Do we like Dan yet?

[Dreams Burn Down]

4 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

It's in my DNA... Moments like last night take me to the play by play guy.

I tracked down Dan's calls of Tage's five goals. It wasn't that easy. Nothing on sabres.com. I found them on WGR's site by playing a postgame podcast and advancing 15 seconds at a time until I got to the plays of the game at 31:10.

They were good calls. Dan has another level. I think he tries very hard not to be Rick. And I think at his core is the idea that only the biggest moments deserve the most excitement. Fine, but we're not used to that, and any big goal even in a meaningless game (and there have way too many of those) deserves a big call.

Anyway, what does everyone think of the calls?

In the end I think if Dan recalibrates himself a little and is a little less principled, he might just be a pretty good for Sabres fans.

I've come around to enjoy Dan's delivery.  I grew up listening to Ted Darling and then RJ when he moved from being only on the radio broadcasts to TV.  I think that I, originally, was comparing Dan to them and it's unfair.  Those are two legends at their craft.  Dan loses me at times with his cadences, but I've enjoyed his work overall during this season.

[K-9]

5 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

It's in my DNA... Moments like last night take me to the play by play guy.

I tracked down Dan's calls of Tage's five goals. It wasn't that easy. Nothing on sabres.com. I found them on WGR's site by playing a postgame podcast and advancing 15 seconds at a time until I got to the plays of the game at 31:10.

They were good calls. Dan has another level. I think he tries very hard not to be Rick. And I think at his core is the idea that only the biggest moments deserve the most excitement. Fine, but we're not used to that, and any big goal even in a meaningless game (and there have way too many of those) deserves a big call.

Anyway, what does everyone think of the calls?

In the end I think if Dan recalibrates himself a little and is a little less principled, he might just be a pretty good for Sabres fans.

Glad he’s got awesome goal calls. 

But what about the action leading up to the goal!? He can’t keep up with the play and relies too much on the VIEWING audience to fill in those blanks for themselves while the RADIO audience has little to no clue about what led up to the goal in the first place. 

It goes something like this:

”The draw will come out over the blue line. (Inane conversation with Rayzor)…….. Dahlin behind the Buffalo net. (More conversation with Rob) …… now Tuch carries behind the net… Thompson shoots. Score!”

To the radio listener that paints little picture of the action and it sucks. 

[Thorny]

At least he doesn’t say “Dawlin” like Ray. 
 

Dude needs to try harder 

He’s arguably our MVP ya can get the kid’s name right 

[Stads]

I will accept him because I have no other choice. He doesn't enhance the experience for me. I noticed it more with the national broadcasts. Part of it was Tage's 5 and 9 overall, but I enjoyed how it all flowed

[SABRES 0311]

No issue with Dan. He’s still kind of new to doing Sabres play by play. He’s no RJ but he’s no Jack Edwards.

[LabattBlue]

 No

[Broken Ankles]

Not a fan.  He’s average at best and Rob can only serve to bring the whole broadcast down a level.  One of the few advantages to living out of town is watching the opposing feed on NHL Centre Ice.  Probably watch the Sabres broadcast 30-40% of the time.  

[pi2000]

He ain't it.

[Porous Five Hole]

I grew up in Rochester and without cable, so not many Sabres games when I was a kid. With that in mind, I listened to Don Stevens and the Amerks religiously. I called into the intermissions when the radio broadcast took callers (that was wild lol). Stevens is the type of guy who sounds like he is falling off a cliff when the Amerks score…he SCOOORRRRRREEEeeessssssssssssss…
 

Side note: When I was a kid, I wanted to be the guy who yelled, “he shoots, he scores!” on the radio. I went to school for broadcast communications and have called many hockey games on the radio…but that was a long time ago.

I appreciate Dan for not falling into the Don Stevens cliche. But at the same time, that’s exactly what I want. And I felt like Dan was the opposite of a cliff diver during those big moments. 
 

Dan has gotten better at not seeming to be surprised by a goal for or against. He’s more on top of the play. It probably helps to call competitive games and that’s what the Sabres are today.

I hate that we still get a tv call for radio-only games from him, but I got used to it because RJ was similar in that way.  
 

Today, I think Dan calls a smooth game. I am happy to have him.  And the guy following THE GUY are huge shoes to fill.  He’s never tried to sound like Rick because that’s not him. 
 

Last thing…Tage’s goals replayed in my head have Dan’s voice in my head. And they’re honestly good calls.  I hope Dan sticks around and grows up with this team. 

[Goldseatsaud]

Replace 32 

[Jävə Keith]

9 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

My biggest complaint against Dan isn't his goal celebrations, but it's all those plays he misses. For someone like me thats on the road most nights driving my kids to out of town arenas, I want someone that can paint a picture of what's going on on the ice. 

He's perfectly serviceable for TV, and he's actually really likeable as a host, he just doesn't have his radio game down.

This 100%

His calls sound like he assumes everyone can see because they are watching on TV and he just needs to provide added  commentary. During the flow of play he misses so many descriptions, players names with the puck, where they are on the ice, etc.  Radio listeners? What's radio? Is that still a thing?

I want to be able to close my eyes and hear what my eyes would be seeing if they were open.

DD either doesn't get that part of the job description or he doesn't have the skills.

He's a nice guy & a good host. I especially enjoy his music references. Maybe like a player he is just not being used properly with his skill sets and needs to be moved to another position?

[...]

I don't care for Dan. He's not new to the Sabres - he had many seasons co-PBP'ing with RJ to get comfortable and a career before that. He's just not good. He's as flat as a blank sheet of copy paper, characterless as a flipped house with a grey interior, and as inspiring as a dry sponge. He's a leftover from the dumb decisions management made during the Tank years and perhaps, like the rest of those decisions, management will rectify the situation.

Then again, I don't like Brian Duff, either.

[Refuting]

2 hours ago, ... said:

I don't care for Dan. He's not new to the Sabres - he had many seasons co-PBP'ing with RJ to get comfortable and a career before that. He's just not good. He's as flat as a blank sheet of copy paper, characterless as a flipped house with a grey interior, and as inspiring as a dry sponge. He's a leftover from the dumb decisions management made during the Tank years and perhaps, like the rest of those decisions, management will rectify the situation.

Then again, I don't like Brian Duff, either.

Did you get a thesaurus for Thanksgiving 

[LGR4GM]

I don't mind Dan. He's fine and occasionally good. 

He needs to improve his ability to say who has the puck and who scores. It's a major flaw. 

[Eleven]

18 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

he tries very hard

This is the problem.

[Kr632]

19 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

My biggest complaint against Dan isn't his goal celebrations, but it's all those plays he misses. For someone like me thats on the road most nights driving my kids to out of town arenas, I want someone that can paint a picture of what's going on on the ice. 

He's perfectly serviceable for TV, and he's actually really likeable as a host, he just doesn't have his radio game down.

I don't think I've ever heard a Sabres play by play guy paint a decent picture of what was happening on the ice. For how good he was as an announcer RJ was horrible at it.

We would listen at work and we never had a clue who had the puck or what was happening until someone scored. He would use "he" or "they" to describe anyone on the ice for either team. "He got it in there, now back out, they turned it over in the neutral zone. He's got it now with a pass into their zone." We would be screaming at the radio Who has the puck! Watching on TV you'd notice it even more. If 15 things happened you might get him to say 2 of the things. 

He was amazing for goal calls and coming up with phrases but calling the game and painting a picture of what's happening he's was bad. 

Edited December 9, 2022 by Kr632

[JoeSchmoe]

4 hours ago, Kr632 said:

I don't think I've ever heard a Sabres play by play guy paint a decent picture of what was happening on the ice. For how good he was as an announcer RJ was horrible at it.

We would listen at work and we never had a clue who had the puck or what was happening until someone scored. He would use "he" or "they" to describe anyone on the ice for either team. "He got it in there, now back out, they turned it over in the neutral zone. He's got it now with a pass into their zone." We would be screaming at the radio Who has the puck! Watching on TV you'd notice it even more. If 15 things happened you might get him to say 2 of the things. 

He was amazing for goal calls and coming up with phrases but calling the game and painting a picture of what's happening he's was bad. 

Your experience was completely different than mine. 

[Eleven]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Your experience was completely different than mine. 

Mine, too.  RJ was incredible at describing a game, IMO.

[PASabreFan]

It was theater of the mind. Back to the point... A long shot... Right on! Which point? What kind of shot? Glove save? You had to conjure it up. He was a caricaturist, not a sketch artist.

[Quint]

 

Better than John Gurtler.

Edited December 25, 2022 by Quint

[...]

12 hours ago, Refuting said:

Did you get a thesaurus for Thanksgiving 

Did you need one to understand what I wrote?

[Contempt]

1 minute ago, ... said:

Did you need one to understand what I wrote?

It seems like it. Is there a fingerpaint font we can use to help him out?

[Thorny]

2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

It was theater of the mind. Back to the point... A long shot... Right on! Which point? What kind of shot? Glove save? You had to conjure it up. He was a caricaturist, not a sketch artist.

But noooooooooot out! still makes me viscerally anxious 

[Taro T]

7 minutes ago, Thorny said:

But noooooooooot out! still makes me viscerally anxious 

STOP BRINGING UP SMEHLIK!  😉

[SwampD]

I watched the Toronto/Philly game yesterday. I thought that the TO PBP guy talked while play was going way more than Dan. He also never said score or goal on the one that I saw.