Chirps from Center Ice

So I spent my evening at the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Booster Club meeting tonight. Pens play-by-play (PBP) voice Tom Grace held court with 87 booster club members. Outside of me booking the November Worcester trip, Tom discussed the following…..after the jump:

Tom was asked to be at this evening’s booster club meeting at Pens Fest. He of course was honored to be with us. It was his first booster club meeting in a long time.

Grace spoke on his decision to leave the Pens initially in detail. It was a tough decision for him obviously. He spoke about speaking at the last game vs. Syracuse. All the players after the game were dressed in suits, and Tom was asked to speak to them to which he said, “Play every game like it is your last” and, “Leave on your terms” – Tom took a job in digital marketing. Think Cisco Systems, people face to face with people in New York talking to people in Los Angeles in front of a screen, that sort of thing.

On his return to WBS:

• Many people would say to him, “It’s just not the same without you.”
• Jeff Barrett, CEO of the Penguins floated the notion to him about coming back.
• Boston College called him last year to do PBP for them. They went all the way and won the National Championship at Ford Field in Detroit. He found out while he was doing it that he really, really missed doing PBP.
• Finally, an Assistant GM of an NHL team asked Grace why he wasn’t doing PBP for a professional hockey team.
• Grace was approached, in fact, by two other AHL teams to do play-by-play for their team this year. One team in the Western Conference and one in the East. (he didn’t say who)
• Was finally convinced by Barrett to return this year.

On Scott Stuccio:

• Scott will do color with Grace on all home games. He will also do color with Tom on day trip games to Hershey, Binghamton and Syracuse.
• He and Scott should be the best broadcasting tandem in the American Hockey League.
• His return is not a knock against Scott, or the way he ran things. Grace said (and has always said) nothing but great things about Scott Stuccio.
• A lot of people like Grace, while a lot of people liked Stuccio. Tom can live with this.

On his “Grace-isms” and what to expect from him:

• He calls what he does, “Genuine Enthusiasm.”
• He is at his funniest when he is not trying to be funny.
• Grace wants the listening experience to be more pleasurable for fans. He wants to give as much information as possible to the fans. From who the referee’s are, to the color of the away teams jerseys.
• Will, “never purposely mislead someone as to what is going on on the ice”

On the 2010-2011 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins:

• This is an excellent team. Get on the “wagon.”
• We are going to win the Calder Cup.
• He spoke about the speech Boston College coach Jerry York gave right before the National Championship. Very inspiring. Mantra is, “why not us” which is the mentality he will take when the team gets to the playoffs. No longer will he be tense during the playoffs.
• On Head Coach John Hynes: “He is a pit bull.”
• On Assistant Coach Alain Nasreddine: Was asked to say a negative thing about him. Couldn’t think of anything. Huge leader. Always gave everything he had. Tremendous leadership skills.
• On the Rookie Tournament going on in London, Ontario: He doesn’t worry about guys who will not be on our team.
• He promises a “re-commitment” from the front office to the fans.

On his relationship with other teams front office, media relations, etc.:

• Grace doesn’t choose to be buddy-buddy with other teams.
• On what other teams fans have to say about him: “Screw ’em. I don’t like them either.”

I asked him some questions also.

On a social media page such as Twitter or Facebook (similar to what John Walton has):

• Shies away from it. Apparently, when Myspace was still popular someone took his picture and bio from the Pens website and used it to reach out to ex-players. Tom had to call Myspace up about the fraudulent account. Will probably sign up for Facebook, but will not “friend” anyone.

The general reception from other teams around the league about his return:

• Again, he isn’t in the game to make friends with anyone.
• One play-by-play guy, Joe O’Donnell in Houston (@aero_joe) called to offer kind words.
• Tom himself reached out to the Charlotte Checkers play-by-play guy (he didn’t mention a name) to help him out since Charlotte’s first home game will be against Wilkes-Barre / Scranton.

On the Radio Shows:

• Tom will run them at Lucky’s Sporthouse.
• Encouraged everyone to come out to the radio show.
• Audio will be better. They found a solution to the feedback issue.
• They will monitor autographs. They want more kids to get autographs.
• He’ll ensure that us fans will feel more “connected” to the players.

That is about it. Afterwards, I introduced myself and advised that I live-tweet all the games and that I blog about the team. Also mentioned that I will be seeing him a lot on the road this year, from Abbotsford to Albany and for the most part everyplace in between.

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Now. Please get ready for the AHL Previews. We kick things off with the West Division tomorrow. North Division will have a look-see Wednesday. Atlantic Division is dissected Thursday. Friday, we discuss the East Division. Please tell all of your friends and if you follow me on Twitter, re-tweet my tweet on the Previews. Expect them around 4 p.m. Wilkes-Barre time tomorrow.