Pang may be only 5-foot-5 and had a short NHL career, but the Ottawa product has deep hockey roots, and an outsized fan connection in Chicago and nationally.
A "strained relationship" with analyst and former Blackhawks goalie Darren Pang played a role the firing of Chicago's TV play-by-play man Chris Vosters according to published reports.
After two years behind the mic, Vosters was abruptly replaced last Thursday by 57-year-old Rick Ball, a veteran of the Calgary Flames, Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts.
The move was the result of "a change of heart in the team’s view" of Voster's broadcasting. Part of that was an awkward relationship with Pang, per the Chicago Sun-Times.
Pang rejoined the Blackhawks for the 2023-24 season, long after starting his broadcasting career on defunct Sportsvision in Chicago. He's also known for his ice-level work on national U.S. broadcasts on TNT and on the NHL Network.
The 5-foot-5 Pang tended nets over three seasons for the Blackhawks and was popular with fans and players before a knee injury — and a tiff with erratic, bully coach/GM Mike Keenan — ended his career.
Pang is the record books as the second shortest goalie in NHL history. He set a record with six assists in the 1987-88 season when he was 17-23-1 with a 3.84 goals-against average a finalist for the Calder Trophy.
By contrast, the 32-year-old Vosters was a relative newcomer to hockey. From Wisconsin, he started his career calling minor-league baseball, then a smattering of sports.
He had big shoes to fill, being named successor to retiring Hockey Hall of Famer Pat Foley in April 2022 after an in-season competition among candidates. Foley's game-calling skills, descriptiveness and energy had slipped in recent years, but generations of Blackhawks knew and liked him.
Vosters tried to make up for his lack of hockey experience with energy and seemed to be improving. His delivery was usually solid and better than many NHL play-by-play voices. (Listen to games from around the league on services like Sirius SM next season, or even now in the Stanley Cup Final.)
Lack of Connection
But Vosters often didn't mesh with Pang in their only season together in the TV booth, with a few awkward moments.
Nothing was overtly hostile on the air. There was some lack of connection and occasional corrections by Pang, who's from Ottawa and won the Memorial Cup with his hometown OHL 67s in 1984.
The Blackhawks became unhappy with Vosters’ broadcasting and took critical fan feedback on social media seriously. The team's business operations, led by Jaime Faulkner, are customer-sensitive and metrics-focused.
Ball has a wealth of experience calling hockey. In addition to calling Flames games on Sportsnet, he has called play-by-play for national broadcasts of “Hockey Night in Canada” since 2011 and has been the show’s western-based announcer since 2013.