"Game Day Experience" Features WHL Broadcaster Casey Bryant (Part 2)
Editor's Note: In the second half of their conversation with Everett Silvertips broadcaster Casey Bryant, our Caroline Anne learns more about Bryant's personal journey to the radio booth.
Caroline Anne: Where did you study or intern?
Casey Bryant: I studied sports communication at Marist College near my hometown in Poughkeepsie, New York. My first game I recorded a voice memo on my phone for play-by-play and ran it back to the radio station to play on delay. A few weeks later we tried a Facebook live stream on a cell phone with headphones plugged in as a mic.
I interned at MSG Networks. They hired me full-time after I graduated. I spent nights and weekends doing freelance junior and collegiate hockey. My first full-time broadcasting job was with the Danbury Hat Tricks of the Federal Prospects Hockey League.
CA: Did you have role models?
CB: Mike Breen, who calls the Knicks, said you should never critique a player in a way you wouldn’t say to their face. You have to really be a student of the game, understand what you’re seeing and know how to communicate that to the audience professionally.
CA: You wear an ALS pin on your suit collar.
CB: ALS is a genetic trait that runs in my family. In the last decade I’ve lost my uncle Mick Andreano and my aunt Sandy Kinelski. It’s claimed several members of my family over the generations. It just ravages the body.
It’s essentially a 50-50 shot at birth whether you carry the C9 gene. Thankfully, we discovered not long ago that my mom does not have it, which means my brother and I don’t. But unfortunately, it’s still a very real possibility for my cousins and their kids.
Considering ALS still does not have a cure, I try to do what I can. I’ve worked with the ALS Association, particularly the Connecticut chapter. We were able to raise roughly $10,000 through my old team, the Danbury Hat Tricks We got lucky and got some help from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
CA: What has been your favorite Silvertips moment?
CB: The Battle of the Sound in 2022 (at Climate Pledge Arena, home of the Seattle Kraken) has to be up there. First time working in an NHL barn, 10,000 people in the stands, and the ‘Tips shut out Seattle 4-0. Koen MacInnes with the 48-save shutout. It was a special environment from warmups, like a college football crowd. Fans were chanting back and forth all night.
CA: Do you play any ice sports?
CB: Skating was never my strong suit. I am a two-time Tymor Hockey League Silva Cup Champion for the street hockey league my friends and I have back home. That doesn’t count at all, but I enjoy bragging about it.
CA: If you had to trade places with a coworker, which job would you take?
CB: My love of mischief would want to say (Silvertips mascot) Lincoln, but my heart knows I’d definitely go with the anthem singer. Too many years of musical theater for me to pass that up. I’d sing in the booth if they asked me to.