man
Figurski, seen interviewing Griffins aptain Jeff Hoggan shortly after winning the Calder Cup, cohosted the team’s Calder Cup rally with Kaser and also emceed the team’s banner-raising ceremony prior to the home-opener last October.
join Kaser in the broadcast booth. “Being a color analyst, there’s a lot of give and take,” Figurski said. “Even for someone as good as Kaser is, there is only so much that he can say. The game’s so fast. I’m just trying to fill in the blanks. Kaser says what happened and I say why it happened. In the process, I try to convey the excitement of the game.” There is little doubt that Figurski loves hockey. “You can hear it in his voice,” Kaser said. “The fact that he still plays and remains a student of the game makes him very good at what he does.” Their chemistry on the air comes very naturally. That’s important, because the non-stop action of the sport makes it a challenge for a color analyst to add commentary without bumping into the words of the play-by-play announcer. “Working with Kaser, I don’t have to think,” Figurski said. “I can just feel it.” Kaser said it took a little time for the pair to feel completely comfortable with each other, but now it’s hard to imagine one without the other. “Once we get going, I often know when and even what he’s going to say, and vice versa,” Kaser said. “We rarely step on each other. It might have taken a couple of years to develop the chemistry, but now it’s almost magical and it’s been that way a long time.” Their chemistry was tested during last year’s Calder Cup Playoffs hen Figurski was stationed at ice level between the benches while Kaser kept broadcasting from the press area high atop Van
Andel Arena. The move to ice level afforded Figurski the time to conduct interviews with players during the fi st intermission. “Kaser and I couldn’t see each other, but yet we were able to get in and and out without any problem,” Figurski said. Last year’s playoff un was a memorable experience, not only for the players but also for the guys in the broadcast booth. “When you follow a team so long, you get emotionally attached to the team,” Figurski said. “To watch the players succeed and know how hard they worked and what they went through all year long, it was a big thrill,” Figurski said. “In my own little way, I got to be a part of a championship. It was by far the best professional experience I’ve ever had.” Figurski was the lone Grand Rapids media member to cover the Western Conference Finals games in Oklahoma City, providing WOODTV8 reports on both the Griffins and the tornado devastation of nearby Moore, Oklahoma, that preceded the team’s visit.
Figurski was thrilled to be present for the Griffi ’ Calder Cup-clinching victory in Syracuse. “The job is always fun, but it’s a lot more fun when you’re covering a winning team,” Figurski said.
He found himself in a precarious predicament during the Calder Cup Finals, when the Griffins had the opportunity to clinch the championship on home ice the same night that his parents had scheduled a dinner to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in Detroit. “I was in a tough situation, but my parents gave their blessing,” said Figurski, who drove to Detroit to take them out to breakfast, then spent time with them before returning to Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids GRIFFINS • 2013 Calder Cup Champions
43