Blackhawks Fans Prepare To Say Goodbye To Pat Foley
By Jim Lynch
The Chicago Blackhawks are saying goodbye to a fan favorite tonight when their long-time broadcaster retires after calling his final game tonight in Chicago. Pat Foley has been the voice of the Blackhawks since 1980, and he has covered some of the best hockey the Blackhawks will ever see.
The Blackhawks are truly losing the voice of their team with Foley retiring. Even this season with the different broadcasters the team brought in things felt different, but losing Foley completely next season is going to be odd to say the least.
The Blackhawks are changing, and that is made even more apparent with Foley’s departure. The team is not the championship juggernaut they once were, and they are relatively close to saying goodbye to even star players like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
This team is going to be near the bottom of the standings for a long time, and it is going to take some time to rebuild the franchise, but the fun thing is fans can now experience the climb back up to success again.
The Blackhawks have named their new broadcaster for next season to be Chris Vosters. Vosters is just 30 years old and is going to have a long career ahead of him with the Blackhawks. While Foley might be the voice fans all know and love, with time Vosters can get to that level, especially considering he is going to be able to watch this team build up from the ground to find success again.
Tonight is Pat Foley’s night, and hopefully the team can give him the proper send off he deserves. They haven’t won a lot of games this season, but maybe tonight they can find get things done.
Puck drop is at 7:30 central between the Hawks and San Jose Sharks. Chicago will enter the game riding an eight game losing streak, wow have things changed from the championships in the early 2010s.
There have been a lot of terrific articles and stories out on Pat Foley the past few weeks and months, and I think you should check them all out. Here is one from NHL.com, Daily Herald, Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune.