Those of us of a certain age will remember Lloyd Pettit's call of "a shot, and a goal!" whenever the Blackhawks of the 1960s scored. He was the best hockey announcer of his time, and retired from the business far too young.
↵↵Blackhawks fans have been blessed with the great voice of play-by-play man Pat Foley for 28 seasons -- interrupted only by his short-sighted dismissal by the Wirtzes after the 2006 season, and Pat, who grew up in Glenview, has been joined by the insightful former Blackhawk and Palos Heights native Eddie Olczyk for the last two years, and Eddie's been a voice of the Hawks for five years now.
↵↵Thus it's great news to announce that Pat and Eddie have both been given three-year extensions to continue their commentary on Hawks games on TV via CSN Chicago and WGN. The pair won the 2009 Midwest Emmy Award for “Outstanding Achievement In Play-By-Playâ€; they'll now be the voices of the Hawks on TV through the 2013-14 season.
↵↵It's great that two Chicago guys who grew up rooting for -- and in Olczyk's case, playing for -- the Blackhawks, made it to the top of their profession calling games for their favorite team. I don't have anything against John Wiedeman, who does a fine job on WGN radio -- but I kind of miss the simulcast that Foley used to do on radio.
↵↵In any case, great news for Hawks fans.