There was no mistaking how Parkins & Spiegel feel about Eddie Olczyk leaving the Chicago Blackhawks for anyone that tuned into 670 The Score on Monday afternoon. The Chicago duo opened their show by ripping the local NHL franchise.
“Eddie Olczyk didn’t leave for a better job. He left for the Seattle Kraken,” Danny Parkins said with a mix of confusion and contempt. “The highest profile analyst in Chicago, who calls the Stanley Cup Finals, left for the Kraken? That is an insane headline!”
The Hall of Fame forward and Chicago native played five of his 18 NHL seasons with the Blackhawks. While he began his broadcasting career in Pittsburgh, he had been on the television call of Blackhawks games for the last 16 seasons.
His work for the Blackhawks may be how Chicagoans know him best, but Parkins pointed out that Olczyk’s appeal in the Windy City isn’t limited to hockey fans. He has become something of a local institution.
“He’s a huge deal in town beyond hockey. He goes on every show in town to talk hockey. He goes on every show to talk Kentucky Derby and horses. This is a nationally relevant broadcaster at the top of his day that is beloved.”
Eddie Olczyk has been doing national broadcasts, first for NBC and now for Turner Sports, since 2006. Speculation in the Chicago media has centered on that national schedule, with many openly theorizing that the Blackhawks did not want to pay Olczyk for a full season if he was going to miss more than a quarter of the team’s games.
While it may make financial sense, Matt Spiegel said that the Blackhawks are mired in negative headlines. They cannot afford to think that way with someone like Olczyk.
“It is astonishing that that organization that desperately needs positivity is letting the most positive thing they have associated with them walk out the door.”
He added that if it is indeed a money issue, it shows a level of arrogance in the organization, thinking there wouldn’t be someone willing to show Olczyk that they understand his value is more than just the number of games he is in the broadcast booth.
“They think ‘Eddie loves it here. Eddie’s a Blackhawk for life. This is a great backdrop for what Eddie wants to do. His son is employed here and everything else like that, so he’s not going to be leaving us’. And now he leaves you perhaps in part because you have the audacity to offer him less than a full season’s salary because he happens to have a national gig?
“His goodwill and his presence and his association with the brand is worth every bit of the full season salary you aren’t willing to give because he only works 60 games. Incredibly short-sighted and stupid and embarrassing for the Blackhawks today.”
