If you were a Rangers fan up to about five years ago you were a very lucky person.
That's because if you turned on MSG Networks, Al Trautwig would be doing a Rangers game.
And when I say "doing," I mean DOING because Trautwig was Mister Ubiquitous; he was all over the place doing whatever he particularly was doing at that time better than anyone.
He was a hockey broadcasting marvel – cool, calm, collected, insightful – and funny in his own delightful way.
If it wasn't interviewing then it was analysis or features and if they gave out Emmys for Schmoozing, Al would have cornered the market.
The thing about broadcaster Al was that he did his job so smoothly – so effortlessly – that an onlooker might be tempted to say, "Gee, I could do that."
But nobody could because there was only one Al.
I speak first hand since I was fortunate to work alongside Al on Rangers games as well as an MSG feature he cooked up called "Vault."
Trautwig rented an antique store near the Garden and, from there, he'd do features on all sorts of subjects including hockey.
And that's where I learned about Trautwig, the production genius. The two of us were working on a history of the Rangers-Canadiens rivalry when suddenly I had a brainstorm.
"Hey, Al," I recalled, "In 1953 I was at a Rangers-Canadiens game at the Old Garden when Montreal's Boom Boom Geoffrion nearly killed Ron Murphy of the Rangers, hitting him square in the head with his hockey stick. I'd never seen anything like it before or since."
"Well, let's find the footage," Al shot back, "and do something about it."
Those were early tv days and I had my doubts that he'd come up with anything. But, sure enough, on our next shoot, Trautwig had everything from the high sticking to Geoffrion's swing and a miss and then the followup – and down went Murphy.
For me, talking all about that crazy night was easy. Heck, I was there – with my date, Phyllis Elias. For Al, talking about it was even easier than The Maven because he was the pro's pro.
Looking backward, I have to say that that shoot was one of the most fun features I ever worked on – and if we didn't win an Emmy for that, we should have!
But it wasn't just working with Al that was the beauty part, it was the kibitzing. Trautwig could schmooze about anything and everything, but especially The Sopranos.
Before every production meeting Al would orchestrate a discussion about the last show and what Tony Soprano would do next or his wife Carmela or his shrink.
Listening to Al critique the series was as good as watching it with Trautwig sitting next to you on his living room couch.
He was an amazing fellow, who could – and did – broadcast just about everything from baskets to baseball and even – if he ever got such a gig – a Monopoly tournament.
I'll always think of Pal Al in a couple of ways.
1. He was a natural – 100% pure.
2. And one heck of a nice guy!
R.I.P. Al.