Jim O'Donnell: Olczyk's bittersweet return to the United Center all about unstated values
EDDIE OLCZYK WILL RETURN to the United Center Sunday afternoon.
If he can stand the stink.
After 16 seasons in the Blackhawks broadcast booth, the distinctive Chicago native will be making his first appearance as regional TV analyst for the Seattle Kraken on ROOT Sports Northwest.
One year ago, the thought of Olczyk working local television for any team other than the Blackhawks was as unthinkable as The New Chicago Stockyards opening on West Madison Street.
But leave it to the careening Hawks hierarchy to add yet another element of diminishment to a franchise in ghastly freefall.
OLCZYK SAT ON a new contract offer last summer well into OT and then told team chieftains Rocky Wirtz, Danny Wirtz and president/business ops Jaime Faulkner, "So long, bye-bye."
His departure could not have come at a worse time for a franchise 2,000 light years from a Stanley Cup and any sort of sustained credibility with its shattered fanbase.
"I never thought I'd leave home," a reticent Olczyk has grudgingly told media.
Of the break in negotiations with Wirtz, Wirtz and Faullkner, Olczyk will merely say: "We agreed to disagree and everyone has moved on."
HE HAS MOVED ON in a positive, assertive direction. Wirtz, Wirtz and Faulkner have devolved into a struggling lounge trio apparently fascinated with ineffectual word play and "Dead Carpet" openings.
Olczyk's packin' trunk could hardly be any fuller. Between national assignments with TNT and ROOT/Kraken, he'll work close to 100 NHL games this season.
He'll also be back in his regular NBC/thoroughbred racing roost in two weeks when burgoo-friendly Keeneland hosts the two-day 2022 Breeders' Cup.
OLCZYK AND WIFE DIANA have maintained their suburban Chicago home. But he's high on the list to be among the NHL broadcast leaders in frequent flyer mileage this season.
He is also immersed in family among the seagulls of Puget Sound.
Brother Rick Olczyk - an Ivy Leaguer (Brown) with a law degree - is assistant GM of the Kraken. He was also a key GPS in the breakaway from the sleepwalking Blackhawks.
Son Nick Olczyk has moved from an interim fill-in role at WGN, 720-AM for the ailing Troy Murray last season. He's now part of the ROOT/Kraken broadcast team. He also maintains the Eastside apartment near Seattle where his father stays during his parachute skate-ins
Son Eddie Olczyk III scouts amateurs for Seattle.
Even GM Ron Francis comes prescreened. He and Olczyk were roommates on the 1997-98 Pittsburgh Penguins.
OLCZYK WILL NEVER ADMIT this publicly. But his stunning exit from the Blackhawks was about much more than money.
He knows what real loyalty is all about. He knows what ethical, equitable corporate standards and reasonable sensitivities are all about. From his many hockey stops - as a player, coach and broadcaster - he clearly understands the many dimensions of class in the NHL.
All are reasons why he'll be in a visitors' broadcast booth at the United Center on Sunday.
STREET-BEATIN':
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David J. Halberstam of Sports Broadcast Journal called Thursday Night Football's Kirk Herbstreit "a blabbermouth." Maybe "Gabby Kirk" majored in Excessive Communications at Ohio State. ...
And irreverent geography wizard Scott Hipple, on the White Sox search for a new manager: "Does Tony La Russa have an older brother?"
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.