ST. LOUIS -- The man with the famous 'Holy Jumpin!' catchphrase is moving up I-55.
Darren Pang, television color analyst for Blues games the past 14 seasons, has finalized a contract to become the television analyst for the Chicago Blackhawks, first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Blues chairman Tom Stillman and Blackhawks each confirmed Pang's departure on Thursday morning.
The 59-year-old, who also serves as a national color analyst on the NHL on TNT, has been partnered with play-by-play voice John Kelly since 2009 but his contract expired at the conclusion of last season and there was initial thought that he would continue to serve that role with the club moving forward.
But in March, Diamond Sports Group, which is the largest owner of regional sports networks, including Bally Sports Midwest, which carries the Blues and Cardinals, announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The move comes after it missed a $140 million interest payment in February, citing it is $8 billion in debt.
In a sense, it would mark a return home for Pang, who spent parts of three seasons playing 81 regular-season games and six playoff games with the Blackhawks, playing all but one game from 1987-89.
This would leave a huge hole for the Blues in their broadcasting team, which also consists of Jamie Rivers and Bernie Federko on the television side along with Chris Kerber and Joe Vitate on the radio side at ESPN 101.1-FM.
Rivers, a former NHL defenseman, would be a logical choice as a replacement but could have contractual conflictions with his gig at 101 ESPN's Fastlane. And the Hall of Famer Federko, who serves mostly as a studio analyst, would also fall under consideration.
Pang would join Chris Vosters, who was in his first season as Blackhawks play-by-play voice when he replaced Pat Foley, and join Troy Murray and Patrick Sharp as analysts. Ed Olczyk, who like Pang is a national analyst for TNT, left the Blackhawks' analyst job last season to take the same role with the Seattle Kraken when he was not brought back by the club.