Paul, sorry I am late getting to this post. Just saw it yesterday. Hadn't been in "Immaterial Material" in a long time.
When I clicked on the link in your message, did not bring up the broadcaster rankings.
I located it on the Web. Here is the updated link:
http://thehockeywriters.com/ranking-all-nhl-broadcasters/I see that this ranking is TV only. The author, Michael Straw, did only half a job, leaving out radio.
Sad because doing hockey on radio is much more difficult than on TV. Trust me since I did play-by-play while in college for my college team, Fairfield University which is Division III, as well as some Princeton University games after college. Princeton is Division I ECAC. TV is child's play since people can see the puck sometimes or most of the time if they anticipate where it is going to go.
At any rate...
Not a surprise that Paul Steigerwald would be a bottom feeder. A nice guy. Am sure he likes dogs and cats. But he's not a very good broadcaster. DRY as the Sahara Desert.
Steigie started with the Penguins' broadcast team as color commentator to Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer Mike Lange. The games were simulcast on radio and TV. (Lange is in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a broadcaster as a result of winning the Foster Hewitt Award.)
Several years back, someone who is in a position of authority re: broadcasting Penguins' games decided to install Steigerwald as the play-by-play announcer on TV games and "relegate" Lange to radio.
There have been periodic pushes by fans to have the games again be simulcast, thus reinstalling Lange as play-by-play on TV as well. But those who broadcast Penguins' games continue to resist. Steigie is trotted out onto TV, I think it is Root Sports, for 82 regular season games and however many playoff games the Penguins play.
Current Penguins' broadcast lineup is Lange and former Penguins and two other teams F Phil Bourque on radio and Steigie and former Penguins and five other teams F Bob Errey on TV. Lange and Bourque work well together. I listen to plenty of games over the Internet.
Bourque (as did Errey) played on Penguins' Stanley Cup champion teams 1990-91 and 1991-92. Bourque "famous" for carving his name onto the inside of the Stanley Cup in an area where jewelers who worked on the cup were allowed to place their names. (Look this up on Internet for more info if you want.)
Lange has been Penguins' announcer since 1974-75. I was listening to KDKA-AM, 1020 Pittsburgh on an October night in 1974 for the Penguins' 1974-75 opener against the Minnesota North Stars at the old Met Center in Bloomington, MN. I head the voice of Mike Lange for the first time welcome me (and everyone else listening) to a HOCKEY NIGHT IN PITTSBURGH.
I did not expect to hear Mike Lange that night. (Thank God it wasn't Steigie. I'd have been mentally scarred for life.) Will save that story for another time.
I interviewed Mike Lange maybe five years ago and wrote a four-part series for an online publication. I will try to fish that out.
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Regardless of how devoid of excitement Steigie is, I cannot imagine he is worse than Flyers' radio announcer Tim Saunders. But hey, there are plenty of misguided people out there.
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To me, ranking of NHL TV broadcasters is the junior varsity. I'd like to see a list of NHL radio broadcasters.
At least two Hewitt winners remain active, Lange for the Penguins and Chuck Kaiton for the Whalers/Hurricanes. I believe a third would be Rick Jeanneret of the Sabres if he is back on the air. His cancer is in remission, thankfully.
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