On October 6th, 1995, 10-year-old Conor McGahey was at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver attending the first Colorado Avalanche home game with his father. That night, the Avalanche beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 as Denver celebrated the return of NHL hockey thirteen years after the Colorado Rockies relocated to New Jersey.
Fast-forward exactly 27 years and 8 months later and McGahey enjoyed yet another out of body experience…
“Held back for Makar…lets it go…tipped on…rebound…score! It’s Artturi Lehkonen and you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here because this party is over!”
Those were the words of 37-year-old Colorado Avalanche radio play-by-play voice Conor McGahey. Last Monday June 6th Artturi Lehkonen scored in overtime to give Colorado a 6-5 overtime win in game four of the Western Conference Final against the Edmonton Oilers. With that four-game sweep, the Avalanche punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2001.
The Avalanche will meet the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning starting on Wednesday night in Denver.
McGahey, a native of Breckenridge, Colorado, is set for his first Stanley Cup Final as the radio play-by-play announcer for the team he rooted for as a child.
“It was a blast,” said McGahey of his opportunity to describe the moment that the Avalanche were advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.
“The Stanley Cup Final is a special and emotional time really. It’s a great honor to be a part of it. To be here is one thing but to win it is another and I hope that we’re lucky enough to win because that would make it even more special. It’s fun to soak it in and say hey you’re going to a (Stanley) Cup Final for the first time in 21 years. In that moment, it was super special.”
McGahey, a graduate of the University of Denver, spent more than ten years in the organization as in-game host while also calling play-by-play for Colorado Rapids soccer and Colorado Mammoth lacrosse. He joined the Vegas Golden Knights as a television pregame and postgame host for their inaugural season in 2017-18 before returning to Colorado when he was named the Avalanche’s new radio play-by-play voice prior to the 2018-19 season.
Now in his fourth season as voice of the Avs, McGahey is living out a dream. Not just because he’s getting ready for his first Stanley Cup Final, but because this is the type of job that he has coveted since he was a fan in the stands.
“I’m very grateful for the blessing and the opportunity to be here and do this job no matter who it was with. If it was with the Carolina Hurricanes or L-A Kings, it wouldn’t matter to me. It’s a job that I love but it makes it even more special that it’s in my home state with the team that basically made me fall in love with hockey.”
Before the Quebec Nordiques relocated to Denver for the 1995-96 season becoming the Colorado Avalanche, McGahey did have a taste of the sport. As a youngster he followed college hockey as well as the Denver Grizzlies, the International Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders. When the Avalanche arrived, hockey fans in Denver were getting a team that was already good and just needed a few tweaks to become a Stanley Cup contender.
Those tweaks, including the acquisition of goalie Patrick Roy from the Montreal Canadiens, would help the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup during their first season in town sweeping the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
McGahey, who already liked hockey, fell in love with it.
“I think it was the sport itself because there are so many sights and sounds and the speed,” said McGahey. “It’s the old cliché that hockey is the best sport live. You can watch it on TV and people will always say ‘hey I can’t find the puck’ or ‘I have no idea what’s going on’ but when you show up and watch a game, your senses just become ten times more acute.”
McGahey delivers a high-energy and entertaining play-by-play call of Avalanche games that includes some unique descriptions of Avalanche goals.
There’s “The moose is loose!” for forward Miko Rantanen.
“The Mac attack is back Jack” for forward Nathan MacKinnon.
“Oh captain my captain” for… you guessed it… Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog.
And there’s “All hail Cale” for defenseman Cale Makar.
“I just think that it should be fun no matter what,” said McGahey. “I don’t take myself too seriously. Everyone, for the most part, loves sports. Everybody knows pop culture references whether it would be television or movies or music.”
With pop culture in mind, McGahey had another stroke of brilliance during game four against Edmonton.
“Ladies and Gentlemen… boys and girls of all ages …this is a tie hockey game”
“I always joked that my brother and I could communicate solely on movie quotes so that leaks over into how I call games whether that be rhymes or alliteration,” said McGahey.
How does he come up with these lines? Most of his calls are simply him, in the moment, saying things that come up organically. Generally, he comes up with the lines on his own but he is always open to suggestions from fans. There was time when a fan sent him a tweet that when Andrew Cogliano scored a goal that McGahey should work in “Hey Mambo, Mambo Cogliano”.
Channeling his inner Dean Martin, McGahey jumped at the idea.
“I thought it was genius.”
McGahey also drew inspiration a couple of years ago when he was watching the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. When he heard the song Candyman, he immediately thought of forward Nazem Kadri.
“Sometimes it’s just in the spur of the moment and sometimes you run across something,” said McGahey. “I was like candy and Kadri… it’s really close… the Kadri-Man can!”
Another entertaining aspect of McGahey calling Avalanche games has been setting the scene at the top of the broadcasts by using actual descriptions of the team nicknames. The idea was actually the creation of Studio Host Mark Bertagnolli who came up with “Force of Nature” for the Avalanche. He used that line for a couple of teams including when the Avs played the San Jose Sharks so the matchup would be…
“Force of Nature” vs “Fish”
“He’s been doing it for a long long time,” said McGahey. (Bertagnolli) would only do it for a couple. I said that’s a brilliant concept. Can we bring it into the top of the actual broadcast?”
And the rest is history as McGahey and company have come up with a few more…
“Force of Nature vs Petroleum Procurers (Oilers)”
“Force of Nature vs Plural Primary Color (Blues)”
“Force of Nature vs Adjective (Wild)”
“Force of Nature vs Fiddle Contestant (Devils)”
If you didn’t get the Devils reference, McGahey is referring to the Charlie Daniels Band song The Devil Went Down To Georgia.
And what about the Stanley Cup Final matchup?
“Force of Nature vs Atmospheric Electrical Discharge (Lightning)”
“It’s turned into a fun tradition,” said McGahey.
NHL radio play-by-play jobs are not easy to come by. There are only 32 of them. Getting one of those opportunities is a major accomplishment. Many announcers have come and gone without ever getting an opportunity to call a Stanley Cup Final. Not only is McGahey getting that chance to call the battle for Lord Stanley, but he’s doing it for his hometown team, the team that he cheered for as a child and throughout the existence of the Avalanche.
“I’m very lucky just to be in this position,” said McGahey.
“It doesn’t happen to a lot of guys. I understand the gravity and the scope and that’s not lost on me for one second. My overwhelming emotion every single gameday and every single day period is simply just gratitude.”
To steal a bit of Conor McGahey’s style of broadcasting…
“What an honor for Conor!”
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
