‘Big Rig’ steps up to post-COVID challenge as the face of the Hurricanes’ TV franchise
Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy stood high above the ice Friday night, flanked by television monitors, mic’d up, amped up, ready to broadcast more Stanley Cup playoff hockey as the Carolina Hurricanes took on the Nashville Predators.
The rub: Game 3 in the first-round series was played at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Maniscalco and Tracy had the call for Bally Sports from PNC Arena in Raleigh.
Nothing new, of course. The Canes’ TV crew has not traveled for away games this season. They were not in the NHL’s Toronto bubble last August for the Canes’ postseason play and will stay in Raleigh for all of the Bally Sports TV coverage of the opening round this year. Call it a sign of the times.
“I think the future of broadcasting is going to look very different coming out of the pandemic,” Maniscalco said in an interview this season, his first as the Canes’ play-by-play announcer.
Studio work and calls off monitors became the norm as the world hunkered down in 2020 and into this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a necessary move made for personal health and safety. It also was a financial move made to help save costs.
For 25 years, John Forslund was the TV face of the franchise, first with the Hartford Whalers and then the Hurricanes after the team’s move to North Carolina in 1997. He was an indelible part of the Hurricanes brand, his voice and calls ingrained in Hurricanes fandom.
“That’s hockey, baby!” and “Hey, hey, whadaya say!” were Forslund staples, and his game preparation and presentation were meticulous.
COVID-19 changed everything. Unable to come to contract terms with the Hurricanes by the end of June 2020, Forslund left. It was an emotional breakup. Forslund and Tracy, the Canes’ TV analyst and color commentator, had worked together for 21 years.
Hosting Canes’ pregame show with Shane Willis
Maniscalco had been the host of the Canes’ pregame show with Shane Willis and the rink-side reporter during games. He was well-known to Canes fans — the “Big Rig’” — and well-liked. He wasn’t like a newbie quickly hired and brought in to take over the play-by-play in Toronto for last season’s postseason qualifier against the New York Rangers and then the first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins.
“I’d called games before, so it’s not like I’d never done this and got thrown into it,” Maniscalco said. “Some of the most fun I’ve had in broadcasting was with Shane on the pregame shows, on the desk. Now, this is the most fun I’ve ever had.”
Maniscalco said he did not feel as if he was auditioning for the Canes’ full-time play-by-play job in Toronto. He likened it more like former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White. One day White was the backup QB for Roger Staubach and then he was named the starter when Staubach retired. You run with it.
“The bubble games showed he was capable of doing the job,” Tracy said in an interview. “I had done games with him on radio and TV is different, but I think those games in Toronto were important for our fan base because they got to see Mike call some very special moments.”
When Sebastian Aho made a sick move to score against the Rangers, Maniscalco quickly said, “What sorcery was that?” The Aho move and Maniscalco’s quick and apt reaction made a lot of NHL highlight packages.
“Mike was going to get some more rope in an impossible situation from our fan base because our fans recognize how genuine he is and they have a connection with him and they were going to want to see him succeed,” Tracy said.
Maniscalco said Canes owner Tom Dundon and Don Waddell, the president and general manager, have been supportive. No micro-managing or second-guessing calls.
“I’m like an offensive lineman. If no one is saying my name then I’m doing my job,” Maniscalco said, smiling. “Tom has been great. Don Waddell has been great.”
Tripp Tracy transitions from John Forslund to Mike Maniscalco
Forslund, who works for the NBC Sports Network, has been hired to be the new TV voice of the expansion Seattle Kraken. He, too, is supportive of the work Maniscalco has done this season.
“I think he’s done a good job,” Forslund said in an interview this season. “I think for him it’s just a matter of refining every day, no different from what I do. You try to be perfect and you find it’s impossible to be perfect.
“I think he moved in there, integrated into that role, continued to work at it and had the commitment to improve every day. The good part is they have a great team. And because they have a great team it’s in some ways easier because everything is good, everything is positive.”
Tracy has continued to be Tracy. The former college and pro goalie, a good friend of many of the players, has used those past relationships to gain information for his many yarns during games. He works the phone constantly each day. He has become a social media beast, using his podcast to line up a variety of guests including Wayne Gretzky.
“It’s obviously going to be transition when you work for 20 years with John like I did and enjoy the memories and know each other so well on and off air,” Tracy said. “I almost didn’t have to look at him, we knew each other well.
“I could not let the disappointment of John leaving prevent me from trying to do my part for Mike, who was following a legend, and Mike has done a really, really nice job in a challenging circumstance, not only doing it for the first time but also in replacing a person of John Forslund’s caliber. I’ve tried to not change, just do my job and do all I can to help a guy and friend we all wanted to see shine in his opportunity.”
Tracy continues to offer his blend of timely hockey analysis and his humorous form of Hurricanes genealogy — “Sir Walter Raleigh, as we know, was a huge Caniac!” He sometimes gets caught up in harping on calls made on the ice by the referees but it comes across more as a defense of the Canes player being penalized than personal criticism of the ref.
‘It’s about the players on the ice’
Forslund had a way of intoning “They SCORE!” after a Hurricanes goal, using his baritone best. Maniscalco at times will hit too high a note after a Carolina goal as he excitedly raises his voice.
“It’s nothing that I do intentionally but my voice can go high and sometimes a little too high,” he said. “You don’t want to be screechy at all.”
Maniscalco says he has no go-to phrases, although he has used “All right Hamilton!” after some of defenseman Dougie Hamilton’s goals this season.
After Canes forward Brock McGinn tied the score in a game against Columbus with a well-executed goal off the rush, Maniscalco said, “Tic-tac-tie.” To which Tracy said, “Oh, boy you’re on your game today, partner!”
Maniscalco said he later got a text from Bob McGinn, Brock’s father, asking how long he had been thinking about using the line. The answer: about a second.
“I don’t want to be cute and it’s not about me,” Maniscalco said. “It’s about the players on the ice and the game.”
What if the TV feed goes dead?
There are challenges in this new age of monitor-called road games, relying on the home team’s TV feeds. You can’t always see what’s happening behind a play. A player might slip off the bench for medical treatment and that might be missed. The coach might explode at a ref.
And what if the TV feeds go dead and the screen goes blank? Maniscalco said that happened one time, adding, “It may only last a few seconds but can feel like an eternity.”
It helps that the TV crew working the truck remains the same and can help through any rough patches. Jim Mallia, a former hockey player, is the producer and Paul “Chopper” Hemming the director. Graphics producer Dean Meglio and EVS replay operator Tracy Cook have been on the crew for several years.
“They have made life so much easier for me,” Maniscalco said.
The pregame and postgame shows, anchored by Abby Labar and Willis, nicely complement the Bally broadcast package.
The Canes TV broadcast team will handle only the first round of the playoffs. Beyond that, if the Canes advance there are plans for a post-game wrap-up show.
Executive producer James Shapiro said he is “really pleased” with the way things have gone in an abnormal season.
“We love Mike, and his relationship with the team has made this transition work well for him,” Shapiro said in an interview. “He is incredibly familiar with our team and does a great job in transmitting that to the audience and transmitting a sense of excitement to the audience.
“Calling games off monitors, Mike and Tripp have done a great job dealing with that. It can be tough to adjust to that but there are times when you watch and unless they tell you, you don’t know they’re not on the road with the team. That’s a big compliment to Mike and Tripp.”
This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 10:43 AM.
