Interview With XM Radio’s Joe Thistel

Your pick for a player to watch from last year, Alex Ovechkin, was right on the money. While Ovechkin is currently struggling, who do you think will be the player to watch as this season unfolds?

I have a head start this season, so it would be too easy to point at Semin and Malkin and predict they’ll surpass their more famous teammates.

Instead I’ll turn my focus to the West and shine the light on Corey Perry in Anaheim.  Playing on that line, and with any kind of creative freedom, he’s capable of being a top 10 scorer this season and beyond.  I so wanted to say Jason Spezza, but the inconsistency is too consistent.

We’ve seen the Rangers actually get the on ice results from a team that looks fantastic on paper - what is the secret in NYC this year?

I suppose if you want to point at something, it would be that some distractions have disappeared, and the players can concentrate on hockey. Jaromir Jagr was their best player and still seemed to be a beacon of controversy.  Brendan Shanahan’s future was another story-line, and then of course there was Shawn Avery.  I’m not saying its addition by subtraction, but I will let you do the math.

Any chance we’ll see Mats Sundin in New York City for his retirement year a la Wayne Gretzky?

Naw.  There are 10 million reasons for Mats to take his hockey tack to Vancouver.  And now that it looks like the Canucks can be a playoff team, he can say it wasn’t for the money and actually keep a straight face.   And he’ll be good there too, so play-by-play broadcasters better take heed:  Sedin, Sundin and Sedin are coming to a barn near you.

With Brian Burke finished in Anaheim, where to you see him landing?  Any chance he’ll end up in Toronto?

Rumors have connected Brian Burke to a half dozen teams already, and all seem to have legitimate reasons for the hook-up, including family considerations, but none make as much sense as the Leafs.  It’s been talked about for too long and just fits on too many levels.  The confusing Toronto organization, who not too long ago allowed Pat Quinn to pick his own boss, has one shot to get it right.  It’s a six inch putt - even these guys can’t get the yips bad enough to miss this gimme.  Can they?

With Melrose being let go in Tampa Bay, do you think Rick Tocchet will complete the season as Head Coach of the Lightning?  If not, who is the most likely candidate?

Why not Tochett, a guy who has zero experience as a head coach to go along with everything else that’s happened in Tampa?  The team bus should be one of those miniature circus cars bursting with clowns.  Listen, Rick Tochett might be the best coach since Toe Blake, who knows, but this ownership has been an embarrassment of biblical proportions.  I could go on, but then you’d all miss dinner.

Is, or could, the Kontinental Hockey League a legitimate threat to the National Hockey League and its position as the premiere hockey league in the world?

Nyet, nyet Soviet.  I was once sitting between two former players - one who had spent his career in the minors, and the other who had played for years in the NHL.  In the middle of some glory days chatter, the minor leaguer announced rather proudly that there were some “great places to play in the American Hockey League”.  The National Hockey Leaguer stayed silent for a moment, slowly took a sip of beer and then replied, with perfect timing,…”Yeah.  There are some great places to play in the NHL too.”   The National Hockey League - accept no substitutes.

What is one thing about XM Radio and your National Hockey League coverage that may surprise hockey fans?

Hell, we’re just like they are: hockey fans who are privileged to be able to shoot off our mouths.  Sure, some of us have extensive media backgrounds and are proud professionals of sports broadcasting, but guys like Mick Kern and Boomer Gordon, two of my more popular personalities, are doing this on-air nonsense for the first time.  Know your stuff, have a valid opinion, be passionate and don’t be intimidated by the microphone.  You’ll be fine.

How do you view XM Radio with regard to the company’s position in bringing NHL news and commentary to the fan base? ie. What is your unique value proposition?

30 teams, no waiting.  While radio stations still hang onto that ridiculous argument that sports is local, we’re serving listeners from San Jose to Halifax.  And we get as much positive feedback from players and management right across North America as we do from our subscriber base.  Sports is local.  Right!  And Gordie Howe was a flash in the pan.

Is there anything that XM Radio has found through your market research that would be surprising to the average hockey fan?

It surprised me.  Statistics show that over 80% of sports fans in a particular city actually cheer for an out-of-town team.  That’s why our play by play is so important.  If you’re a Philly fan living in Dallas, we’ve got you covered.  And vice versa.

Can you tell our readers a little bit about what you do and about upcoming programming or features on XM Radio and Home Ice Channel 204?

I’ve been with XM Canada since the very beginning and oversee all the sports, talk and comedy channels while Jeff Leake looks after the music.  NHL Home Ice is truly my baby though.  I even named it.  So if you have a beef, you can blame me (joe.thistel@xmradio.ca).

I have been in broadcasting 30 years now, and if I could write my own job description, I wouldn’t change a thing. We have some excellent programming on the horizon too, including the World Jr Championships over the holidays, plus an exciting new partnership agreement with The Hockey News to announce in the very near future.   For me, its the quintessential labor of love.

NHL Digest would like to thank Joe Thistel for taking time to provide us with this interview.  If you haven’t yet had a chance to check out what XM Radio has to offer hockey fans, please visit XM Radio’s Home Ice channel.  They are even offering a Free trial, so you really have no excuse not to check them out!