Keep the big picture in mind, folks! Sure, the Florida Panthers are facing some adversity at the moment; Aleksander Barkov has missed the last two games, and Patric Hornqvist left last night’s game in Chicago (Both have been labeled day-to-day by Joel Quenneville.) The next Panthers opponent, Dallas, is certain to be as desperate as Chicago was, and the Stars are coming off a 4-3 win over Tampa Bay. As Coach Q said last week, the games are only going to get harder this season. Remember, though: The Panthers, regardless of the outcome of the last three games, are firmly entrenched as a top-tier team in the Central Division, along with the Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes. They are a contender; a playoff-bound team. The Division title is still certainly a possibility for the Panthers, who have four regular season games remaining against the division-leading Lightning.
This has been an exciting season, and it’ll only get more exciting as the games, and the stage, get bigger. I’ve said it multiple times: I view this season as a foundational season. The Panthers are solidifying themselves as a contender, and they will be for several years to come!
The questions were great again this week. Let’s get to them! Also, tell your friends to send in questions!
What are the origins of the World Famous Twitter segment? When did it start? #DearDoug
For those of you who are unaware, the World Famous Twitter Segment takes place in the final segment of the second intermission during every Panthers radio broadcast. We take tweets, answer the occasional question, and shout-out as many folks as we can who are tuned in. Before we get to the origins of the #WorldFamousTwitterSegment, I want to thank everyone who has participated. We have regular listeners and Tweeters everywhere from South Florida to Scotland to Calgary and everywhere in-between!
Matt, asking this question, is known as our Southern California Twitter Captain. He’s a regular listener on the NHL App (Which makes it so easy to listen to radio broadcasts across the league, by the way) and for that, Matt, we can’t thank you enough for joining us each night from Escondido, Califorinia! We also have a number of “Twitter Captains”; usually it’s the first regular from an out-of-market location.
As for the origins of the segment, I’m going to take it way back. I learned a ton from Bob McElligott, the radio voice of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He’s a lifelong mentor and friend. I interned for him in ’07-08 when he was calling games for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, and he did an intermission email segment. When I got my first job as the voice of the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads, I implemented an email segment at the end of the second intermission of each game. When I started broadcasting for the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, I took the email segment there, and it evolved into “Tweets and Emails,” as Twitter gained popularity. As we rolled further into the 2010’s, Twitter was getting about 99% of the traffic, so it became the Twitter segment.
When I joined the Panthers as radio broadcaster, I brought the Twitter segment to second intermissions, and began having a ton of fun with it alongside Kevin Rogers, Alex Donno, and Bill Lindsay. We were (and still are) so excited whenever we see a Tweet from new listeners and people in new locations! As time went on, the “Twitter Segment” became the “World Famous Twitter Segment”; a phrase coined by our pregame/intermission/postgame host Kevin Rogers. Kevin clarified on Twitter this week, “I believe it came out of jest from me and it just stuck. The Twitter Segment doesn’t have the same ring as The World Famous Twitter Segment.” So that’s it. It had to be made famous! Kevin called it The World Famous Twitter Segment at some point in ’15-16, and we ran with it.
To this day, we can’t even put into words how much it means to get tweets from our listeners. Whether you’re listening for the first time or the 10,000th time, you mean the world to us. Thanks everyone!
#DearDoug who would win the strongest Panther award? I’m thinking Hornqvist, but Tippett has some serious biceps. Strongest of all time? How about Peter Worrell.
Great questions! The great thing about hockey, is there are different types of strength, and a good team needs all sorts! Radko Gudas hits harder than anyone; it can’t be fun to encounter his strength when he hits you with a shoulder at center ice. You bring up Owen Tippett; his wrist shot strength is off the charts, which we knew when he was drafted at 18, and that shot has been on display quite a bit lately (Nine shots last game!) He brings it with a very deceptive release, too.
Hornqvist has the strongest net-front game; he may be the strongest in the whole league in this aspect. He gives and receives a lot of punishment playing this style, but it pays off for him. Eight seasons of 20-plus goals, and among the Panthers goal scoring leaders this season; he’s rewarded for his hard-nosed play. Skating strength? Frank Vatrano comes to mind; in a straight line, he’s as fast as any player in the league, and Anthony Duclair is right there with him. It’s tough to hand out one strength award: hockey takes all kinds of strength! Overall strength, Barkov comes to mind: look how hard it is to separate him from the puck! Endurance strength: Ekblad’s routinely logging 25 minutes or more every night against opponents’ top lines. Everyone is a key component.
Strongest all-time though… you bring up Peter Worrell, and it would be tough to top him! As a lot of Panthers fans know, “Big Pete” is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, too.
What has been the most interesting part about covering coach Q so far?
Having a front-row seat to watching Joel Quenneville coach is an experience that I’ll value and look back on forever. He’s one of the all-time best, and we see examples of it all the time. At his introductory press conference, he made it known that playoffs were the expectation. During his first season, it was apparent immediately that the team had a belief that they were not only in every game, but they could win every game. Think about the four-goal comebacks against Boston and Anaheim, among other big moments from the first season under Coach Q.
This season: the way he’s managed the roster from night to night, putting players (most of which are still relatively new to each other) in positions to succeed and maximize their production has been a work of art. He has an amazing knack for identifying players and lines that are “going” on a given night, and players just love playing for him. What’s more? He’s just a great guy, he’s outstanding to work with, and is the absolute definition of a professional.
We’ve always known he’s an all-time great coach, and seeing the way he conducts his business day-to-day reinforces that. I could do what I’m doing for 50 years (hopefully I’m fortunate enough to do so), and I’ll always look back at my time working with Coach Q as a special time and a unique chance to work with one of the best ever.
#DearDoug you make a great broadcast team with @LindsayBHockey , but if you could choose one person to be your holy grail of co-hosts, who would you pick? Also what other former Panther would you choose if your holy grail isn’t a Panther?
First of all, thank you! Calling games with Bill Lindsay is the best. His passion for the Panthers and knowledge of the game is off the charts! Anyone who’s been a Panthers fan also knows this: he’s an outstanding person. I’ve said it before: we probably worked one period together, and it felt like we’d been working together for years. And you can tell he spent a lot of time in front of the net in his career, because he has an unbelievable eye for identifying who scored on a redirection! I couldn’t ask for a better partner to work with every night, and I learn new things about the game from him all the time.
As for another former Panther: Ed Jovanovski filled in for Billy on a game earlier this year, and did a great job! We had a lot of fun, and there’s a chance we may get another special-edition Jovo appearance on the radio again this season, so be on the lookout!
If I could call a game with one person, ever… I’d want to go back in time and call a Detroit Tigers baseball game with Ernie Harwell. I probably wouldn’t even want to say anything, because I’d just want to listen to Ernie the whole time. Ernie’s voice was the soundtrack across “38 states and part of Canada” on WJR for many, many summers of Tigers baseball.
Great questions, as always! If you didn’t see yours, it may show up in a future edition! Thanks everyone!