Confirmed with Link: John Forslund to Seattle

[geehaad]

But he doesn't need to belt it out. In fact, he needs to learn to *not* belt it out. Most of the best guys don't. Think of Jim Hughson for the Canucks.

You mean this guy? (no, I don't believe he deserved the criticism in that article)

You and I must have vastly different qualifications for the descriptor "belt it out". Even in that link to Jim Hughson's blown call, he belts it out. They all do it. And the goal call is MM's alone...that's not Tripp's place.

You really have me scratching my head on this one.

 

[A Star is Burns]

I've said it before, but I've gone back and listened to old calls from John on Youtube before, and not surprisingly, he wasn't the polished product he became. I don't know how Mike will end up, but some of what I've heard of early Forslund was amateur hour compared to how amazing he is now.

As for the information John could bring, he's been in the game forever, with the team forever, and I can't imagine you can get the same insight during a pandemic where you can't easily talk to guys. I'm not married to Mike as the announcer forever or anything, but it's a challenging time to start your career in a pandemic, following a legend. He's also starting at the highest level without having any significant experience in the job. Most guys get to hone their skills at a lower level before making it to the big show.

 

[StormCast]

Big Rig is in a tough spot learning how to be the man as he goes at the highest level, I think he’s doing his very best and is a likeable guy.

He’s pretty brutal. He gets names wrong all game, has no flow, and you can hear him thinking his way through most situations. It’s unfair expectations. It can take years to learn how to do this I’m sure, if ever.

Agreed and not only does he get names wrong, he sometimes gets the wrong Canes player with similar numbers but with opposite handedness. Last night he mixed up Dzingel & Hamilton and Pesce & McGinn. Yes, he's new and trying to fill big shoes but c'mon that's inexcusable. Different skating styles, different positions, different shot-sides. Maybe it's nerves but he's way too mechanical and doesn't recognize what's happening on the ice fast enough. How many times does he call a stoppage without saying what it was for? Too often. Hope he improves but "brutal" does come to mind.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

In one of the bigger games in a canes history (shock at the rock) John mistakenly called Gleason, “Seidenberg” seconds after he just called him Gleason. Tripp doubled down on it also. I’ve seen John and other announcers make mistakes on this as well. Clearly not nearly as often as Mike, and he has to get better on this as it is noticeable, but in the flow of a game, it’s not always easy, particularly when it gets exciting.

 

[vorbis]

I've been critical of MM here but I know that there's no reason he can't improve substantially with time. it's just a bit jarring going from the easy professionalism of Forslund to the Bambi-walking-on-ice-for-the-first-time rough edges of Maniscalco.

my main thing, I think, is that he still watches the game like a fan, in a way. and as a result, he reacts emotionally to a play before he processes the event to the extent that he can describe it properly. being the seasoned professional talker that he is, he doesn't stop using words in the meantime. so you get a lot of "passes the puck to Niederreiter on the back haND HEE SCOAAOOAOREyabba dabba doo and the *extreme Forslund cadence*CANES are ON THE BOARD EARLY"

lol what I typed makes no sense but whatever send tweet

 

[bleedgreen]

In one of the bigger games in a canes history (shock at the rock) John mistakenly called Gleason, “Seidenberg” seconds after he just called him Gleason. Tripp doubled down on it also. I’ve seen John and other announcers make mistakes on this as well. Clearly not nearly as often as Mike, and he has to get better on this as it is noticeable, but in the flow of a game, it’s not always easy, particularly when it gets exciting.

I get your defense but like you’re saying it’s not comparable in the amount of times it happens. I actually thought Forslund messed them up more often than he should for being as good as he is, and felt that it was happening more often than it used to. I love John because he’s our guy more than I ever loved how “good” he was at it. He has the right voice for it, his insight to the players was perfect, he gets the game. It was always more than just his ability to call play by play. So to me finding examples of John missing a name doesn’t really cut it, he had become a bit more prone to errors that way and always had been to be honest. I never cared because of the overall presentation and presence.

All of which is an impossible and unfair comparison for Big Rig. At this point the way he gets the players wrong is glaring, and when he says things like “pitchforks” the way John did it gets a cringe. Getting the player right the vast majority of the time and not saying things John said is really all we need from him this year. No one expects the presence or presentation of Forslund here.

He’s a great guy, but the product we have is below average currently....which only matters if you care about that sort of thing. There are definitely some other poor presentations out there across the league.

 

[chaz4hockey]

Happy for JF.

Seattle is a rabid sports area with great support for College, Seahawks and MLS team. I don’t doubt they will be great supporters of the hockey team too.

NW will be a culture shock for JF though. Seattle is unbelievably crowded, is very expensive to live and has protests almost daily.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I get your defense but like you’re saying it’s not comparable in the amount of times it happens. I actually thought Forslund messed them up more often than he should for being as good as he is, and felt that it was happening more often than it used to. I love John because he’s our guy more than I ever loved how “good” he was at it. He has the right voice for it, his insight to the players was perfect, he gets the game. It was always more than just his ability to call play by play. So to me finding examples of John missing a name doesn’t really cut it, he had become a bit more prone to errors that way and always had been to be honest. I never cared because of the overall presentation and presence.

All of which is an impossible and unfair comparison for Big Rig. At this point the way he gets the players wrong is glaring, and when he says things like “pitchforks” the way John did it gets a cringe. Getting the player right the vast majority of the time and not saying things John said is really all we need from him this year. No one expects the presence or presentation of Forslund here.

He’s a great guy, but the product we have is below average currently....which only matters if you care about that sort of thing. There are definitely some other poor presentations out there across the league.

It wasn’t really meant as a defense of his performance as a whole. I’m not suggesting that Mike is even in the same ballpark as John. I don’t really think he’s very good right now and think things like his goal calls are cringeworthy. Some things are inherent in his voice style and aren’t going to change much IMO. Some things come from more experience and will improve.

What I was trying to point out is that keeping up with the action, getting names/numbers is not an easy task, but one that I believe can be vastly improved with more experience. Even the best still get it wrong from time to time. So while he’s bad at it now, I expect it to get better, but it’s still difficult as shown by even the best messing up.

I’m willing to give him time for stuff that gets improved with experience, like names/numbers. Other things, not so much.

I agree it’s a subpar product right now .

 

[bleedgreen]

It wasn’t really meant as a defense of his performance as a whole. I’m not suggesting that Mike is even in the same ballpark as John. I don’t really think he’s very good right now and think things like his goal calls are cringeworthy. Some things are inherent in his voice style and aren’t going to change much IMO. Some things come from more experience and will improve.

What I was trying to point out is that keeping up with the action, getting names/numbers is not an easy task, but one that I believe can be vastly improved with more experience. Even the best still get it wrong from time to time. So while he’s bad at it now, I expect it to get better, but it’s still difficult as shown by even the best messing up.

I’m willing to give him time for stuff that gets improved with experience, like names/numbers. Other things, not so much.

I agree it’s a subpar product right now .

I'm sure he'll get better, I cant see us bringing in someone else unless he quits. Improvement would seemingly be inevitable.

 

[A Star is Burns]

Doc had to said beg pardon about 800 times a game, so yes, that part isn't always easy. Mike has a long way to go. I hope he figures it out. It'll be interesting to see how we all feel even by the end of this season. I also wonder how long he is contracted for if it ever comes to looking a different direction.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Listening to the TB vs Red Wings game, John is better than the current Mike. I will say John doesn’t sound as good without Tripp as his partner. Maybe it will take some time to build the same chemistry.