First, why hockey? Why did that become your first love?
It inexplicably started as a kid – seemingly centuries ago. Baseball and football were the big sports in Western PA at the time but for whatever reason, even before Pittsburgh had an NHL team, I gravitated towards hockey. We had an AHL team at the time – the Hornets – and I followed them. I can’t tell you what attracted me to the sport. But the attraction arrived early and stayed strong – and is still strong.
What did it mean to you to become the only Pittsburgh-based writer ever inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame’s writers’ wing?
Publishing game stories and hockey notebooks doesn’t gain much notoriety. It’s the greatest honor you can receive as a writer – it’s both humbling and gratifying.
Being a “Yinzer”, how important was it for you to stay local?
I decided in junior high school that I wanted to cover an NHL team for a living. I didn’t focus on Pittsburgh at the time even though I followed the Pittsburgh teams. My first five-to-six years out of college I didn’t cover hockey. I worked for two-plus years at the McKeesport Daily News then in 1980 I started as a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Press. I didn’t cover hockey until the Summer of 1983. When that opportunity came up it was natural to accept it.
Was it ever difficult separating the fan from the reporter? And was the book The Pittsburgh Penguins: An Illustrated Timeline in a sense a way to not have to concern yourself with that separation?
Not really – I’d say no on both counts. When you get into the information – the newspaper business – you have to play it down the middle. You root for the story, not for the team or individual. The best stories are ones that cover the team.
With the book – I never thought of anything other than reviewing the history of the franchise. It wasn’t an emotional investment though the project did rekindle some memories of bygone years.
What prompted the writing of the book?
The idea never occurred to me – I was approached by Reedy Press who asked if I would be interested in doing it. They sent a sample of similar books and it seemed intriguing. It was like a punctuation mark near the end of my career. I’m not at the finish line of my career but there’s more behind me than in front of me. I’m happy I took it on and am pleased with the way it turned out.
As you researched and wrote the book, did it bring back moments or players that you yourself didn’t know or had forgotten?
For better or worse there weren’t many moments that I didn’t remember. I had memories as a follower of the team and as a reporter. The first step when I wrote the book was to sit down and write from memory what I knew had to be included. The publisher requested 158 vignettes – I came up with an extensive list. At the end we had eight-to-10 items that had to be pared – it was just too long to include them.
Outside of the obvious lottery picks that helped turn the franchise around, what else really contributed to being so successful?
I think the hiring of Craig Patrick as GM – that was a pivotal moment for the franchise. That led to the hiring of Bob Johnson as the coach and Scotty Bowman. Bob Johnson coached the team just one year before he died of brain cancer, but he changed the culture of the franchise in that one year. Before him the franchise never really won anything, but they won the Cup the first year with him. Now it helped that he had a loaded lineup, but the change he brought about in the franchise – the importance is impossible to overstate.
It’s a bit reminiscent of the Steelers and their change in the 70’s.
I think it’s parallel to the hiring of Chuck Noll – though the results were less immediate. But it all changed when he was hired.
Who are some of the players and moments from pre-Cup years that you found the most interesting and why?
Hockey players tend to be pretty good people in general, if not as interesting to some. Rob Brown – I consider him to be the best fit as a linemate for Mario Lemieux that he ever had. He thought about the game more like Mario Lemieux than anyone else. Had he been an even average skater he would have been incredible. He just didn’t have the speed to get around people. At the end of his career he made a remarkable transformation from an offensive-minded forward to a bottom six, responsibly defensive-minded forward.
Were there moments covering the players that stand out most to you as a reporter – interactions or moments that were more poignant or impactful?
You have to emotionally detach – the reporting had to be objective for the readers. You can’t risk that by by emotionally invested. But, I do remember one moment during the second intermission of game six of the Stanley Cup finals versus Minnesota. The Penguins were up by a touchdown and it was clear they were going to win their first Cup. I was walking through the Met Center when I caught Tom McMillan’s eye – he was covering the Penguins at the time as a beat writer for the Post-Gazette. We just exchanged that look of “Can you believe what we are witnessing?” That stands out.
How has the reporting and coverage of sports and hockey specifically changed over the years from your perspective – for better or worse?
I don’t know if it’s my place to say if it’s better or worse, but it’s certainly different. There are many more in the media now covering it than in my early years on the beat. Back then it was me and one reporter from the Post-Gazette at practices – we were the only ones except maybe when a TV station would drop in occasionally. Now there are lots of sites and online presences that didn’t exist back then. Whether the quality has improved or not – people can reach their own conclusions on that.