Tribute John Forslund Appreciation Thread

[Vagrant]

I wanted there to be a place devoid of speculation and talks of contracts to be able to talk about what Forslund has meant to this team and this fanbase. Please try to keep any editorial comments for the contract discussion thread. It would be cool to have something that perhaps he could read if he comes across it and know how much he has meant to the fans of this team. Please leave your best Forslund memories and well-wishes below.

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[Navin R Slavin]

Hey, hey, what can you say?

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

That’s hockey baby

 

[MinJaBen]

God speed Statler!

 

[Vagrant]

it feels insufficient to try to put this into words, but when you're a person that doesn't have a lot of hockey friends or have been through some really tough times, having constants are a blessing. the consistent through my life in the past twenty years, one of very few, has been tuning in to the broadcast regardless of how i was feeling that day. 82 games per season (0r perhaps 60-65 at some points in time. thanks fox) with maybe 3-4 games in person a year because i am not a huge fan of crowds. i can chart the events of my life by what was happening with the team at the time. tuning in to check out for a little while to hang out with john and tripp and watch hockey together. whether it was a competitive and exciting 4-3 OT win or a 5-0 afternoon game that was just an absolute grind to watch, the investment that these two had in the team made you feel like a part of it. their job was to invite you inside this place, isolated from the things that might trigger negative associations to whatever problems you were having in life at the time, and fully immerse in the beautiful game. always hearing john sign off with "keep america in your thoughts and prayers," and how the tenor of those words changed with the events of the moment. it felt like he was telling us to remember to be kind to each other, regardless of our differences, and realize that we can all meet here away from those heavy things and that he was wishing you well in a genuine way that never felt forced or cheesy. saying until we meet here next time, take care of yourself and others. it didn't feel inauthentic. because he knew that the people watching were his friends, his neighbors, the people he would run into at the grocery store. that made him one of us in the truest sense. how sanitary the broadcast was of the pettiness of things like partisan differences was a credit to them both. they would graciously host governor cooper without revealing any degree of bias. how amazing is that in this day and time that you can see a political figure on television without the broadcasters editorializing and critiquing his comments or policies even in coded language? it was just a really special sort of place they created. i don't think they ever made any single viewer feel unwelcome.

the levity that was the dynamic between john and tripp was always entertaining. hearing them take playful jabs at each other. tripp in his very overt and on the nose obliviousness matched so well with john's cantankerous dry wit. john made it feel like he was suffering a fool and tripp leaned into it and played the jester. but there was always a sense of professionalism where john would drag the broadcast back on track and get back to the game so it didn't devolve further. it was a part of the show, but it was also the result of the strength of their relationship off the ice. imagining them together at an elton john concert or hearing tripp explain in vivid detail what he ate the night prior while john riffed off the triviality of it. you were in on most of the inside jokes if you watched enough. that's the part that i will miss the most. i don't think you can get the best of tripp without john and as much as some would be loathe to admit it, it worked the same in reverse.

i think about the times that both john and tripp lost parents and the way they approached those matters on the broadcast. that the show must go on and like you, sometimes their hearts weren't 100% in the game but it was therapeutic for them to get back to work. to get back to hanging out with us and watching the game. to sort it out the same way many of us have to, entirely on the fly as life continues to press on even when we'd like to step off the ride for a bit.

if either of you (john or tripp) read this as we have long suspected you have, thank you. thank you for being there for me and many others as we have fought our own battles and spent our evening decompressing with you guys. the continuity and consistent quality of the broadcasts was never lost on us. the amount of work you both put in to preparation always showed up and you both did the same. thank you for teaching me a lot about the game and about friendship. it was a privilege to be invited.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Well said.

 

[Lucky Lindy]

Thank you John. I haven't been a fan for so long (since 2011/12), but you have always been there every late night/early morning, and it made it easier when the team sucked and more often lost than won.

Cam Ward said no!

 

[hblueridgegal]

Besides being a classy, top notch professional, really gonna miss that quick wit and delivery. So smooth.

Loved listening to him do interviews on Sirius and other shows. So insightful, eloquent and obviously well liked and respected by the hosts. Such a great ambassador for the team.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Johnny rocks! Gonna miss him in the booth but glad that others will get to hear him on a more national scale with NBC. One of the all time greats!

 

[the halleJOKEL]

john forslund is my second dad and tripp is a bizarre childless uncle

 

[Unsustainable]

I’m still in the denial stage.

This hurts.

 

[SvechneJerk]

it feels insufficient to try to put this into words, but when you're a person that doesn't have a lot of hockey friends or have been through some really tough times, having constants are a blessing. the consistent through my life in the past twenty years, one of very few, has been tuning in to the broadcast regardless of how i was feeling that day. 82 games per season (0r perhaps 60-65 at some points in time. thanks fox) with maybe 3-4 games in person a year because i am not a huge fan of crowds. i can chart the events of my life by what was happening with the team at the time. tuning in to check out for a little while to hang out with john and tripp and watch hockey together. whether it was a competitive and exciting 4-3 OT win or a 5-0 afternoon game that was just an absolute grind to watch, the investment that these two had in the team made you feel like a part of it. their job was to invite you inside this place, isolated from the things that might trigger negative associations to whatever problems you were having in life at the time, and fully immerse in the beautiful game. always hearing john sign off with "keep america in your thoughts and prayers," and how the tenor of those words changed with the events of the moment. it felt like he was telling us to remember to be kind to each other, regardless of our differences, and realize that we can all meet here away from those heavy things and that he was wishing you well in a genuine way that never felt forced or cheesy. saying until we meet here next time, take care of yourself and others. it didn't feel inauthentic. because he knew that the people watching were his friends, his neighbors, the people he would run into at the grocery store. that made him one of us in the truest sense. how sanitary the broadcast was of the pettiness of things like partisan differences was a credit to them both. they would graciously host governor cooper without revealing any degree of bias. how amazing is that in this day and time that you can see a political figure on television without the broadcasters editorializing and critiquing his comments or policies even in coded language? it was just a really special sort of place they created. i don't think they ever made any single viewer feel unwelcome.

the levity that was the dynamic between john and tripp was always entertaining. hearing them take playful jabs at each other. tripp in his very overt and on the nose obliviousness matched so well with john's cantankerous dry wit. john made it feel like he was suffering a fool and tripp leaned into it and played the jester. but there was always a sense of professionalism where john would drag the broadcast back on track and get back to the game so it didn't devolve further. it was a part of the show, but it was also the result of the strength of their relationship off the ice. imagining them together at an elton john concert or hearing tripp explain in vivid detail what he ate the night prior while john riffed off the triviality of it. you were in on most of the inside jokes if you watched enough. that's the part that i will miss the most. i don't think you can get the best of tripp without john and as much as some would be loathe to admit it, it worked the same in reverse.

i think about the times that both john and tripp lost parents and the way they approached those matters on the broadcast. that the show must go on and like you, sometimes their hearts weren't 100% in the game but it was therapeutic for them to get back to work. to get back to hanging out with us and watching the game. to sort it out the same way many of us have to, entirely on the fly as life continues to press on even when we'd like to step off the ride for a bit.

if either of you (john or tripp) read this as we have long suspected you have, thank you. thank you for being there for me and many others as we have fought our own battles and spent our evening decompressing with you guys. the continuity and consistent quality of the broadcasts was never lost on us. the amount of work you both put in to preparation always showed up and you both did the same. thank you for teaching me a lot about the game and about friendship. it was a privilege to be invited.

This is beautiful, @Vagrant. Thank you for sharing these sentiments - I can't agree more.

Thank you John, for all the interactions that my family & I have had (*Edit) with you over the years. For me, you & the Canes will be forever linked. My family will miss you terribly.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Decades from now, our great-grandchildren will still hear John's voice calling legendary moments from what they will regard as the early years of the franchise. What a legacy to leave behind.

 

[emptyNedder]

John. If you read this, I want to thank you for caring. Sure you were really good at what you did. That makes a difference, but one of the reasons you were so good is that you wanted each of us to enjoy the game as much as possible. Sometimes that meant pointing out the artistry of a play; sometimes the tactics that were working or failing; sometimes it meant being goofy with Tripp or serious about how you both felt about his mother.

You were good and your cared. You cared about being good. Your caring made you better. It is a rare human who succeeds with sincerity and honor.

I (WE) will miss you dearly.

 

[Joe McGrath]

The first time I heard John Forsuld’s voice I was I’m going to guess I was 6 years old. I got a VHS tape for Christmas called “Gunning for the Bigs” and it was essentially an AHL highlight video. It starts with John Forslund announcing the end of the 1989 Calder Cup final for the Springfield Indians. I watched that video regularly. I remember little else about that video except Wendall Clark’s brother (who was awful even in the AHL) scoring a rare goal and moonwalking all the way to his own blue line.

I don’t know if I heard him anywhere else until he joined the Whalers in 95 but I knew he sounded familiar. My dad told me he was the same guy as my video and I thought that was pretty cool. This is the man that has been narrating the most important hockey to me for almost 30 years.

The only time I ever met him was the year I played in the alumni game. He prepped for it like the goddamn pro he is and interviewed everyone of us. Made sure to triple check the pronunciation of my name, asked about my family and was just generally engaging in those 5 or so minutes. He wove in tidbits about everyone during his play by play.

I don’t know if this is a tribute or just my random ramblings but this Hurts and it blows.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Greatest caster in the league imho. That's all. Forslund & Tripp make watching Canes games feel really comfy.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I would but last time I wrote about John for an email to the Canes it was a bit dusty by my computer for the rest of the day so I'm just gonna say we gathered around the TV as a family to watch John tell us about the Canes.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Best voice and hair in the business.

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

The first time I heard John Forsuld’s voice I was I’m going to guess I was 6 years old. I got a VHS tape for Christmas called “Gunning for the Bigs” and it was essentially an AHL highlight video. It starts with John Forslund announcing the end of the 1989 Calder Cup final for the Springfield Indians. I watched that video regularly. I remember little else about that video except Wendall Clark’s brother (who was awful even in the AHL) scoring a rare goal and moonwalking all the way to his own blue line.

I don’t know if I heard him anywhere else until he joined the Whalers in 95 but I knew he sounded familiar. My dad told me he was the same guy as my video and I thought that was pretty cool. This is the man that has been narrating the most important hockey to me for almost 30 years.

The only time I ever met him was the year I played in the alumni game. He prepped for it like the goddamn pro he is and interviewed everyone of us. Made sure to triple check the pronunciation of my name, asked about my family and was just generally engaging in those 5 or so minutes. He wove in tidbits about everyone during his play by play.

I don’t know if this is a tribute or just my random ramblings but this Hurts and it blows.

For serious:

The reason I started playing hockey was because one day I aspired to play in the Alumni Game and have Forslund talk shit about how awful I was. (It helped my aspiration that so many of the guys on the ice were so obviously terrible.)

If John isn't calling that game, there's no longer a reason to have it, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[A Star is Burns]

I don't know that I have much in the way of specific memories. Of course there are plenty of amazing calls, funny goof ball moments, and just his general greatness at the job.

I don't remember much about the broadcasts back then, but the first season we were able to afford, and had access to, digital cable in my neck of the woods and get Center Ice for my birthday was 2002-2003. I was so damn excited to finally have it, especially after going to the final the previous year, and not having to wait for our one or two games on ESPN a year. Of course, we finished the worst team in the league. I'm sure that John made that season as enjoyable as possible, just like he did many crummy seasons to come.

If this truly turns out to the be the end of this part of his and our journey, I'm very grateful to have had him in our hockey lives.

 

[bleedgreen]

I’ve had John call games since I was living in my parents house right after college. When Chuck moved on it made me feel better about it that John was still there. Listening to him and Darryl Reaugh for a year was probably the most fun I had watching any broadcast. He was there for the last Whalers game, a pretty dark sports moment for anyone involved and he really nailed it. Watching him grow into one of the most respected play by play guys has been a blast.

Him leaving like this makes me realize I’ve taken him for granted, as I felt he’d spend his career here. Thanks for being a big part of pretty much half of my life. You’re a person who gave this team some credibility when the team itself could not. We’ll at least get to listen to you on national games.

We’re finally a team that looks like it’ll be consistently competitive for a few years and we lose you now? It’s cruel. You’ve been there with us for all the bad times. Both teams. Good luck, thanks for the memories and may you get paid the way you deserve.

 

[HisIceness]

Fun fact, John and Tripp are 7-0 calling Canes playoff series on Fox Sports Carolinas since 2002. Every playoff series the Canes have lost since that time was all nationally televised. Actually since John called the Islanders series last year, you could say he's 8-0.

Like all of us, the man was with us through good times and bad times and there's been plenty of both. His game 7 winning calls in New Jersey, Boston, and Washington will live on forever. He got to be in the radio booth with Chuck in 2006. He's seen a lot of great moments for a franchise that wasn't even expected to do good things, let along great, after the relocation. Speaking of the relocation, if you've never seen it go watch the Whalers last game on YouTube.

But as I said in another thread, there's one moment that I truly believe is his "signature" call. It's probably one of the best regional sports cast calls ever if one were to rank them. Here it is below



I mean everything about this is amazing.

-10 years to the day since the last playoff clinch
-'Bunch of Jerks'
-Resurgence in fan attendance/interest
-Calling the Habs/Caps game which was of great importance to the Canes this night
-Young players to look forward too going forward
-RBA as coach
-The incredible turnaround starting on New Years Eve
-The run that would turn into another ECF appearance as a low seed

This is the kind of moment that happens maybe once in a lifetime, and we all experienced it. And frankly, I don't think anyone other than John could call such a moment regardless of circumstance/sport/etc.

It sucks to lose him, but he's been doing national work for so long now that I'm just glad he stayed as long as he did and got to call last years playoffs. We may or may not see him in a Fox Sports Carolinas booth again, but he's a Caniac for life.