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All-Star Television Crew Is Michaels, Plagens, Smith

Published on January 9, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that the television broadcast crew for the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario will be Jack Michaels of the Alaska Aces, veteran NHL analyst Neil Smith and Doug Plagens of the Idaho Steelheads.

The game will be available in more than 66 million homes on Altitude Sports & Entertainment, B2 Television, Bright House Sports Network in Florida, Buckeye Cable Sports Network in Ohio, Comcast SportsNet in California, Cox Sports in Rhode Island, Fox Sports West, GCI in Alaska, Metro Sports in Kansas City and New England Sports Network.

Michaels will be the play-by-play announcer with Smith doing color commentary for the ninth year in a row and Plagens working at ice level interviewing players, coaches and representatives from the ECHL and the National Hockey League.

The 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario will be hosted by the Ontario Reign at Citizens Business Bank Arena and played on Jan. 20, 2010 while the 2010 ECHL All-Star Skills Competition will be held on Jan. 19, 2010.

Smith, who is the owner and Governor of the Johnstown Chiefs, brings years of broadcast experience to the telecast. He works as an analyst for the NHL Network, NHL Radio, Hockey Night in Canada Radio and Versus Network and has also worked on TSN and ESPN. He was general manager of the New York Rangers from 1989-2000 and in 1992 was promoted to president, becoming the first person in team history to hold both the title of general manager and president. During his tenure, which is the second-longest in team history to only the legendary Lester Patrick, the Rangers captured three division titles, two Presidents' Trophy honors, an Eastern Conference championship and a Stanley Cup championship. The championship in 1993-94 was the culmination of a season in which the Rangers set club records with 52 wins and 112 points and ended a 54-year run of Stanley Cup frustration. Following the 1991-92 and 1993-94 seasons, Smith was named Executive of the Year by The Hockey News and The Sporting News.

Michaels is in his eighth season as the "Voice of the Aces" and is the vice president of communications and team operations while also serving as the team's Alternate Governor. He has been the play-by-play announcer for the ECHL All-Star Game television broadcast in 2004, 2008 and 2009 and worked as the rink-side reporter in 2006 and was named ECHL Broadcaster of the Year in 2003-04. He has been selected as the recipient of the "Goldie" award for "Best Live Play-By-Play" by the Alaska Broadcasters Association the last four years. Michaels was named West Coast Hockey League Broadcaster of the Year in 2001 and 2003 and was the play-by-play announcer and broadcaster coordinator for the 2001 WCHL All-Star Game. He was named Sportscaster of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters in 1997. He graduated magna cum laude from Ithaca College where he broadcast Ithaca football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and soccer while also broadcasting hockey and football for Cornell University.

Plagens is in his second season as the "Voice of the Steelheads" and as host of the Bud Light Idaho Steelheads Hockey Show while also assisting with the team's media relations and sales. He did play-by-play and hosted the pregame and postgame shows for Syracuse of the American Hockey League in 2007-08 and also broadcast minor league baseball in Syracuse. He was the sports director and did play-by-play for football and hockey for the Lake Forest College radio and television stations while also working as a columnist for the school newspaper. He also worked for the Detroit Tigers and worked as an intern for Major League Baseball during the 2005 All-Star Game. Plagens received his bachelor's degree from Lake Forest College and his master's in broadcast journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

Former ECHL broadcasters working in the National Hockey League include John Ahlers and Steve Carroll of the Anaheim Ducks, Tom Callahan of the Nashville Predators, Dave Goucher of the Boston Bruins, Chris Kerber of the St. Louis Blues, Dave Mishkin of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Bob McElligott and John Michael of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Rob Simpson, who is a producer/host for The NHL Network.

Seven coaches from the ECHL All-Star Game have gone on to coach in the National Hockey League while 58 players from the contest have gone on to play in the NHL, including 33 since 2002 when the lineups began having players who coaches felt were prospects to move up to a higher level.

The third class will be inducted into the the ECHL Hall of Fame on Jan. 20, 2010 during a luncheon ceremony at the Hilton Ontario Airport, the official host hotel of the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario. The featured speaker at the ECHL Hall of Fame luncheon will be Hockey Hall of Fame member and Los Angeles Kings President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille.

Tickets for the luncheon are $40 each or a table with seven tickets can be purchased for $250. The Ontario Reign is offering a special ticket package that includes a ticket to the ECHL Hall of Fame luncheon, the All-Star Skills Competition, the Fan Fest at Dave & Busters and the ECHL All-Star Game for only $75. To purchase tickets visit OntarioReign.com/team/allstar/ or telephone the Ontario Reign at (909) 941-7825.

The past seven ECHL All-Star Games have generated more than $1 million each for the local economy as guests, players, coaches and fans occupy hundreds of hotel rooms and spend three days in the host city.

The Stanley Cup and the Patrick J. Kelly Cup will both be on display throughout the event, marking the 10th time in the last 11 years that the NHL championship trophy and the ECHL championship trophy have been displayed together at the All-Star Game.

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