many years I worked with Moose Johnston and Tony Saragusa and Goose was down on the field but his mic was always open. So you didn't have that nonverbal communication you couldn't tap each other you couldn't see each other. So we really had to learn each other's cadence and if I paused one of the other two would come in we have the same thing with with TNT with the NHL work with an unbelievable crew with with Eddie Olcek upstairs and Brian Boucher downstairs. We had Keith Jones for a couple of years and then when he went to the Flyers Boosh moved into that role and hockey is so quick and with three people sometimes there's not enough time for everybody. And while the play's going on for the most part I have to call the play by play but at times I'll pause and if Eddie has something he'll come in and do his thing and sometimes he'll even throw it down to Boosh if the play's going on but it's in the neutral zone not much happening but he'll know to wrap it up if the puck goes into the offensive zone. So you are a team when you're up in the booth with your analyst yes you might tap him you might put a finger up if there's something important that you want to get in I might hold the record you might see my uh my book which came out three years ago a mic for all seasons right over my shoulder and I list I list all of my color analysts in the book. I've worked with about 250 of them and in in all of the sports and I've really enjoyed each and every one of them. Many Hall of Famers in all the sports and some of them I've only worked one game with and others I've worked 10 or 15 years with. But you do develop that relationship that cadence with Dave Maloney on the radio for the Rangers we work 20 years together. So we learn each other's style cadence again I might pause if there's an icing or if the puck's you know sent up the ice he might come in but knows he has to be concise. But then at the end of the play if the puck goes into the stands or the goalie holds onto it I'll try to get out quick so that he can come in and talk for the next 20 seconds prior to the faceoff. So you're a team not only with your analyst but with the production folks as well in the truck the producer, the director if it's a television broadcast there are replays they have to get in there are sponsored elements there are promos that we have to read. So uh we have a meeting before the game it's definitely a team effort for sure.

Tom Renney 26:13

And what strikes me too Ken is that you know hockey is one of the few sports that actually changes on the fly without a stoppage which I think makes it an outstanding game obviously and and um played at a very very high level by by women and men, you know, and and and that's so great to see. I I guess you've touched on it a little bit. When you did play by play for the women's games at at the Olympics for example and you would do both you'd do the women's and you'd do the men's what kind of appreciation did you get for the women's game and the ability of those ladies to play the game?

Kenny Albert 26:42

Oh so much appreciation and I've been so fortunate since 2002 to work women's hockey at the Olympics and by the way and I'll get back to that but you mentioned the changing on the fly that's what I always tell people people always think that hockey is the hardest because of the some of the names you know the European names and the changing on the fly but those of us in hockey are so used to it right so I once brought a friend who was a college basketball coach to a hockey game. He had never been to one and he was shocked that they changed on the fly he couldn't believe it because in basketball you have to wait for the whistle obviously I first had the opportunity to do women's hockey in 2002 in Salt Lake at the last minute like I said when Doc Emmerich had to pull out so for about a week leading up to those Olympics I had to do a lot of studying. I had watched 98 I was actually on vacation for a good portion of the 98 Olympics because the NHL shut down so I remember watching the games and had watched the women's gold medal game but when the NHL players are at the Olympics those of us who work in the NHL you're around it all the time working 60, 70, 80 NHL games a year. So the NHL players that's first nature even this year at the Olympics when it was the U.S. Canada Sweden and Finland those rosters were all NHL players except one. I think it was Sweden had one not NHL player but it was all NHL players. At the Olympics you know even the men's games when it's some of the other countries the Latvias the Slovakias that don't have as many NHL players there is more studying and preparation that goes into that because those players are not as familiar. The Olympics when I look back and I've been so lucky to do seven of them now men's and women's all seven and we've been in person for six the 2022 we did remotely from uh studios in Connecticut it was the back end of COVID. So it it's some of the greatest memories that I have in my broadcasting career are those seven Olympics that I've been so lucky to be a part of and in 2002 I worked the women's games with uh the late Lisa Brown Miller who had played on the 98 team and Joe Mikeletti. So I had Joe with me. Lisa had played like I said in 98 so she knew everybody she was the expert on the U.S. team but a lot of studying went into it learning some of the other countries the names because I wasn't as familiar aside from the United States team with with the other uh women's players and one of the first games was the U.S. against China and as you can imagine a lot of the names look alike on paper on the Chinese squad and somebody handed us a pronunciation guide about five minutes before the game the good thing Tom was the United States dominated. They outshot China at something like 72 to 10. So China didn't have the puck very often so we didn't have to say a lot of the names their goalie was nicknamed the Great Wall. So she got a lot of play on the telecast because I remember her but then you know moving along starting in 2006 AJ Malesco became my analyst on the women's side who played on the 98 and 2002 team won a gold medal in 98 won a silver when when Canada won in 02. And she's become a great friend great partner we did some NHL games together on NBC and now she's on ESPN does a terrific job but in 06 when we first worked together in Torino learned so much from her and her experiences playing at Harvard and then playing on those two Olympic teams and then we worked together in Vancouver and Sochi and Pyonchang and now in Milan this past year. So we've worked six Olympics together with AJ and just watching the evolution of the women's game you know as you know the United States and Canada have dominated since women's hockey was introduced at the Olympic level in 98 there's been only one year in which another country got to the gold medal game and that was when Sweden upset the United States in 06 but having the opportunity to call several of those U.S. Canada games just so much fun and and lifetime memories, career memories, I worked the gold medal game in 02 when Canada beat the U.S. Doc was there and called the gold medal games in in 06, 10 and 14 I worked a lot of the other games those years. And then in Pyonchang when the United States beat Canada in a shootout that was certainly you know one of the what on my list of top games that I've ever worked that is certainly right up there went to a shootout. And I think because the NHL players weren't there in Pyonchang the women's hockey took even a a bigger role as far as you know the times the time slots on television and there were millions of people watching that game in the United States. So it felt it felt really big and it was and then having the opportunity this year to work again both the men's and women's gold medal games you know I know the results didn't go uh the way that all of the folks north of the border would have liked but both obviously overtime close games could have gone either way and just watching you know Marie Philippe Poulain for example over the last five Olympics I guess now and some of the other U.S. and Canadian stars and just appreciating the work that they put in and and now that they have their own professional league just so happy for them that they get the recognition and and get to play year round now and I've I've gotten to know so many of the women's players I've worked some games with Kendall Coyne Schofield back in the NHL and NBC days and the Six Olympics with A.J Malesco and and uh you know I've become friends with a number of them on both the US and Canadian side so it's great to see you know how the sport has elevated since that first Olympics back in 98.

Tom Renney 31:42

That's so true can you know when you think about the evolution of of women's uh opportunity with their own league which is highly highly competitive and and I've had great conversations with most of the Canadian women at at one point in time less so the American girls or others for that matter but you know there's a there's a level of knowledge there's a level of care you know to to protect the sport certainly a huge drive to you know to get some some more notoriety and and rightfully so but I'll tell you right now there is no difference between how the guys prepare organize themselves and the level of intensity that they bring to the game than the women. The women are every bit as you know and it's just so good to see and the opportunities there and and um my hope obviously is it is and it should be for everyone is that women continue to play significant roles in not just sport but you know life in general and that um you know this the us guys stay humble and give them the opportunity and stay out of the way to do that. And I and I know that when they listen to you Ken and and there's lots of ladies now doing play by play in color certainly in the UWHL and beyond you know college hockey and and NCAA and and uh U Sport in Canada and whatnot, it's good to see and I and I think it's been a long time coming. But I think by the way you carry yourself Kenny and the way you um speak to people uh how inclusive you are you know in your language and the way you perform your job if equity were ever a problem um you know with those opportunities they certainly don't exist with you and I think that's a a real testimony to how you've chosen to you know apply your trade if you weigh if you will and apply your craft and I I think it's just uh remarkable and and very very important that we continue to do that. I'm gonna ask you if uh at a later date we can circle back. I want to get you in the middle of doing all of these sports at the same time which is remarkable Ken but great great stuff great stuff to share and very much appreciated and um I'll look forward to chatting with you again. It's always good to see you Ken you're a good man and solid guy and give my best to Dave and our my past colleagues at the rink and uh and and wherever there and and uh we'll look forward to circling back and having another conversation as long as you're okay with it.

Kenny Albert 33:49

I I'd love to continue this anytime. Great chatting with you Tom and good luck with the podcast. I know you've had some great guests over the last couple of months and again the years that you were in New York uh you could not have been you know more welcoming to the broadcast crew uh such great memories of of those years. You would always spend time with us after practices and before games and whatever time we needed you were there and uh all of us remember that. I will pass along your regards to Dave and the rest of the crew and look forward to doing this again.

Tom Renney 34:16

You bet.

Kenny Albert 34:17

Thanks a lot Kenny.

Tom Renney 34:18

Thanks Tom