OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING
A hockey career began that night. And so, too, did a pretty good friendship
MAY 4-5, 2000 For the longest time, neither the Penguins nor Flyers could score. Bad for them, but great for a couple of dormmates on the campus of Bowling Green University.
As midnight arrived on May 5, 2000 and the marathon playoff matchup between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia stretched deeper and deeper and deeper into overtime, an impactful interaction took place on the Bowling Green University campus.
A sophomore student named Steve Mears was living and dying with every shot on Penguins goalie Ron Tugnutt when the resident assistant for his dormitory poked his head inside the door to see what the heck Mears was still doing up.
Tom Holy, the RA, wasn’t much of a hockey guy. He grew up in Cleveland and had no rooting NHL interest. But since Mears was watching that epic five-OT game, he figured he would do the same. During the intermissions, they huddled up to rehash what they had witnessed. Next thing Holy knew, he was hooked.
“Mearsy kind of put me in a position where hockey was on my radar,” Holy said.
Holy is now in his second year as an assistant general manager for San Jose.
“Make sure you put that in the story, that I deserve all the credit for his success,” the radio voice of the Penguins joked. “I have no doubt that if [Holy] had walked the wrong way on the night of that [Keith] Primeau game he still would have ascended quickly in the business, whether it was in hockey or another sport.”
And Mears might not be where he is today either if not for a helper from Holy.
We will get to that in a moment. But first, what a small world the NHL can be.
Before both climbed the ladder in their respective hockey careers, intersecting at times along the way, Mears and Holy first became friends and roommates.
Holy remembers Mears rollerblading to the campus tennis courts to fire pucks off the rallying wall and simulating Penguins seasons in the NHL video game.
Mears said Holy was the one who broke the news to him that his hockey hero, Mario Lemieux, was coming out of retirement in 2000. He will never forget Holy bursting into their apartment, snow blowing in, and exclaiming, “Did you hear?”
As a student, Mears was already calling Bowling Green hockey games on local radio. Holy said he was “a perfectionist” who was hyper focused on his dream.
“His ultimate goal ever since he was 6 was to be the play-by-play voice for the Pittsburgh Penguins,” Holy said. “To see somebody who has that dream and then make it a reality, that’s incredible to me. It was step by step, just improving, improving, improving. He maximized every single opportunity he was given.”
The same can be said for Holy, whose path to San Jose was unconventional.
Holy was in the sports management program and initially figured he would try to work in another sport. But after Mears and Keith Primeau opened his eyes to the NHL, Holy applied for a sales job with the Cleveland Barons minor league hockey team. He didn’t get that, but the Barons created a PR position for him.
Soon, Holy was employed with the Sharks, the first of his two stints in San Jose. He was with the media relations department and assisted with travel logistics.
Early in his time there, the Sharks were visiting Dallas. Mears was a few hours down the road, calling games for the Shreveport Mudbugs of the now-defunct Central Hockey League. Holy invited his former roommate to swing by the rink.
Mears spent time around the Sharks at their team hotel. He stood in the media scrums at the morning skate. He picked the brains of the Sharks broadcasters.
He also happened to watch Holy handle a franchise-altering move. The young PR executive sat down next to Mears in the Dallas press box prior to the game. But when he saw that a few Sharks players were missing when they came out for the opening puck-drop, Holy rushed downstairs to see what was going on.
“We had made the Joe Thornton trade,” Holy said, referring to the blockbuster that sent him from Boston to San Jose. “So I had to put Steve on the backburner.”
Neither friend realized it then, but the whole experience would be huge for Mears.
“As a young professional starting out in the industry, it just gave me a taste of what it’s like in the NHL world,” Mears said. “It was such a big help. I went back to Shreveport and I was so motivated. I absorbed so much and applied it to that job. It was a good motivator. ‘That’s the goal. That’s where I’m trying to get.’”
A few years later, Mears got his first job in the NHL. He has been calling games on television or radio for his hometown Penguins since the 201718 season.
“People who get to have their games called by Steve are very lucky because Steve cares deeply about them and he wants to see them achieve their ultimate goal,” Holy noted. “He loves the Penguins. And he loves the city of Pittsburgh.”
Holy would eventually leave the Sharks for a media relations promotion with the Stars. When Mike Grier got the GM job in San Jose, he brought back Holy, this time in a hockey ops role. Holy’s well-rounded background appealed to Grier.
“I was so happy when Tom called to tell me,” Mears said. “I wasn’t surprised at all because I know how beloved he is by that organization and I can see why Mike Grier would want to bring him on board, because he’s so diligent and so thorough in everything that he does. I’m sure he’s going to thrive in this role.”
“I have no doubt that if [Holy] had walked the wrong way on the night of that [Keith] Primeau game he still would have ascended quickly in the business ...” Steve Mears