News and Notes XXII: Now With More Finnish!

[Joe McGrath]

Chuck Kaiton's future with Carolina Hurricanes uncertain as team explores radio options

Chuck on his way out. Long story short sounds like they lose money on radio broadcasts and don’t know why they bother doing them. I imagine they don’t lose money on TV but they stand to make more with Shaya and any assclown than with John and Tripp.

 

[RodTheBawd]

How much could they possibly be losing on radio? Maybe 10s of thousands, if that? This is some unexpected penny pinching shit.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I can see that. It may not be a popular decision here, but I have almost no use for listening to the Canes (with or without Kaiton) on the radio. I've probably listened to no more than 10 minutes of it over the past 5 seasons. I just don't enjoy hockey, or any sport for that matter, on the radio. I can't imagine a simulcast would have much impact on listening audience.

I'll catch stormfront or the aftermath on the way to and from the game, but that's about it.

 

[GoldiFox]

A simulcast of the TV broadcast sounds fine to me. Easy to see why they would consider radio an unnecessary cost.

 

[A Star is Burns]

On the one hand, I get that having a dedicated radio broadcast probably doesn't make much sense, but it would suck losing Chuck even though I haven't listened to him regularly since the 05-06 season.

We'll see what happens to John and Tripp, but I doubt anything is happening on that front just yet.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

On the one hand, I get that having a dedicated radio broadcast probably doesn't make much sense, but it would suck losing Chuck even though I haven't listened to him regularly since the 05-06 season.

We'll see what happens to John and Tripp, but I doubt anything is happening on that front just yet.

I think that's right. The article said they are under contract for 1 more year, where-as Kaiton's was up this summer.

 

[Hulkacaniac]

I can understand, but man, kaiton is a true treasure. I wonder if he would consider doing television. I have enjoyed listening to him over the past few years as I've been unable to catch many of the games on tv. He's a pleasure to listen to even if you don't exactly know everything that's going on.

I feel like Kaiton and tripp would work out like this

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

From a nostalgia perspective it's a bad move, but they've already fired Francis so that's out the window anyway.

From a practical perspective, I would prefer a simulcast anyway. In Atlanta when I'm driving during a game I usually just pull up the TV broadcast on Gamecenter on my phone (unlimited data) and listen to John and Tripp anyway, so I wouldn't mind access to an audio simulcast.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I can understand, but man, kaiton is a true treasure. I wonder if he would consider doing television. I have enjoyed listening to him over the past few years as I've been unable to catch many of the games on tv. He's a pleasure to listen to even if you don't exactly know everything that's going on.

I feel like Kaiton and tripp would work out like this

Kaiton and TV don't seem to be a match for me. Kaiton's an auctioneer; he's successful on radio because he never stops speaking and is therefore able to describe everything that happens in the game since the listener can't see it.

TV play-by-play is an accompaniment to the video, not a replacement. John probably says 1/3rd of the words Kaiton does during play - the video is there and John is there to inform and enhance.

Kaiton, to me, is redundant to TV. He has an impressive skill that's gotten him to the Hall of Fame, but to me it's different enough from the skill of a TV play-by-play guy that it wouldn't be a good fit.

 

[Lempo]

Zombie by the Cranberries..... someone did a cover I can't recall that would be better.

The one getting radio play currently? Horrible. It's like the record company told them to look what Disturbed did with Sound of Silence but really amp up the pretentiousness.

 

[DaveG]

I can see that. It may not be a popular decision here, but I have almost no use for listening to the Canes (with or without Kaiton) on the radio. I've probably listened to no more than 10 minutes of it over the past 5 seasons. I just don't enjoy hockey, or any sport for that matter, on the radio. I can't imagine a simulcast would have much impact on listening audience.

I'll catch stormfront or the aftermath on the way to and from the game, but that's about it.

I listen when I'm driving, but that's also an issue as the coverage in the state is limited to just the Raleigh market as far as I can tell. It's one thing that's actually driven me a bit nuts to be honest, that I can't listen to a game once I get much outside of Chapel Hill.

A simulcast is about the only way I can say I'd be OK with this decision, and that's mostly because of how good John is. Kaiton is a legend in his own right though IMHO.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I listen when I'm driving, but that's also an issue as the coverage in the state is limited to just the Raleigh market as far as I can tell. It's one thing that's actually driven me a bit nuts to be honest, that I can't listen to a game once I get much outside of Chapel Hill.

A simulcast is about the only way I can say I'd be OK with this decision, and that's mostly because of how good John is. Kaiton is a legend in his own right though IMHO.

If they just lose radio altogether it doesn’t effect me. If they replace Chuck Kaiton with someone else it’ll be time to get the pitchforks. Simulcast is fine I guess, but paying anyone else to do radio PBP for this franchise while Chuck is still willing and able will infuriate me.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

If they just lose radio altogether it doesn’t effect me. If they replace Chuck Kaiton with someone else it’ll be time to get the pitchforks. Simulcast is fine I guess, but paying anyone else to do radio PBP for this franchise while Chuck is still willing and able will infuriate me.

Yep, same thing here. Simulcast costs nothing - Kaiton is the best of a dying breed so the market may have just passed him by.

But if they bring in some young idiot willing to work for less there's no point. Because 1) you're pointlessly throwing it in the face of a franchise legend and 2) it'd take a pretty special kid to be more enjoyable a listen than John and Tripp.

 

[Unsustainable]

Zombie by the Cranberries..... someone did a cover I can't recall that would be better.

Bad Wolves

 

[tarheelhockey]

I still do catch the odd game on the radio if I'm driving, though I can't imagine many people listen to complete games anymore. The moment cheap unlimited wireless came out, that was a death knell for any radio event that can also be shown in video format.

Though I do wonder, why not just move him to the TV booth? Especially if Forslund is in line for the NBC job.

 

[Negan4Coach]

Kaiton and TV don't seem to be a match for me. Kaiton's an auctioneer; he's successful on radio because he never stops speaking and is therefore able to describe everything that happens in the game since the listener can't see it.

TV play-by-play is an accompaniment to the video, not a replacement. John probably says 1/3rd of the words Kaiton does during play - the video is there and John is there to inform and enhance.

Kaiton, to me, is redundant to TV. He has an impressive skill that's gotten him to the Hall of Fame, but to me it's different enough from the skill of a TV play-by-play guy that it wouldn't be a good fit.

Agree. Chuck would break me if he was the TV announcer. He's great for radio though.

So, maybe no more radio. How about let him do a live podcast. All these goddamned Millenials do is listen to podcasts for some reason.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I still do catch the odd game on the radio if I'm driving, though I can't imagine many people listen to complete games anymore. The moment cheap unlimited wireless came out, that was a death knell for any radio event that can also be shown in video format.

Though I do wonder, why not just move him to the TV booth? Especially if Forslund is in line for the NBC job.

TV and radio are vastly different, especially in hockey. I think if Chuck had any interest or the ability to do TV he would’ve done it 25 years ago.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

I’m not sure Forslund is as much of a flight risk, for the lack of a better term, as this board thinks. He doesn’t call either CF; he’s clearly 3rd on the depth chart behind Emrick and Albert at this point. Full-time with NBC is no guarantee long-term; Dave Strader was back doing local within 4 years. Forslund is also young enough to pull double-duty. Emrick only went strictly national 6 years ago.

Kaiton on TV as the pre-game/intermission/post-game host, with “Big Rig” as the interviewer and featurette host could work, if they want to keep him around.

 

[Chrispy]

I'm one of the few who really enjoys listening to sporting events on the radio; it's the primary reason I pay for XM. Love getting all the college games as a radio feed and being able to pick out an interesting game on a long drive or a weekend errand.

Chuck is absolutely specialized in radio. He has a learning curve due to the speed of the speech, but the amount of information he conveys is more than anyone I've encountered in any sport. Even many baseball announcers struggle to provide as much information as Chuck and they have a lot more time to do it.

So while it's not a financial gain to have the radio broadcast, I'd miss Chuck a lot. I think Forslund is great, but I don't want him to try to adjust his PBP for radio, and a true TV PBP won't be as useful to a radio audience.

Also, I don't know how one understands what Tripp is even trying to do without the accompanying video.

 

[My Special Purpose]

Forslund on PBP, Kaiton on color, Tripp out. Preferred.

 

[Buenos Necas]

Chip says Skinner has switched agents, dropping Rick Curran (represents Staal and Ward) who worked with Krepelka at the Orr group.

Hurricanes have a decision to make on Jeff Skinner. Will he stay or will he go?

Also didn't see this posted, but apparently Freidman said we're willing to retain salary in a Skinner trade. Makes me feel a bit better about Dundon's potential stinginess on player moves.

Friedman | Hurricanes may be willing to retain salary in trades

 

[Cane mutiny]

If they're willing to retain on Skinner, they must really be all in on trading him. He must want to go, or something of an ill nature going on there.

 

[Breakdowns]

If Skinner is dealt, please be it to West team, I don't want to get scored on constantly

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

If they're willing to retain on Skinner, they must really be all in on trading him. He must want to go, or something of an ill nature going on there.

Could be. But if you really want to change up the culture by moving guys that have been here a while, Skinner has been here the longest followed by Faulk. The fact that he's a UFA in a year probably plays in as well.

 

[GoldiFox]

Chip says Skinner has switched agents, dropping Rick Curran (represents Staal and Ward) who worked with Krepelka at the Orr group.

Hurricanes have a decision to make on Jeff Skinner. Will he stay or will he go?

Also didn't see this posted, but apparently Freidman said we're willing to retain salary in a Skinner trade. Makes me feel a bit better about Dundon's potential stinginess on player moves.

Friedman | Hurricanes may be willing to retain salary in trades

I think Skinner could actually bring back a haul at 50% retained. If a team with limited Cap space in their Cup window was desperate enough for scoring the price could increase significantly.

“The one that’s interesting for me is Hanifin. I reported during the year that they were listening on him and obviously nothing happened. He’s an interesting one for me because I do think there would be a lot of interest. I think the price would be very high." -Friedman

I'd be interested to see what a "very high" price for Hanifin looks like. Between Hanifin, Fleury, Bean, and Slavin the left side is clogged and too young. Might be better to trade Hanifin, keep Faulk and bring in a steady veteran top-4 LHD.