After going to an away game and seeing how much he adds to the in-game experience I believe it’s due time for an appreciation post. (In-game announcer at PNC)
At the street party downtown before the stadium series, he walked around the line waiting for autographs announcing people’s favorite player’s name
v4vendetta77
100% the best in game announcer I’ve heard. I’ve been to several other arenas and they all honestly sounds like the same guy that sounds like a recording they all use.
shawarmawithafry
I know Wade and he is a really cool dude. I still can’t believe he is announcing games. He does a great job and loves the Canes.
Sweetwater156
Even the guys at TNT were talking about Wade. He’s a beaut, the biggest Caniac. I wish he was still on Twitter but completely understand why he left.
Ken_Thomas
True story. In 1997 the ‘Canes held open tryouts for the PA and national anthem singer positions in Greensboro.
I’d worked in radio for a couple of years before moving to NC, and I thought it sounded like a cool side hustle – although I’ll confess I was dreading the idea of driving to Greensboro for every home game for two years. So I went to the tryouts.
Me and probably a dozen other guys sat way up in the stands, swapping jokes and checking out each other’s techniques. It seems like about half had some kind of broadcasting or announcing experience, and the other half were just there because it seemed like a cool thing to do.
The ‘Canes people were pretty nice to us, but absolutely brutal with the anthem singers. They’d hand them the mic and let them get through a bar of the Star-Spangled Banner, then cut them off and tell them to sing Oh, Canada. You could tell most of them had never even heard the Canadian national anthem. They’d stumble through part of the verse and the guy would say “STOP! Thanks for coming.”
Between each anthem singer they’d call one of the PA guys over, hand you a mic and a card and tell you to blast it out there. I remember being surprised that they didn’t give you time to warm up your copy. They intentionally wanted you doing it cold. I figured out why pretty quickly.
The text on the cards was basic stuff. Announcing a goal or a penalty or something, but they’d peppered all of it with hard-to-pronounce foreign names. I’d been a hockey fan for years at that point and didn’t have any problem with the names, but no one else in the group had any idea how to say them.
My favorite part of the whole thing was hearing my voice on that huge PA system blasting around inside the arena. I remember when I was done with a couple of penalties and goal announcements, they handed me a card and I read “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, your CAROLINA HURRICANES!” I stretched out the A in ‘Canes for a long time. I thought it sounded like a ripoff of the “Let’s get ready to rumble!” guy, but they really seemed to like that.
Eventually we all went through our bit and they wrapped it up. I figured that had been a fun thing, but a couple of days later I got a call back from them. They’d narrowed it down to me and one other guy, and asked me if I’d come back and record some more announcements. I honestly thought I had the gig, the way they were all reacting the second time, but it wasn’t to be. I have a very deep voice and the other guy’s voice was a little higher, and they said it matched up better with Greensboro’s PA system. I remember they told me they could teach him to pronounce the names, but they couldn’t teach me to have a higher-pitched voice.
It was a cool experience, but the truth is I was kinda relieved I didn’t get it. It didn’t pay much, and driving back and forth to Greensboro would have been a real strain at the time.
connor8383
Love me some Wade!
JonQDriveway
I remember, at first, I didn’t appreciate how different and atypical he was for NHL arenas. Now, I love him beyond compare. His delivery and timing is excellent, and his presence – both in person and online – is magnetic.
This is no offense to the Big Rig – who I also love – but once we got rid of Forslund, I stopped watching games on TV for a while. The broadcasts I respect the most are the ones that let the crowd shine though – and the ones that have to speak up over Minter when he’s announcing a goal.
7 Comments
At the street party downtown before the stadium series, he walked around the line waiting for autographs announcing people’s favorite player’s name
100% the best in game announcer I’ve heard. I’ve been to several other arenas and they all honestly sounds like the same guy that sounds like a recording they all use.
I know Wade and he is a really cool dude. I still can’t believe he is announcing games. He does a great job and loves the Canes.
Even the guys at TNT were talking about Wade. He’s a beaut, the biggest Caniac. I wish he was still on Twitter but completely understand why he left.
True story. In 1997 the ‘Canes held open tryouts for the PA and national anthem singer positions in Greensboro.
I’d worked in radio for a couple of years before moving to NC, and I thought it sounded like a cool side hustle – although I’ll confess I was dreading the idea of driving to Greensboro for every home game for two years. So I went to the tryouts.
Me and probably a dozen other guys sat way up in the stands, swapping jokes and checking out each other’s techniques. It seems like about half had some kind of broadcasting or announcing experience, and the other half were just there because it seemed like a cool thing to do.
The ‘Canes people were pretty nice to us, but absolutely brutal with the anthem singers. They’d hand them the mic and let them get through a bar of the Star-Spangled Banner, then cut them off and tell them to sing Oh, Canada. You could tell most of them had never even heard the Canadian national anthem. They’d stumble through part of the verse and the guy would say “STOP! Thanks for coming.”
Between each anthem singer they’d call one of the PA guys over, hand you a mic and a card and tell you to blast it out there. I remember being surprised that they didn’t give you time to warm up your copy. They intentionally wanted you doing it cold. I figured out why pretty quickly.
The text on the cards was basic stuff. Announcing a goal or a penalty or something, but they’d peppered all of it with hard-to-pronounce foreign names. I’d been a hockey fan for years at that point and didn’t have any problem with the names, but no one else in the group had any idea how to say them.
My favorite part of the whole thing was hearing my voice on that huge PA system blasting around inside the arena. I remember when I was done with a couple of penalties and goal announcements, they handed me a card and I read “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, your CAROLINA HURRICANES!” I stretched out the A in ‘Canes for a long time. I thought it sounded like a ripoff of the “Let’s get ready to rumble!” guy, but they really seemed to like that.
Eventually we all went through our bit and they wrapped it up. I figured that had been a fun thing, but a couple of days later I got a call back from them. They’d narrowed it down to me and one other guy, and asked me if I’d come back and record some more announcements. I honestly thought I had the gig, the way they were all reacting the second time, but it wasn’t to be. I have a very deep voice and the other guy’s voice was a little higher, and they said it matched up better with Greensboro’s PA system. I remember they told me they could teach him to pronounce the names, but they couldn’t teach me to have a higher-pitched voice.
It was a cool experience, but the truth is I was kinda relieved I didn’t get it. It didn’t pay much, and driving back and forth to Greensboro would have been a real strain at the time.
Love me some Wade!
I remember, at first, I didn’t appreciate how different and atypical he was for NHL arenas. Now, I love him beyond compare. His delivery and timing is excellent, and his presence – both in person and online – is magnetic.
This is no offense to the Big Rig – who I also love – but once we got rid of Forslund, I stopped watching games on TV for a while. The broadcasts I respect the most are the ones that let the crowd shine though – and the ones that have to speak up over Minter when he’s announcing a goal.