By Heather Thomson – Merritt Herald – May 16 2007
If you tuned into the Royal Bank Cup last week on the web, you may have heard a familiar voice.
Keegan Goodrich, voice of the Merritt Centennials, was invited to be one of three announcers for the national cup.
?I was truly honoured,? Goodrich explains. ?It was an unbelievable experience ? I couldn?t pass up this opportunity.?
He says it was the first time he has worked on a web-based broadcast, and it was an interesting experience that taught him a lot.
?You always get better when you get a new experince and challenge,? he says.
He adds it was also an opportunity to work with some of the best announcers in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), including Dan Marshall from Penticton and Kevin Parnell of Westside.
The Royal Bank Cup is Canada?s national Junior A hockey championship, and is organized by Hockey Canada. Goodrich says that working for Hockey Canada was also a unique experience because it was so much more structured than the BCHL.
?This was some of the best hockey I have ever seen,? he explains.
Goodrich was in Prince George for six games of the cup, two of which he did the play-by-play, two he offered the colour commentary and two he carried out interviews.
He says filling these roles for a group of teams he didn?t know was a challenge of its own. Not only did he have to learn the roster, but he also had to pick up tips about the team and the players. He adds that it was a great experience because he got to do a lot of different things, because he was part of a three-person crew.
During the five days he spent at the cup two things stood out as highlights. One was the opportunity to meet and chat with Cassie Campbell, one of Canada?s best-known and longest-running captains of the women?s hockey team.
The second was seeing a BCHL team, the host team Prince George Spruce Kings, make it to the final. He says this was not one of the games he announced, and he was relieved after watching it go to five overtimes. He says by the time the play-by-play was done for the night the PG goalie had stopped 91 shots, and the announcers had lost their voices.
Goodrich says it was also nice to see some familiar faces on the ice, as former Centennials Jessie Fratkin and Chris Shudo were playing for the Spruce Kings.
He adds that the Royal Bank Cup was an experience he will never forget, and one he hopes to repeat some day.
?I would do it again in a heartbeat,? he says.
