Randorf credits Sports Page for new gig
First on-air job led Ryerson alumni from Vancouver, to Sportsnet, to Florida
This opportunity to reminisce about Sports Page is brought to you by Dave Randorf and his new gig as the television play-by-play voice of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“These days all your interviews are done by Zoom. I got my first chance to talk to people today and I had the first question for Jon Cooper and right away he says, `Dave Randorf ... from Sports Page to Tampa Bay,''' Randorf said last week, taking a break from prepping for his first game in his new job Friday. “It still happens to me all the time.”
The final episode of Sports Page aired in September 2005. The nightly TV show mixed highlights and features on the Vancouver Canucks, high school athletes and everything in-between with such engaging irreverence over its 28-year run that a loyal fan base remains to this day.
Cooper, who's starting his ninth season as the Lightning head coach, is from Prince George and he's 53 years of age so he's in that sweet spot to be a Sports Page fan. He first met Randorf years ago, when Randorf was calling games for Hockey Night in Canada, and told Randorf then about how he and buddies regularly tried to get through to win Sports Page's nightly call-in trivia.
Randorf promised Cooper he'd attempt to hook him up with a Rucanor tracksuit. If you're of a certain vintage, you're smiling right now.
For those of that vintage, any reference to Sports Page makes you smile. Show alums remain prevalent in our consumption of stats and stories to this day. Don Taylor, John Shorthouse, Dan Murphy, Blake Price, Craig MacEwen and Scott Rintoul are among those to have had roles in the show, a tribute to the talent-finding ability of the late Paul Carson, who was in charge of Sport Page's proceedings for the majority of its run.
“What did Sports Page mean to my career? It meant everything. That's where it all started. That's my first on-air job,” said Randorf, a graduate of North Delta's Seaquam Secondary who went on to study broadcasting at Ryerson University in Toronto.
“That's what led me to TSN and Sportsnet and now to being the voice of a franchise that won the Stanley Cup last season.
“I was very proud to be on Sports Page. It's from my hometown. And it set the table for me.”
Randorf was already a Sports Page regular when Shorthouse, who's now 50 and the TV voice of the Canucks, joined the staff.
Randorf remembers Shorthouse taking flak from the group then because “he looked like he was 12 years old.”
Randorf and Shorthouse still talk frequently. They don't speak about the ins and outs of play-by-play, oddly enough.
“We might get into our favourite rinks and our favourite restaurants on the road and things like that, but we don't get into `Why did you do that like this?'” Randorf said.
“I think we all watch and listen. It's just not something that comes up in conversation afterwards. I don't think John and I have ever compared notes.
“I have huge respect for what he's done. I'm proud of what's built over the years.”
After Sports Page, Randorf eventually moved to TSN, where he worked extensively on the CFL on the way to picking up hockey play-by-play duties. He shifted to Sportsnet after that. He and Sportsnet cut ties last summer.
The Lightning job came open because Rick Peckham, who had called games for the team for 24 years, retired after the 2019-20 season. His final game was Tampa Bay's series-clinching, opening-round win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, since the remainder of the playoffs were picked up nationally.
Peckham and longtime Vancouver Province columnist Tony Gallagher were both honoured by the Hockey Hall of Fame as a part of the class of 2020, with Peckham taking the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a broadcaster.
Randorf received a phone call from Peckham after receiving the job and relays that Peckham “said some very, very gracious things that meant the world to me.” It added even further to the appeal of his new post.
“You're working on a Saturday night, calling a national game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Calgary Flames, and you try to call everything right down the middle and you still know that you cannot win, because somebody is going to think you're favouring the other team,” Randorf said.
“Working for a team instead of a national broadcaster is going to be a different approach. Instead of trying to be 50/50, you can be more 70/30. I'll be talking directly to Lightning fans. They'll want to know about their team.
“The last several years, calling national games, you're just hoping for a good game every night. Now I'm going to be more attached to something and I'm excited about it. We all start out as sport fans and I'm still a big one.”
Tampa Bay opened its season Wednesday with a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at home, but it was a national TV game so Randorf didn't work it.
The Lightning defeated Chicago 5-2 on Friday in Randorf 's debut.