As if the Calgary Flames news couldn’t get any worse for fans, one of their favorites will not be returning next season. The worst part is that it’s not even one of the players, it’s play-by-play broadcaster Rick Ball.
It was announced on Thursday that Ball would be taking over from Chris Vosters as the Chicago Blackhawks TV voice.
Ball’s History
Ball has been a play-by-play broadcaster for nearly 10 years, and has been the voice of the Flames for most of that time. He previously worked for Hockey Night in Canada covering other Canadian teams and the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets.
The Flames have been so truly fortunate to have Ball in the booth calling games, mainly alongside Kelly Hrudey, forming one of the best duos in hockey coverage. The loss of this is going to hurt significantly for next season.
When asked about the move, Ball had this to say to Scott Powers of The Athletic:
“Then it was first presented to me, there were probably four main factors: Original Six franchise, world-class city, young superstar centerpiece in Connor Bedard and, last but not least, Darren Pang, who I consider one of the best all-time at his job, so when you put those four things, it was a no-brainer.”
He did note that leaving Calgary and Flames fans was going to be the hardest part.
We wish Rick nothing but the best moving forward, and Chicago fans got the best in the business so treat him well.
