The longtime voice of the Blackhawks is back.
Pat Foley, who was unceremoniously dumped by the team in 2006 in a very unpopular move, has been re-hired as the play-by-play man on the Chicago Blackhawks' television broadcasts beginning this fall.
The move is the latest in fan-friendly overtures the Hawks are making to win back fans after years of alienating its' base with many questionable moves.
Foley had been the voice of the Hawks for 22 years, moved over to the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves as their play-by-play man, a team which recently won the Calder Cup.
In his new (or shall we say old role), he'll be paired with Chicago native and former Blackhawk and Pittsburgh Penguin Eddie Olczyk for the games airing on Comcast SportsNet and WGN-TV (in the Chicago area only.) Foley was re-hired by new president John McDonough, who held a similar position when he was with the Chicago Cubs.
Dan Kelly, who was the play-by-play man for the Blackhawks for the last two years, was released by the team last month.
For the first time, all 82 games will be available for broadcast. In the past, most home games were blacked out, a policy that was lifted this past season.
Interestingly enough, the Hawks did not contact Foley until the Wolves' season was over, and both teams showed respect to one another during the process ( a rarity in sports nowadays.)
The Hawks will also have a new radio home too, moving to WGN-AM after several years at WSCR-AM (The Score). Troy Murray and John Wiedeman have the call.
Read the official press release from the Chicago Blackhawks
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