Cornered: Hijinks, Highlights, Late Night and Insights by Ron MacLean & Ron MacLean

Author:Ron MacLean & Ron MacLean [MacLean, Ron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 978-1554-68996-5
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2011-10-03T04:00:00+00:00

22

IF YOU DON’T WANT ME TO TELL ANYONE, DON’T TELL ME

During the 1999 Stanley Cup run, Don and I covered the Eastern Conference final between Buffalo and Toronto, and when that ended, Colorado was still playing Dallas in the Western final. We were sent to Dallas to do the seventh game on June 4. They were having a real problem at the Reunion Arena. It had been built in 1980, and apparently they had never contemplated that hockey would be played in the summer, so it was not equipped to deal with 80-per-cent humidity and 90-degree temperatures. They were having a tough time maintaining quality ice, so the NHL flew in its ice expert, Dan Craig.

I had been a weatherman, so I knew all about the humidex (known in the States as the heat index), which is an indicator of what the temperature “feels like,” based on how hard the human body has to work to cool itself. The humidex was a story because it affected the play.

We had been covering the story of the bad ice in Dallas, and that night I took the humidex device and went on the air. “Good evening. Welcome to game seven, the dramatic conclusion to the series between Colorado and Dallas. Obviously, one of the questions on our minds here on June 4 is, ‘Will the ice be okay for this big game?’ Then I pressed the button, and the humidex reported 98 degrees Fahrenheit.

The ice was slushy. I reported that Dan Craig had been flown in and had put ventilation ducts in the ceiling to cool the ice to minus-6 degrees Celsius, about two degrees colder than normal. I also pointed out that the Zamboni doors were being left ajar to help get rid of some of the humidity. I talked about all these things they were doing to try to ensure that we would have decent ice for the important game. And then I said, “And now, here’s a feature on the great Rocket Richard.” And as soon as I threw to the item on Rocket Richard and we were off air, Gary Bettman came running over to me. “Ron, why do you have to talk about ‘bad ice conditions’? Everybody understands that we are in Dallas, Texas, and there is bound to be hot weather. This is a big game, and it’s not fair to the players and it’s not fair to the game that you are so negative. We’re all looking forward to this game.”

I said, “Well, Gary, if it weren’t the first week of June, we wouldn’t have to worry about it, would we?” There’s not a human alive who wouldn’t like to see hockey end earlier in the season. But the truth of the matter is that we play in June because the major American networks won’t allow the playoffs to end in May, which is one of the “ratings sweeps” months that they base their advertising rates on.

During the entire half-hour of the pre-game show, Gary

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