Faceoff Factor

Will New FSN Boss Lead To Changes?

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Mar 8, 11:52 AM | Hype this story!

It came as a relative shock when FSN Pittsburgh announced that Ted Black would take over the vacated senior vice president and general manager positions within the company.

Sure, Black is a sports guy and has front office experience, but nothing that even remotely relates to a broadcast background.

You see, the 42-year-old Pittsburgh native is a former Penguins executive who was instrumental in helping the team pull through its bankruptcy in the late 1990s and secure plans for a new arena last spring.

Black’s predecessor, Steve Tello, recently took the opportunity to fill a similar role with FSN in Houston, and while his time with FSN Pittsburgh widely was considered a success, he had a knack for angering Penguins fans.

His failure to air Penguins pre-season games, even in recent years when extreme interest was there; his lackluster analyst hirings; and his firing of Mike Lange all showed a disinterest in one of the NHL’s hottest and most popular teams.

Now, with Black at the wheel, it would seem apparent that changes could be forthcoming.

One such change, which is being endorsed by many fans across the FSN Pittsburgh viewing area is the return of Lange to television broadcasts.

In fact, there is a website, Mike Lange Belongs On TV!, dedicated to such a change.

According to the site, FSN officials have said there is no plan for a change in the broadcast booth, but that doesn’t mean one won’t happen.

What could make this a reality is that both Lange, who is the Penguins’ radio play-by-play announcer, and Paul Steigerwald, who does play-by-play for FSN Pittsburgh, are in the final year of their contracts.

But what else could Black do to improve FSN’s coverage of the Penguins? Here’s a look at some ideas I have thought about over the past few years…

• Thirty-minute pregame show dedicated entirely to the Penguins and the NHL. If this means neglecting the Steelers, Pirates, Panthers, etc, so be it. I never see Steeler or Pirate pre-game shows that focus on other professional or amateur sports.

• New analysts. The FSN broadcast crew is not bad for Penguins games, for the most part. But it can be much better. Bob Errey adds plenty of color to the games, but he is at his best when he is between the benches. And Dan Potash, at best, is a flamboyant character who annoys the players. So move Errey into a roving reporter type role, which would have him sit between the benches for home games and roam for away games. He, then, should take over Potash’s role doing interviews. But then a new color commentator must be hired, so why not have Lange do play-by-play and put Steigerwald back into a commentary role and have a duo similar to the one during the Stanley Cup years.

• More games in high definition would be spectacular. I personally don’t have high definition capabilities, but many people do, and the quality of a high-def telecast is something that surely will lure in more viewers.

• Broadcast pre-season games. Somehow the pathetic Pirates find themselves getting pre-season television time, yet the ever-popular Penguins don’t? This makes little sense.

• Replace Jay Caufield with non-Penguin former player who won’t be a homer for the hometown team and the “good old boys.” After hearing Caufield cry for weeks about the Mark Recchi fiasco, it became apparent to me that Caufield just doesn’t cut it.

It’s unclear whether any major changes are in store for FSN Pittsburgh. Afterall, the network has been very successful in recent years. But there’s always room for improvement, and with a former Penguin employee now at the helm, it would seem likely that Penguins coverage could be on the verge of getting a boost.