How an NHL broadcaster prepares for a game, from name pronunciations to locker-room stories

ST.

LOUIS Its Dec.

12, game day for the St.

Louis Blues at Enterprise Center, and longtime TV broadcaster John Kelly pulls his truck onto 15th Street at 10:30 a.m.

for the morning skate.

Normally, the Blues would be heading onto the ice now, but theyve just returned home from a four-game, nine-day road trip.

So today, theyve swapped practice times with the San Jose Sharks ahead of their 7 p.m.

game.

The visitors will take the ice at 10:30 a.m., followed by the home team at 11:30.

Advertisement With the time change, the Blues felt it was better to adapt back to Central time by having the later skate, Kelly says.

So well talk to some of the folks from the Sharks, their announcers, a few of the players, and then well work our way into the Blues locker room.

Kelly enters the rink through the media entrance and zigzags his way to the lower bowl.

The TV cameras are off and the seats that will be filled in about 8 1/2 hours are empty, but the 64-year-old Kelly is on.

Hes got his black notepad in hand and is eager to get his hands on any information that can bring Blues fans closer to their favorite team.

This is Kellys 36th season broadcasting games in the NHL , including 23 in St.

Louis.

He was with the Blues for three years in the 1990s, and after leaving to call Colorado Avalanche games from 1995 to 2004, he returned in 2005 and has been home since.

No.

1, I love the game of hockey, Kelly says.

I played until I was 19 years old, and I got to sit next to one of if not the greatest hockey announcers ever, and he was my dad (Hockey Hall of Famer Dan Kelly).

Not many people get a chance to live out their lifetime ambition, but ever since I was in junior high, I wanted to be a hockey broadcaster, and Ive accomplished that.

Im very blessed.

I dont consider it a right because its my name.

I consider it a privilege.

Former Blues TV analyst Joe Micheletti, 70, who got his start in the business alongside Dan Kelly and later worked with John, sees a lot of similarities.

What I learned from Dan, you cant learn in the classroom, Micheletti says.

The thing that always came through was, Be a professional.

Be fair.

I dont know if he ever had to talk to John about that, but thats the way John has always been same way, same attitude.

Hes great at what he does.

Advertisement The way his dad taught me, its the same thing with John.

To see for ourselves how Kelly prepares for a broadcast, The Athletic shadowed him ahead of the Blues game against the Sharks.

Heres a look at how his work throughout the day makes it onto the air later in the evening.

The Sharks are on the ice and Kelly spots their TV crew in the lower bowl.

It includes play-by-play man Randy Hahn, color analyst Drew Remenda and former Blue Jamal Mayers, whos doing select games for the team.

So whos in goal tonight? Kelly asks.

Three days earlier, San Jose acquired goalie Alexandar Georgiev in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche.

You might see Georgiev make his debut, Hahn says.

You may also see (Shakir) Mukhamadullins first game of the season.

Mukhamadullin? Kelly asks, trying to clarify the pronunciation.

You say it, Mook? Yeah, Mook ...

Mukhamadullin, Hahn says.

Hes a first-round draft pick from the New Jersey Devils who we got in the Timo Meier trade.

OK, Mukhamadullin, thats a tough one! Kelly says.

We call him Shaq for short, Remenda jokes.

Kelly laughs, but he wants to make he has Mukhamadullins name down.

I know most of them, but there are always players who are new to the team, Kelly tells The Athletic .

I always go to the broadcaster because they know best how their players name is pronounced.

If its a tricky name, I always write it out phonetically in case I forget.

Next, Kelly asks Hahn and Remenda about something he heard on a recent San Jose broadcast.

He likes to watch the Blues upcoming opponents, so when the team was in Western Canada, he watched the Sharks play the Carolina Hurricanes .

So I heard you say on the air the other night, I was watching the game and you said, Macklin Celebrini was a defenseman when he was younger,' Kelly says.

Advertisement Yeah, he loved playing D! Remenda says.

Kelly scribbles the note into his small black notebook.

I wanted to confirm that because its pretty interesting that a No.

1 overall pick, whos a dynamic offensive player, was a defenseman, he tells The Athletic .

If I watch a game, I watch the broadcast of the team that were playing because theyre going to talk more about their own team.

So our next game after tonight is Dallas on Saturday, and Ill record their game (against the Nashville Predators ) and watch that.

You learn a lot by just watching and listening.

Hahn, whos been in the business for 33 years himself, says that he and Kelly talk ahead of every Blues-Sharks game, whether its at the rink or on the phone.

John is definitely in that category of someone who goes to the next level, and it shows in the broadcast, Hahn says.

Hes meticulous, particularly about pronunciations, which I think is a separator among broadcasters.

Its important to the player and their family watching at home.

Theyre going to say, They dont even know how to say your name.' Longtime Blues TV producer Tim Pabst says there was a game recently in which Kelly was pronouncing a name differently than the NHLs audio recording on the leagues website.

John goes, Youre not wrong, but I went to the other teams broadcaster who asked the player specifically,' Pabst says.

I would never question Johns work ethic.

When he says something on the air, hes generally spent a lot of time researching it.

At this point, San Jose has wrapped up its practice and a public-relations person announces Sharks coach Ryan Warsofskys morning interview will take place shortly and that players are available, too.

I asked the coach about his brother David, who was drafted by the Blues, about what hes doing now, Kelly tells The Athletic .

He told me that he just retired from playing in Germany.

Then I got the coachs comments on playing the Blues, how theyre a great rush team.

He thinks since the coaching change that theyre more connected and they have a great transition game.

Advertisement Kelly also caught up with Sharks forward Luke Kunin , who is from St.

Louis.

He told me that his parents, Mark and Sheri, are coming tonight, he says.

As much as Kelly enjoys chatting with Kunin and getting that information, the 27-year-old who grew up watching Blues games is perhaps more thrilled to talk to him.

Absolutely, Kunin says.

You think NHL and having those hockey voices in your head and, for sure, being from here, thats a big voice growing up.

Were just talking family, day to day, how everything is going, just catching up.

Thats special! Now its time to watch the Blues practice, during which Kelly jots down the line combinations and starting goalie.

He chats with radio analyst Joey Vitale for a bit, and when the teams morning skate comes to an end about 30 minutes later, the media starts making its way to the locker room.

I want to talk to Brayden Schenn about changing the practice time and whose idea it was, Kelly says.

Its sort of a big storyline tonight because the Blues are coming off a long trip.

How do you adjust to the time change? How fatigued is the team going to be? I also want to talk to Zack Bolduc about playing baseball growing up.

Kelly walks into the locker room with Hall of Famer Bernie Federko and seeks out Schenn, who tells him that the decision to move the morning skate back to 11:30 a.m.

was a combination of the coaches talking with strength and conditioning coach Ryan Podell.

John is always prepared, hes always detailed, hes always asking questions, Schenn says.

Hes always looking for little advantages to be the best he can be.

I always enjoy my conversations with JK.

Kelly then makes his way over to Bolduc.

The 21-year-old is from Quebec, and while talking baseball, the two wonder aloud what year the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C.

(it was the 2005 season).

Hes awesome to be around and a fun person to talk with, Bolduc says.

Hes talking about everything: life, hockey.

Hes got a lot of experience, so its always nice to talk to him.

Its good for me as a young guy to listen to him.

As Kelly exits, he reflects on his chats with Schenn and Bolduc, saying, I like talking to the players.

Not always about the Xs and Os.

But I really like getting the background stories like that.

Jamie Rivers has been on both the player side as a former Blue and on the broadcast side as Kellys color analyst.

Advertisement The players develop a relationship with the broadcasters, and in this particular case with John, his body of work and just the way he carries himself is what opens up them, Rivers says.

You respect the opinion of someone whos been around the game for so long.

He works really hard, and theyre going to give him a nugget for the game that night.

The medias morning press conference with Blues coach Jim Montgomery is about to begin and Kelly pulls up a seat.

It lasts about five minutes, but in that short time, its learned that injured Blues forward Radek Faksa is making progress and that Mathieu Joseph will be in the lineup.

The coach also points out that after the long road trip, itll be a tough game against the Sharks.

Jim is really good, Kelly says.

Hes very concise in talking about what the Blues have done well, and what they need to do in that particular game.

As Montgomery makes his way out of the room, Kelly gets his attention.

I grabbed him because tonight is Hockey Fights Cancer night and I wanted to ask him how has cancer impacted his life, Kelly says.

He said his brother-in-law passed away about 12 years ago and it was very tough for the whole family.

And then he mentioned Kelly Chase and how Kelly is dealing with cancer, so Ill use that in the broadcast tonight.

Its now 1 p.m.

and Kelly is headed home for a few hours.

Hell eat some turkey chili made by his wife, Jennifer, while he prepares for the night.

Hell go through his two black books a little one for personal notes about players and a larger one for team notes.

I spend about 1 1/2 hours going through the notes and other stat resources we have, Kelly says.

I get the information from those sources and put them in my (larger) book.

Then Kelly lays down, not for nap like the players, but some quiet time.

Advertisement Its maybe a half-hour just to rest your mind, he says.

You have to be at your very best at 7 oclock and stay sharp until 10 p.m.

Its a unique situation because most people are winding down at 7 oclock, but for the players, the coaches and even the broadcasters, thats the peak of our workday, so youve got to be rested.

I laid down until 3:45, then shaved and showered and came back.

Kellys wife picks out his clothing combination, and as a breast cancer survivor herself, she chooses purple.

Its going to be a very impactful night with our familys battles my dad, my wife and others who have fought the disease, Kelly says.

Dan Kelly died of lung cancer in 1989.

Its 5 p.m., and Kelly is back at the rink to pre-tape an interview with a local high school hockey player, Cameron Samples, and rehearse the opening of the broadcast with Rivers.

That takes about 45 minutes, after which he heads to the press box for a quick dinner: two mini-tacos and a salad.

I eat light, Kelly says.

I learned years ago that if I eat a heavy meal, it fatigues me a little bit.

Then its back to the booth for the pregame warmups and any last-minute lineup changes.

There are no changes, so Kelly and the FanDuel Sports Network crew are ready to go to work.

We go into every game with a game plan, but sometimes you have to throw the game plan out the window, he says.

For example, maybe we want to talk about Zack Bolduc, but what if Jordan Kyrou gets a hat trick and the game is really fast and exciting? Sometimes you dont get to your stories and you cant just try to jam them in for the sake of getting them in.

But everything being equal, we have two or three storylines that well try to get in tonight.

Lets take a listen and hear how it turned out ...

The pucks drops at 7:12 p.m., and shortly after, Kelly correctly pronounces Mukhamadullins name for the first time.

Later, Kelly tells the story that he heard from the Sharks broadcasters about Celebrini playing defense growing up.

And before the end of the first period, Kelly mentions that Kunins parents, Mark and Sheri, are in attendance to watch their son play the Blues.

In the second period, Kelly explains that the Blues morning skate was later than normal because of the long road trip.

At 9:30 p.m., some two hours and 18 minutes after signing on the air, Kelly puts the final touch on a 4-3 loss to the Sharks.

It was a close game, Kelly says.

Our job is to inform and entertain, and in a game like we just saw, I think our crew did a good job and we accomplished what we wanted to do in that broadcast.

(Top photo of John Kelly: Jeremy Rutherford / The Athletic).

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