Regan Bartel can hardly believe it. Neither can Colin Robinson.
Tonight, the play-by-play announcer for the Kelowna Rockets will announce his 1,000th regular-season WHL game, a journey that began 14 seasons ago. And witnessing Bartel‘s first foray into major-junior hockey was Robinson.
It was early fall in 1996, and Bartel, in his second campaign with the Swift Current Broncos, was wondering how to inject more life into broadcasts. What Robinson suggested led to Bartel‘s now famous, lengthy and energy-filled “Scooooorrees!” call that can be heard, but never imitated.
“Barts and I spent a lot of time together back then,” said Robinson, who was Swift Current‘s trainer back then but now toils for the Kamloops Blazers. “I used to tell him he needed to be exciting and that he needed to create his own identity. He always used to say ’Make the final . . . ’ and then I‘d give it to him a bit, saying that‘s Vic Rauter‘s line; you can‘t copy someone, that‘s plagiarism.
“He‘d say ’You don‘t like that?‘ I‘d always tell him that he had to come up with something on his own.”
Asked how he came up with his unique call – and no, he wasn‘t on vacation in Brazil watching a soccer game when the idea jumped into his head – Bartel credits Robinson.
“Colin was listening to a couple of my broadcasts on the bus in the tape machine, and he said I didn‘t get excited enough when the Broncos scored,” said Bartel, who moved from his hometown of Swift Current to Kelowna in 2000. “He told me I needed a better goal-scoring call, so I just went that route.
“Colin had some radio knowledge and sort of knew what I was looking for. Why I went exactly that route, I have no idea, but I think the fans in Kelowna have a pretty good idea when the Rockets score.”
Friday night, the Rockets played their 1,000th game since relocating to the Okanagan and Kelowna from Tacoma, Wash., in the summer of 1995. That season was Bartel‘s first in the WHL. Since then, excluding Friday‘s result, he has called 2,107 regular-season goals.
Of the many, Bartel said two markers really stood out.
“The first was Chuck Kobasew scoring into an empty net to seal the Rockets‘ first-round playoff win against Kamloops in 2002,” Bartel said of Kelowna‘s first first-round victory, a 3-1 victory in Game 4 of a sweep. Prior to that, the Rockets, since relocating to Kelowna, had never advanced past the first round.
That victory was also just the Rockets‘ second trip into the second round as a franchise, with 1994-95 in Tacoma being the first.
“The other was when Justin Keller scored (the game-winning goal) and the Rockets won the Memorial Cup (in 2004),” continued Bartel. “In moments like that, you can really get caught up in them, and I tried my best . . . to be composed as time was ticking down.”
Bartel also has a keen memory.
For example, when we talked about his 1,000th game, I quizzed him if he could recall his first game. I asked him who Swift Current played (Moose Jaw) and where it was (home), and he got both right . Then I asked him who the head coaches were (Todd McLellan, Swift Current; Al Tuer, Moose Jaw), which he, again, correctly recalled.
Then I asked if he could remember who scored the game‘s third goal . . . finally, he broke because he couldn‘t remember the final score (3-2 Moose Jaw on Sept. 22, 1995).
“The funny thing is, that game is a total blur,” Bartel said with a laugh. “And the reason why it‘s a blur is because I was so nervous doing my first game.
“I was on survival mode, and trying to get through my first three-hour broadcast was a monumental task.”
That contest, however, was not his first WHL game. The season prior, Bartel did colour commentary for Regina Pats play-by-play caller Peter Loubardias, now of Sportsnet.
“That was the first time I did colour, and I can admit I was brutal that night,” said Bartel. “Peter was a professional and he kept me on the air for the entire broadcast when he could have simply shut off my microphone and said I was done for the night. But he was gracious enough.
“After that game with Peter, I thought I wanted to be a play-by-play guy,” continued Bartel, who has NHL aspirations and was interviewed by the Nashville Predators. “And after that game, I said to myself ’I want to do this for a living.‘ Then I started listening to a lot of broadcasters to get an idea of how they did it and what would work best for me.”
Bartel‘s delivery isn‘t off the cuff. After every game, he plugs in and rewinds his game tape, looking for errors or better ways to call specific plays.
“When we were rooming together, we‘d do mock calls together,” said Robinson, who celebrated his 1,000th WHL game as a trainer last season. “I don‘t get to listen to a whole lot of play-by-play guys, but from what I know, he‘s right up there with the best.
“He really cares about what he does; he would tape other play-by-play callers and just listen to them, trying to get different ideas going. I really think that you‘d have to go a long ways to find someone who puts in as much effort as he does.” Top of Page
