My 40 Years in Journalism: Chapter 8 - Goodbye Newspapers, Hello Bolts

 

By Mark Pukalo

This is not the end. .. However. ...

Those last few years at the Courant wore on me. Newspapers were not the same. Parents of high school players were way worse. A change was needed.

There were a few new things to cover the final few years, though. Like town council meetings.

Yes. Twice in a few years, I was assigned to fill in as bureau news reporter in New Britain for three months covering the town of Southington. I certainly didn't volunteer and was not particularly thrilled to be there, but I had no choice and it was certainly a learning experience.

They treated me well in the bureau, especially co-editor Bill Leukhardt and writer Doan Le. I did the best I could. I went to meetings, tried to find some simple stories around town and counted the days down. The Town Manager was a crotchety old Republican named John Weichsel. But we got along surprisingly well. I learned a little about politics. Maybe they all just felt sorry for me.

Probably the highlight was interviewing Chris Murphy (right), who was a state senator in the area at the time. You could see he had a future. He was intelligent, sharp and friendly, but not in a fake politician way.

Who knows? I might have been sent there again, but in the Spring of 2007 I put in my papers for a buyout.  

It wasn't just one thing. There were many reasons. I think I just needed a new course to take.

I did some work for AP (Little League, women's futures golf) and started the process of interviewing at ESPN (below). I was involved in several pre-interview calls where they judged my knowledge. Finally, I was set up for a day of meetings with department heads.

It was a nerve-wracking day and, to be honest, I was quite unimpressed with most of managers who interviewed me. There was only one department (Bottom lines) where I really liked the manager. He asked good questions and put me at ease. Unlike the others, I think he understood me and my qualifications.

I was a finalist for that job, but of course I was passed over. If I did get the job, I probably would have been among the 100s of layoffs years later. Just as well.

I had one more interview in Connecticut with Sports Ticker in Cheshire. Think I did well with future colleague Tom Torrisi, but I believe they just elevated a part-timer or something. I got the call as I was driving home from the Jersey Shore after hearing my father died.

I hated watching my father suffer from Cancer. It was a rough time and I was doing a lot of soul searching. I needed a fresh start somewhere.

Soon after, I decided to go to Tampa and make a final decision whether it was the place for me. I stopped at one apartment complex in Brandon and it felt like home. The pretty young woman who showed me a model apartment had once played tennis for Haddam-Killingworth. A sign?

Months before I made the final move I sent out about 15 letters and resumes to general managers around the NHL.to see if there was a wild chance I could get some type of job in scouting.

I received nine responses. Let's just say my resumes were said to be put on file with the Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals. I also received a wonderful letter from Lightning GM Jay Feaster and later was put in touch with Bill Wickett, the team's Communications Director. I was offered a chance to be a free lancer for the team's website when I arrived in Tampa during the Fall of 2008.

On November 16, I officially became a Floridian.

Seen Stamkos?

On my final trip down to Tampa, the news that coach Barry Melrose was fired came across the radio. Rick Tocchet was the Lightning head coach when I got there and my first feature was on goalie Mike Smith. Tocc was good to work with. He has gotten a lot better as a coach.

The end of that first year - the rookie season for Steven Stamkos - the Lightning had the second pick in the draft. They brought in the top three ranked players, who all met the media. That sounds kind of unique these days, but I was asked to profile all of them for the website.

It was John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene. Tavares was very serious, smart and cordial, but did not have much personality. Duchene seemed a bit less mature than the other two, but fun to talk to. Hedman was a gem. The big Swede was friendly, smart, confident and a good interview. Sheesh, I noticed on a questionnaire "One Tree Hill" was listed as one of his favorite shows. Never asked him if he liked Peyton or Brooke better.

There's no doubt I wanted the Bolts to pick Hedman. The New York Islanders chose Tavares first and the Lightning nabbed Hedman while Duchene went to Colorado. The rest is history Lightning fans.

77-91. Hedman-Stamkos. Two of the best athletes on and off the ice I ever covered consistently. Good people. Great hockey players.

Hedman took his lumps from the fans. You could see the high ceiling the defenseman had, but he was young and made enough mistakes to annoy the impatient fans. He never changed though. Heddy just kept getting better and he will join Stamkos in the Hall of Fame some day. It's awesome that I was with those two from the start.

Andrei Vasilevskiy and Nikita Kucherov, too. Did a story on Kuch at his first training camp, interviewing him through an interpreter. He was great. 

The first few years were strange. The cowboys - Oren Koules and Len Barrie - who I actually never met, owned the team and installed know-it-all GM Brian Lawton. They all set the franchise back together. However, their poor management led to Stamkos and Hedman. 

Net win.

During those early years, I did a Lightning /NHL podcast with press box friends Jon Jordan and Mike Corcoran that we taped at a broadcasting school in Brandon. We had a ball with that and I really wished it went on a lot longer.

There would have been way better Lightning teams to talk about.

Rubbing Shoulders With Legends

I enjoyed those years in the press box and the meal room. Jim Devellano, a former NHL GM and current Red Wings senior vice president, used to hold court while we enjoyed pasta or chicken. It was there I also met the great Scotty Bowman. 

Although a former colleague said he was not pleasant for reporters in Detroit, Bowman was always fun to talk to at Amalie Arena. He has over 1,200 coaching wins and nine Stanley Cups, but gave time to anyone who wanted to gab and ask questions here. I had several conversations with him while enjoying popcorn and sat by the all-time coaching victories leader a few times. He had his stories. 

I always wonder if I could have gotten Bowman and Paul Maurice together and stood between them for a picture. The caption would be, "These three have over 2,100 NHL coaching victories combined."

Then, there was Bobby Taylor. I have always liked chatting with "The Chief," a TV analyst for the Lightning and a former backup to Bernie Parent with the Philadelphia Flyers. He is not a company man. Chief will tell you what he is thinking about the team. I often agreed.

TV legend Rick Peckham and radio play-by-play man Dave Mishkin were always great to me as well while I also enjoyed many Phil Esposito stories over the years. Others that wandered around the press box at different times included Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Marty Brodeur, Mike Emrick, Cam Neely (wanted to cheap shot him, but I controlled myself), Jim Rutherford, Brad May, Stu Grimson, Don Koharski and Ron Francis to name just a few. Always enjoyed seeing Walt, Jan, Erik, Lonnie, Matt and Igor as well.

When Jeff Vinik bought the team, everything changed. Steve Yzerman took over as GM and installed a young, brash coach named Guy Boucher. The two built and coached the Lightning to the conference finals the first season, where they lost 1-0 to the hated Boston Bruins in Game 7.

Boucher was a quote machine. I remember one time after practice when he came into the small press room and the podium was higher than normal. Someone asked him jokingly whether he felt more power being that far above us.

"No. You have the power. You have the power of the pen," he quipped.

After a tough loss, he used a line that I always remember Penelope Cruz saying in the movie Vanilla Sky. "Every passing moment is a chance to turn it all around."

However, Boucher is the type of coach that might wear on players and GMs after a few years. His system in the defensive zone seemed to have a short shelf life. I remember seeing him and Martin St. Louis battling verbally after practice and morning skates on the ice several times.

Still, Peter Laviolette was so befuddled by the 1-3-1 trap one game that he told his Flyers to hold the puck behind the net. Why coaches didn't run that system against him all the time, I'll never know. LOL.

Boucher missed the playoffs the next year and was fired during the 2012-13 season. In stepped another coach with personality - Jon Cooper.

Cooper was confident and, because I liked Boucher, I was a little unsure about him at first. He turned the Bolts into a playoff team in 2013-14 and took them to the Cup finals the following season. I was not pleased that season with how he handled top draft pick Jonathan Drouin, though.

I compare Drouin to Hedman in a way. The left wing was an incredible talent, but he was young and imperfect with and without the puck. Instead of bringing him along like Tocchet with Stammer and Heddy, Cooper benched him and did not allow him to spread his wings on the power play much. Drouin still almost led the league in assists per minute played during his rookie season.

Drouin (27 left with Nikita Kucherov) made a mistake by leaving the team because of his treatment from Cooper. Bad advice, poor decision. But he came back that season and had a great playoff run in 2015-16 before scoring 21 goals in 2016-17. However, the wounds he created led to him being traded to Montreal for Mikhail Sergachev after the Bolts missed the playoffs.

Tampa Bay made it back to the conference finals in 2018, but lost to Washington at home in Game 7. My press seat was in the crowd for that series and I remember meeting Yzerman on the steep steps to the main press box after the second period. The look on his face said it all. Is this ever going to happen for us?

The Lightning went 62-16-4 the next season, but lost to John Tortorella, Sergei Bobrovsky and Columbus is the first round. The Bolts led 3-0 in Game 1 at home (and I was making fun of Bob). Blew it. The rest was a mess. Injuries played a big part, but it was a major failure.

Thankfully, all the failures became learning experiences for the Lightning. New GM Julien Brisebois built a slightly more stable team after Yzerman left for Detroit. Cooper stopped playing favorites for the most part and became a future Hall of Fame coach.

The pandemic took me away from the team unfortunately. Two Cups were won. All was good.

While I was working with the Lightning, I also did stories for the Berlin Citizen from afar, writing wrap ups on the area's high school teams. It gave me a chance to write a feature on Niko Koutouvides from Plainville (below, 53), who was going to camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I recently found a printed copy of the Koutouvides story. Had a great time talking to Niko and special teams coach Rich Bisaccia that day at camp and it apparently made the front page of the Citizen.

When the Lightning decided to hire a beat writer after Vinik took over the team and changed the website, it was not for me anymore. I began working for Sportdirectinc, writing deadline game stories and previews with old friend Don Thompson, among others. 

Sportsdirect became Gracenote and Gracenote was bought by Nielsen. Checks came, but sometimes they were delayed. I did it for nine years until the pandemic hit. The staff came back for one week to cover baseball in the summer of 2020 before being terminated.

During my early years in Florida, I was also a stringer for the Tampa Tribune. I did a little softball, soccer, volleyball and basketball, but mostly Friday night football. I covered games at Bloomingdale, Strawberry Crest, Lennard, East Bay, Riverview, Newsome, Spoto, Durant and Brandon. 

Best press box food - Lennard (grinders) and Bloomingdale (wings). Best mascots - Riverview Sharks. Sharkie and Sharkette (below). Best player - Ray-Ray McCloud.

Saw Ray-Ray with Sickles when they played at Brandon one night. He was a running back and I could not believe how quick and elusive he was. It's strange that he became a receiver at Clemson and for the most part in the NFL. His performance that day wowed me like Jiggy Williamson and Nadine Domond did on the basketball court early in my career.

It was sad the Tribune got swallowed up by the St. Pete Times. I enjoyed those Friday nights, except for the Thunderstorms.

I took a few years off, except for my blogs, but finally joined BetUS.com for a different form of writing in January of 2022. I can thank Don Thompson for that gig as well.

I've learned much more about sports betting since (maybe that's not a good thing?). I had no idea what +1100 or -120 odds meant before then. Started playing some parlays at Hard Rock this fall and had some success with football and hockey. If Utah State and UCLA had only scored more points in their NCAA tournament game and Maryland not lost at Northwestern in OT. ... sigh.

It's 40 years since that first professional story. Hard to believe. There are so many people to thank. Honestly, there's not enough space on the internet to give everybody their due. I don't want to leave anyone out. You know who you are.

I have been lucky. I've met great people, experienced wonderful places, amazing athletes and witnessed jaw-dropping moments in front of the computer.

As Jack Evans said so well. ... Memories.

But, with all of this, my career is not close to over. I'm still writing. I'm not going to stop. Movies have become a major focus for me. I have written Best of the Year blogs for a decade now. Perhaps at some point I will start a website where I write about sports, music, movies, politics and do a podcast.

Stay tuned. It never ends when you are a writer. Chapters 9 and 10 are coming.

Some day.

 

My 40 Years in Journalism: Chapter 7: A Year With The Whale, NHL Memories

 

 

By Mark Pukalo

Robert Petrovicky scored against the Whalers and Keith Primeau had the only tally for Hartford on March 20, 1997 in St. Louis. My trip up the Gateway Arch earlier in the day was way more exciting.

A 4-1 loss was the fourth of six straight defeats for the Whale. While the team went to the airport to leave for Dallas, I finished my late story in the press room, mentally and physically drained, with a late winter cold about to hit me hard.

I decided to walk back to my hotel. It wasn't particularly far. Just go out the front, take a left down the main street a few blocks and another left to my hotel. Simple.

One problem. For some reason, they would not let me out the front of the then-Kiel Center for some reason. I was directed to go out the back door, but I failed to ask what was my best plan to get to my destination. Or, at least I don't remember. No biggie. I know what direction my hotel is in. Just walk and I'll get there. 

Bad decision.

I could not get back to the main street and I could not go straight toward my hotel. I kept going left and left and left. Soon, I was lost. I was walking in a big winter jacket, carrying my laptop in a bag and cursing loudly. Eventually, I was able to start going back to the right. But I was not in a safe area. I could have easily been robbed or worse. I was lucky. 

It's kind of embarrassing, but I flagged down a cop car. He probably thought I was looking to buy drugs when he first saw me walking. I told him what happened. It looked like he thought it was funny.

"So, you want me to drive you back to your hotel?" he said.

He did. Thanks Blue. Not the Blues.

You are free to laugh. It was a weird night, but an amazing season with plenty better days. I had done some work with the team the year before, made some trips, but the final season of the Whale was a wild ride. I worked my ass off, had some good moments at the computer, but mostly learned so much about hockey, being a beat writer and dealing with people.

I just wish I had another year to use what I learned.

My 5-6 years as a season-ticket holder were a lot of fun, from the highs of the 1992 first-round playoff series with Montreal (when I became a true hockey fan) to the lows of the third-period collapse against the Bruins in 1990 - turning a 5-2 lead into a 6-5 loss and a 2-2 series. Bob Beers scored. Sigh.

Anyways, I was thrilled to get some chances to cover the team in 95-96, including the trip to Toronto. I still have the picture of me with the Cup at the Hall of Fame (left). No, I didn't touch it. I am not worthy. I had lunch and beers at Gretzky's as well.

However, I was full-time backup beat guy behind Michael Arace for what would be the final season of NHL hockey in Hartford. It will be 30 years in September of 2026.

With Michael's wonderful wife Brigid pregnant, I was able to make more trips with the team than I normally would have as the B guy. Training camp moved to Barrie, Ontario for a week and I made the trek of more than an hour from Toronto on a bus.

The Whalers played a few games at the Barrie Molson Centre and I rented a car to make the trip to Kitchener for another game. I really enjoyed Barrie, the arena and would have loved to join the Curling Club down the road. Yes, there was a Tim Horton's very close by the hotel and a heck of a sports bar, but I can't remember the name. Would like to go back there some day.

The Live 8 concert was held in the park next to the arena in July of 2005. Bryan Adams, Gordon Lightfoot, Motley Crue, Deep Purple, The Tragically Hip, The Barenaked Ladies, Neil Young and others performed. 

That was one heck of a trip in September of 1996. I was so tired that I slept through the whole plane ride home. I had to be woken up when we were o the ground..

Oh Shanny Boy

The end of the 95-96 season, you could see Brendan Shanahan was frustrated. 

His quotes after the final game in Buffalo were telling. He didn't feel the Whalers could get a fair shake in the league. The officiating in that game - the finale at The Aud - was one-sided. Shanny earned a game misconduct, goalie Jason Muzzatti fought and there were 156 penalty minutes.

(Why oh why did I not take one of the old wooden folding chairs with "Aud' written on the back as I was leaving. I could have given it to Journal Inquirer writer Phil Sweetland, who drove to Buffalo. Damn!)

Rumors started circulating that Shanahan wanted out. Unfortunately, I was tasked with trying to get in touch with him, find someone to talk. I tried, but no one called me back. The only person I spoke with was Rangers broadcaster John Davidson, who didn't know much more than me.. 

When the season began, a trade was going to happen. It was just a matter of when. But Shanahan played two games before being dealt to Detroit. He scored a goal in the 7-3 win over Pittsburgh. Alexander Godynyuk netted the winner in the opener.

Keith Primeau (below) came to Hartford in the trade and was a breath of fresh air. While Shanny was always cordial, except the day after the opener when he snapped at my simple question, Primeau was tremendous and quickly became a fan favorite.

That's what I will remember about Keith. He was always pleasant. However, no Whaler fan can forget when he fought his brother Wayne at the Civic Center one night.

"Nuggies," Arace joked.

There were a whole bunch of characters on that team. Sean Burke, Geoff Sanderson, Adam Burt, Primeau and captain Kevin Dineen were always great to talk to, Jeff O'Neill was a jokester and so was Glen Featherstone. Stu Grimson joined the group as well and contributed great quotes. I'm not surprised he's on TV now.

Hall of Famer Paul Coffey also spent 20 games with the Whalers that year before requesting a trade. I remember talking to Dineen outside the visitor's locker room in Tampa and asked him about Coffey.

"I don't want to talk about anyone who doesn't want to be on this team," Kevin told me.

Coffey went to Philadelphia and faced off against Shanny in the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course he did.

It's Just Another Town Along The Road

I wish I had documented every trip I made that season, but a few stand out.

My visits to Ottawa were great. I really liked that city and the then-Corel Center in Kanata. The route to the city from the airport went along a river for a period, with people skating the whole way. I always think of it when I hear Joni Mitchell sing "I wish I had a river I could skate away on."

My partner in crime often on road trips, Jerry Higgins of the New Haven Register, and I had a few fun days in Ottawa. The Westin Hotel seemed a short walk from everything. I also remember some pretty amazing ice sculptures. 

It had to be the mid February trip when the Whalers dropped a 4-2 decision in Kanata during the playoff chase. I flew home the next day, with a connecting flight in Baltimore, and my plane had to be de-iced twice on the runway. Finally, it took off slowly - I mean slowly - rising up.

The Senators were on that commercial flight with me. They had a game in Washington the next day. Ottawa coach Jacques Martin (below) sat across from me in the front row. A mother, who was sitting in the isle seat next to me, asked if he could switch sides to let her sit next to her son. Jacques kindly obliged.

I did not bother Jacques on the flight. He was working up a plan to beat the Capitals 6-1. But when I missed my connecting flight in Baltimore, Jacques came over to me near the luggage carousel and asked if I would like to hop on their bus to the hotel in Greenbelt with them.

I thought that was quite nice of him, even though it was better for me to stay at the airport. And, who the heck wants to go to Greenbelt? LOL. I stayed in Greenbelt, Md. once for a Whalers game at the old Cap Centre in Landover. and (name drop), future ESPN TV personality Rachel Nichols drove me back after the game. Nice of her.

I boarded the Whalers charter on Thanksgiving for a game the next day against the Panthers in Miami at the old arena - a 1-1 tie. I didn't really have time to explore Miami. The next day might have been my first game at the future Amalie Arena - a 6-3 Whalers triumph.

After surviving St. Louis, I flew to Dallas for a loss against the Stars. I was tired and sick. After finishing my early notebook, I took a nap during the afternoon. Unfortunately, I did not set any kind of alarm or ask for a wake-up call. I woke up maybe a half hour before the opening faceoff.

Luckily, Reunion Arena was a short walk from my hotel.

I wish I had time to visit the Grassy Knoll. But I went out after the game to some really weird places (a go-go bar with women dancing in cages) in the "fun" district. Would like to go there again some day.

My Buffalo trips were kind of interesting. One of the best bar/restaurants I ever visited was Jim Kelly's place at the time, "Sport City Grill."

My favorite trips were all to Canada, except for Tampa. Ottawa, Barrie and Montreal were all wonderful. Walking down Sainte Catherine Street is quite an experience. I played video poker in a grocery store in Montreal. Really. Another place to revisit. I flew Air Canada on a small jet with just one or two other passengers. You could see out the front as we coming in to land.

The Molson Centre was amazing in 1997. I have never felt like I was higher in a building than that one. The Whalers won that contest 4-1. It was Chris Murray's greatest game with the Whale.

The Montreal Gazette headline the next day read "Un Joli Fiasco."

Wild Trip To The Hotel California

The last two days of January, I got a special treat.

I boarded the Whalers charter and headed out for a two-game, two-day trip to California with games against the Kings and the Ducks. Well, it ended up being a four-day trip for me.

The plane stopped in Kansas to refuel and then weaved through the Rockies and down into Long Beach. What an amazing view that was.

It was neat to view a game at the Forum. We sat amongst the fans on press row. I can always say I was there. The game was forgettable.  I spoke with former Whaler Ray Ferraro about California hockey at the pre-game skate for my Sunday column.

With the games ending so late, you sent your story right after the final horn, grabbed a few quotes and phoned them in before the final deadline. The copy editors inserted the quotes into the story. Everything went well that night. I finished up and hopped on the bus for Anaheim. We got there early enough to go to the hotel bar and play some pool. It was a very unique circular hotel where you could peer over the rail to the bottom.

The Anaheim arena is still one of my favorites. I'm sure The Pond (now Honda Center) has lost some charm over the past 28 years, but it was quite a venue in 1997. That was the good thing about that night. However, after a 6-3 loss, all hell broke loose.

I don't feel I took any longer than the night before. I called in the quotes, packed up and left the press room, which was not far from the loading bay where the Whalers' bus parked.

But. ... they were gone.

The bus had left minutes before. They had to make the window for the flight to get out of Long Beach. Whalers PR guy Chris Brown said later he went up to the press box to try and find me. Why the fuck didn't he look in the PRESS ROOM? 

Sigh.

The Ducks PR staff quickly got me a cab and unfortunately the guy was in no hurry. I think he was driving under the speed limit on the highway. We made it to the airport, I got out and the charter was taking off - with my luggage.

What to do? I had the cabbie take me to a local hotel, which was really nice. After a tasty breakfast, I took a shuttle to the hotel at LAX that I had stayed at for the Kings game. I actually talked the front desk into giving me the NHL rate. The Courant should thank me.

I noticed that night the Kings were hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. I called the Kings PR and got a press pass for the game. Why not? Don't recall much about the game (3-2 Chicago win), but I do remember the Hawks' locker room afterward.

Jim Belushi was in there, trading fake jabs with Bob Probert. Chris Chelios, Denis Savard and Tony Amonte were on that team as well.

I walked out of the locker room and toward the VIP entrance where the cabs were and who walked right by me? 

Robert Shapiro. 

I caught a flight back the next day. I think it went through Chicago. Of course, it did.

The Birth of Doogie Howzer

Paul Maurice took over as coach early in the 1995-96 season for Paul Holmgren and was nicknamed "Doogie Howzer" for his coaching chops at a young age.

Maurice (below) knew how to coach and he knew how to treat people, even the media. I can't ever say I had a bad day with Mo. He wasn't always in the greatest mood. No one can be when you're losing. But going into his office at the Civic Center or at Avon Old Farms was never dull.

He was blunt, but he trusted us. He told us stories, gave us good quotes. 

I was learning early in the season. I realized it wasn't the thing to do later on. But sometimes I called him at home on a Sunday after a Saturday night game. He always answered and gave me a few minutes, even though you could hear the fatigue in his voice.

I remember one story he told about a young Eric Lindros. Maurice recalled seeing Eric hop over the boards for one shift in juniors and knocking down all five players on the ice.

It's amazing what Paul has done since. When he was with Winnipeg, I was sitting in the stands for the morning skate at Amalie and somehow he recognized me after all those years. He gave me a quizzical look like "what are you doing here?' smiled and point his hockey stick. I went down to see him after, but he was in a meeting and I didn't have the time to wait.

I hate the stinking Panthers. But I was very happy Paul won his Cup. No one deserved it more. Two is enough, though.

The Sad Ending

Michael was covering the potential move of the team down the stretch, so I did most of the day-to-day coverage during the playoff run.

The day the move was announced, I boarded the charter to Tampa. Apparently, that's where my heart went afterward. The next day I sat with GM Jim Rutherford at the morning skate. Even though I was pissed, I told him North Carolina was probably the best spot for the team if it wasn't going to be in Hartford. Seriously.

The Whalers won that game and the next at home against the Rangers. They went 2-1-1 after that, including the "fiasco" in Montreal.

But in true Whalers fashion, they lost 5-4 at Ottawa and coughed up a 6-4 decision in Long Island against the Islanders. Win one of those games and they reach the playoffs.

It's fitting that the Whalers played the Lightning in that last game on April 13, 1997. Dineen (right) and Glen Wesley scored for Hartford. Burke had 38 saves in a 2-1 win. Brass Bonanza was heard all day. 

It was a strange afternoon. Anger, tears, memories.

Thanks Kevin, Paul, Adam, Geoff, Jeff, Stu, Sami, Glen and all the others for a great season. 

NHL Playoff Magic

I was able to cover the playoffs in 1997 and 2000 before the Courant started cutting back.

The Rangers beat the Devils in the second round, but ran into Lindros and the Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals. I covered the games at MSG during that 1997 series and it was quite an atmosphere.

I was able to stay at the Courant's apartment, which was a short walk from Grand Central Station. Have to say, that was pretty cool. Wish the Rangers made the finals.

I took the train a lot in those days, including to Philadelphia for the finals against Detroit. The Red Wings made short work of the finals, winning the first two in the City of Brotherly Love and finishing it in Detroit.

Darren McCarty scored a rare goal in Game 4 with a nifty move and afterward said "Every blind squirrel finds a nut." Steve Yzerman won his Cup and, yes, so did Shanny.

Three years later, I did some work on the playoffs as well. I went to New Jersey for a story on the Devils-Leafs series. One afternoon, I remember finding a movie theater to pass the time and saw a film named "High Fidelity," which I had not heard anything about. It's one of my favorites of all time.

The Devils won that series and faced the Flyers next. It went seven games and I took the train to Philly for the memorable finale on and off the ice.

It was quite a night. Lauren Hart, the Flyers anthem singer belted out "God Bless America" with a bald head and a hat on after going through chemo. Nothing against Whitney, Marvin, Jose Feliciano and others. But that was the best anthem of any kind I ever saw. Tears were streaming down everyone's face.

It was the game that changed Eric Lindros' career. Scott Stevens laid him out with a neutral ice hit (left). The aftermath of the game was strange. Patrik Elias got the winner with 2:32 left for the Devils. No one could get much info on how Lindros was doing.

There were some pretty surprising stories floating around about how the Flyers treated Lindros after that game. Who knows which ones were true, but it was ugly.

Didn't do much with the NHL after that, but I continued writing draft stories. Chris Higgins, Dan Lacouture, Doug Janik, Ron Hainsey and others were profiled. It gave me a chance to speak often with Gary Dineen, who ran the Springfield Pics junior program.

Dineen was one of my favorite people. I did a feature on him that I think was one of my best pieces of all time. Gary passed away in 2006.

(Check out this link for the story https://www.courant.com/2001/06/22/hockeys-true-believer/)

He always talked about Bill Guerin. Gary told me that Bill was the kind of guy who would knock his mother down in the backyard hockey game, but then make her dinner.

I saw Guerin in the Lightning press box when he was GM of the Minnesota Wild one night and mentioned that story to him. He laughed. Janik was also in the press box last year as a scout. It all kind of comes full circle with hockey.

The 1999 NHL Draft in Boston was very memorable. I was there when Brian Burke made the big move to draft Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Atlanta picked Patrik Stefan first and Pavel Brendl went to the New York Rangers fourth, sandwiching the two Swede brothers. The Sedins were the only players selected in the first round that made a major impact. That was also the year Janik went to Buffalo in the second round.

In 2002-2003, I became a Lightning fan. The next season I flew down for Game 7 of the Finals, but could not get a ticket. I watched it in the bar and on the big screen outside the arena.

In 2007, the Lightning drafted a young man from the Montreal area named Alex Killorn. He was playing for Deerfield Academy and I had a chance to go see him play a couple times against state prep schools. The first time was at Avon Old Farms.

I stood near the glass on one side and the two people next to me were rooting for Deerfield. When I had a chance, I asked if Alex was a good kid or something like that.

"I hope so," the mom said. "He's our son."

Told Alex (left) that story years later at Prospect camp. Little did we know that he would win two Cups with the Lightning many years later.

Hockey took me to some amazing places where I met some great people. College life brought me to soccer and my move to the Hartford area brought me to hockey.

Both have given me so much since.

My 40 Years In Journalism: Chapter 6: College Ice Ice Baby

 

 

By Mark Pukalo

I saw Boston College end a 52-year drought to win an NCAA title, the growth of Division I hockey in Connecticut, witnessed a crowded bar sing along to a Vanilla Ice song and may have been in a movie without even knowing about it.

Such was my experience covering college hockey and the AHL in my final 7-8 years with the Harford Courant.

When the Whalers left for Raleigh, I dove into high school hockey and began to dip my toes in the water of college hockey. Yale gave me my first taste of a real college hockey atmosphere.

The 1998 Yale team, led by defenseman Ray Giroux and forward Jeff Hamilton, reached the NCAA tournament before losing to Ohio State 4-0 in the first round. I went down to the Yale's Ingalls Rink on Friday or Saturday nights several times and loved it.

The unique building, featuring a ceiling designed like a whaling ship, has a great history and the team was exciting with legendary Tim Taylor (left) at the helm. Taylor was very nice to me all the way through, even after my editors forced me to dig into his depression issues after coaching the unsuccessful 1994 Olympic team. He passed away in 2013.

Taylor stands as one of the best people I met along the way. He deserved better. Taylor was forced out of his job in 2006 and apparently Yale loosened some of the requirements to get some better players in afterward. New coach Keith Allain did a good job, winning an NCAA title after I left in 2013. Imagine that. Yale beat Quinnipiac for the national championship. Who could have predicted that when I started covering state teams in 1998?

Quinnipiac, Fairfield, UConn and Sacred Heart joined MAAC hockey in 1998-99. The Huskies actually won the tournament at home in 2000, but I don't remember much about it. The league did not get an automatic NCAA bid until 2001 when Mercyhurst won the tournament and played Michigan tough.

Athletic Director Jack MacDonald at Quinnipiac was the catalyst of Division I Connecticut college hockey. The Bobcats were very aggressive in recruiting and had a brash, young coach in Rand Pecknold.

Pecknold seemed a bit more of a salesman at first, but developed into a very good hockey coach. He led the Bobcats to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2002 where they lost to Cornell 6-1 in Worcester, Mass.

Quinnipiac hockey was going places, though. Eventually, the Bobcats left Northford Rink and had their own beautiful arena that I visited a few times before leaving the job. Pecknold is still there and took Quinnipiac to three NCAA title games before finally winning here in Tampa two years ago.

One year later, UConn reached the NCAAs for the first time.

It was quite a journey from covering the first MAAC tournament semifinals at Holy Cross in 1999 to today. It makes me happy that I was in on the ground floor of college hockey in Connecticut.

I just wish I could hear the Yale pep band play "The Love Boat Theme" and Brittney Spears' "Oops, I did it Again," just one more time. 

Pure magic.

Frozen In Time: The NCAA Tournament

The 1998 Frozen Four at the Fleet Center in Boston was the first I was able to cover.

Michigan edged Boston College 3-2 in overtime with goalie Marty Turco besting Scott Clemmensen. What a crowd with two big bands creating an amazing atmosphere.

Two years later, BC had another chance with Brian Gionta's team. However, the Eagles were beaten by North Dakota 4-2 in Providence. Future NHL defenseman Mike Commodore scored the first goal for the then-Fighting Sioux.

The most memorable Frozen Four for me was in 2001 at Albany. It produced a rematch between North Dakota and BC in the final. I always liked BC coach Jerry York. When I drove to Chestnut Hill to do a feature on future Hartford Wolf Pack defenseman Mike Mottau, York was very welcoming.

It was time for him to win it. The Eagles had not won a championship since 1949. But BC had to work overtime.

Because of a Saturday night deadline and the way the press is seated in some of those older buildings for a big event, the media ends up watching the end of the game on a TV in the press room.

You could hear the roar and the walls shake above the press room a few seconds before seeing Krys Kolanos (left) score the winner on TV for the Eagles. Needing a quick lead to get the top of my story out, I wrote a one-word lead.

"Finally."

I reworked the story later, but it was one of the best college hockey memories I have. What a night n Albany.

I'm not sure when it was that weekend, but I asked the person at the front desk of my small motel outside the city limits if there was a late-night bar to go have a bite to eat and a few beers. He or she directed me to take a left and follow it to the first intersection.

It was definitely a townie bar, but seemed safe enough and I settled for a few beers. But, oh no. It was Karaoke Night. 

After a few poor performances, someone got up and threw the crowd into a frenzy. He started singing "Ice, Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice. The patrons at the bar joined in. All of them. It was a party. There was dancing. I watched in amazement and tried not to laugh.

I know. Some things you just can't forget.

Traveling With Trinity

In the winter of 2005, the Trinity Bantams made it to the Division III Final Four and I was able to make the trek to Middlebury, Vt. Trinity was led by coach John Dunham, who was a delight to deal with.

I worked in the office that day and took off without a hotel booked for the semifinals against St. Thomas, Minn. the next day. I had no clue where to stop and I went too far as it turns out, but some 20 minutes from Middlebury I found a small hotel. I woke up the clerk after midnight and was a little apprehensive about the place. But I was kind of desperate, and tired.

Luckily, it only reminded me of the Bates Motel. 

The Middlebury arena (below) was absolutely beautiful. What a nice little city. Would like to go back some day. Unfortunately, the Bantams lost 4-1 and I could not stay over. It was a long ride home. 

Prowling with the Wolf Pack

In my last two years at the Courant, I had a chance to cover the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack.

It was a way better experience than I anticipated. With beat writer Bruce Berlet away for the start of the 2006-07 season, there were plenty of opportunities to see some developing NHL players.

The year before I covered a few games and defenseman Dan Girardi was getting his start. Goalie Al Montoya was on the team both years. But at training camp in 2006, we saw the first of Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan.

I made trips to Springfield, Worcester, Providence and Lowell. I remember a big night for Dubinsky in Worcester, interviewing Callahan after a win in Providence and an amazing comeback in Lowell on a Sunday afternoon.

That's another game story I would like to find. If I remember right, Hartford was down a few goals late, with nothing going on and enduring a tiring stretch on the road. They may have had some injuries as well. But they battled back to win.

There was a quote from coach Jim Schoenfeld after the game that I could not use. Let's just say he doesn't normally "laud" his teams after games, but he was very pleased with their effort against the odds. Unfortunately, it was too profane and would need too many .....s. I wish I could remember it word for word. It would make even Lori Riley chuckle.

Schoenfeld was great to work with that year. He was honest, asked me opinions and always gave his time with a smile.

Years after that I saw Schoenfield in the press box at Amalie Arena and he would come over to talk. Guess who I also chatted with in the press box during that period of time? Yes, Don Koharski.

If you know hockey lore, those two are connected. "Have another donut ya fat pig," Schoenfeld yelled at Koharski after a period of NHL hockey when they were coach and referee.

Koharski never told me personally, but I heard that Don was ultimately grateful about that incident. It made him think about getting healthier and it might have saved his life.

Oh, and I had to watch the documentary "Secret Mall Apartment" very closely. It is a documentary about a group of artists in Providence who built an illegal apartment in a forgotten area between the mall and the parking garage near the old Civic Center between 2003-07. I was in that garage a few times that year covering the Wolf Pack.

Nah, they didn't show me walking to my car. Darn.

My 40 Years In Journalism: Chapter 5: Tales From The College Pitch

 

By Mark Pukalo

It was Sunday, September 3, 1981, my first weekend on campus at UConn before classes began. I didn't know too many people, but decided to follow the crowd to the stadium for the men's soccer opener against Saint Louis.

It became one of the best games I ever saw in person for any sport. 

I sat amongst the crazies behind the North goal and watched the Huskies win 4-3 in overtime. I had a new passion. One Halloween I actually dressed up as UConn coach Joe Morrone, with a suit jacket and a clipboard.

I had been a little interested in soccer over the years, especially when Pele came to the New York Cosmos. I monitored New England Tea Men games on the radio. I remember listening to UConn lose on an icy field at Hartwick in the 1990 NCAA quarterfinals.

But that day in 1981, and that season, was when I became a soccer fan. I went to games with my floormates from Fairfield Hall in the Jungle. Am I remembering right? Did we actually take a keg to the game on Wednesdays?

Not sure. Can't be true. 

However, that season ended with me screaming in the kitchen at home in Canterbury after hearing the call of Jim D'Orsaneo's flying header off Jimmy Lyman's perfect cross to win the national championship. The next season we braved a snowstorm to watch the Huskies lose to Columbia in the quarterfinals. 

When I got to the Courant, I was able to write about a few UConn men's games the first couple years, but I did not cover the prominent contests until Ray Reid took over as coach in 1997. While the UConn administration was sloppy and careless the way they treated Morrone at the end, Reid did an amazing job. I wrote about the transition for Soccer America magazine.

Reid was more guarded than most coaches, which made it difficult at times. However, once he got his system in place, he loosened up just a bit. His 2000 team allowed me to write a national championship game story.

That was a memorable weekend as UConn beat a talented SMU team in the semifinals and took care of Creighton in the final with one of my favorite players and people Chris Gbandi leading the way. Gbandi is now the coach in Storrs.

"When the final seconds had ticked away and another talented offensive team had been shut out, they sprinted to their fans and leaped into the crowd. They danced. They hugged. Every second was savored.

The UConn men's soccer team always believed it could be the best in the country. Now, on the same turf where their season ended in tears a year earlier in the semifinals, the Huskies had proved they were champions."

The lasting memory of that game at Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte was Darin Lewis scoring the second goal in the 2-0 win before running to where Connecticut was painted on the field and laying on the T while extending his arms.

It was not my first final four of college soccer. It was my fifth, and last.

My Favorite Soccer Team: "The Sensational Seven"

When the 90s began, I started covering more college soccer. Many weekend afternoons and weekday nights were spent at the University of Hartford. The only bad thing about that was I had to drive over the colossal speed bumps while weaving my way to Al-Marzook Field.

Hated those things. They were like mountains.

No doubt my favorite season was in 1992, when the Lady Hawks took me on a wonderful ride all the way to the Final Four in Chapel Hill, N.C. The cover of the media guide pictured the seniors on that team with a caption reading "The Sensational Seven Seniors."

Whoever came up with that line nailed it.

"When (the seniors) came in as freshmen, they changed the program," Hartford coach Austin Daniels said that year. "There was a solid group there already, but these players were the ones that made the difference in 1989 and got better each year."

Nancy Kramarz, Karen Romero, Km LeMere (bottom from left), Suzanne Laakman, Jeannae Dergance, Beth DeBlasio, Tammy Thompson (top from left). I knew LeMere from covering her in high school at Torrington and Thompson at Simsbury. Kramarz and LeMere are two of my favorite people along the 40-year journey. 

The younger players on that team were great as well, like spirited freshmen Jessica Reifer from California and Amy Fournier from Washington. Junior Rose Daley was awesome beside LeMere up front. I covered Jewel Cooper, Jann Gregory, Lisa Kesselman and Kim Early in high school while Stacy Roth was a co-ed soccer teammate for a few games later on. Great players. Great young women. All of them. And they had a perfect role model.

Daniels was the calm, steady hand on that team's back. The UConn grad became a friend and I was sad to hear he passed away from a long illness last year. He is missed.

There were so many great games to cover that year, but none better than the matchups with coach Jim Rudy and UMass, along with the incredible game against UConn at home. Hartford won 2-1 in front of a huge crowd against the Huskies. A picture of LeMere celebrating the winner, sliding on her knees with arms straight up in the air (below) graced the Sports cover.

Those were the days at the Courant. Great photos, editors who knew what was important, and no on-line stories needed.

Everything set up a battle for a spot in the Final Four with UMass on a frigid November day at Al-Marzook. The Hawks were able to celebrate on the field as they pulled out a 2-1 victory. Owen Canfield was there with me and wrote a wonderful column, as only he could, without seeing the team all year.

The Hawks had a date with Duke in the national semifinals and I took the trip to Tar Heel Country. It was one of my favorites. I was able to get a press pass to the Dean Dome for a basketball game (Cinnamon Pretzels, yum) and really enjoyed the campus.

The only downer was the Hartford offense could not get on track and the Blue Devils earned a 1-0 victory. The Hawks were disappointed they would not get a chance against Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and the Tar Heels - even though NC won 9-1 in the championship game played on a sloppy field.

The night after the semifinal game was spent in the hotel bar with the coaches and the seniors. They had moved on. They laughed, they danced, Every time I hear the song "Hip Hop Hurray" from Naughty by Nature, I think of that night. I tried to get them to play some Bruce on the jukebox, but I was outvoted.

Daniels left for Colorado in 1996 and Mark Krikorian brought the Hawks to the NCAA quarterfinals in 1999. That gave me a trip to Penn State where Hartford was beaten 2-0. The soccer field was in the vicinity of the great football stadium. What a campus.

Those teams were solid, but could not match the guts, talent and the personality of the 1992 group. It's been almost 33 years. Heyyyy Ho. ... Heyyyy Ho. Miss those days.

The Whalers And Whalen

The UConn women's team allowed me a trip to the Final Four in Greensboro, N.C. in 1997. The Huskies beat Hartford in double overtime in the second round and routed William & Mary in the quarterfinals to set up a date with powerful Notre Dame.

It was also the first year after the Whalers had moved to Carolina and I was assigned to write a story on the atmosphere at the Greensboro Coliseum. It was good to visit some of the players who made the move to Carolina like Kevin Dineen, Sean Burke, Sami Kapanen, Keith Primeau, Jeff O'Neill, Adam Burt, Geoff Sanderson and Glen Wesley.

I took some shots at Carolina in the story, so apparently it was well received in Hartford. But my primary job that weekend was the UConn women and they gave me an exciting game to cover in the semifinals.

Notre Dame outshot the Huskies badly, but Sara Whalen (left) scored twice and Ellington's Heather Stone made some key saves for coach Len Tsantiris in a 2-1 victory. My press seat was behind the goal where UConn preserved the victory in the second half.

"Put them in any order you want, but the three elements UConn needed against Notre Dame in their NCAA women's soccer semifinal materialized on a magical Friday.

Defense. Luck. Sara Whalen."

North Carolina had too much for the Huskies in the final with US national team players Cindy Parlow and the very likeable Lorrie Fair leading the way to a 2-0 win. I recapped the Final Four in a story for Soccer Digest when I got home.

UConn had plenty of talented players and great people as well, led by Kristen Graczyk (now Corona), and including Carey Dorn, Chrissy McCann, Jen Carlson, Kerry Conners, Kerry Page, Karen Ferguson and Sarah Barnes - among others.

That 1992 game at Al-Marzook and the magical Friday afternoon in Greensboro top the list of UConn women's soccer moments for me.

Two Years With Sasho

A young coach with a big personality took over the Hartford men in 1991 and turned the Hawks into an NCAA tournament team.

Sasho Cirovski was smart, friendly and commanded attention with a strong team in 1991. The Hawks won the league title on the wet turf at Nickerson Field against BU to reach the NCAAs for the first time, led by forward Vito Serafini among others.

I traveled to Columbia for the first round win, but could not follow Hartford to Charlottesville to see their 2-1 loss in four overtimes against Virginia. The Cavaliers went on to win the national title.

The Hawks made it back to the NCAAs next year, but lost at Seton Hall in the first round. Then, Cirovski was gone. Maryland stole him away and the Terrapins have won three national titles since.

Cirovski (left) called me after he decided to take the job in Maryland. He was almost apologetic. He thanked me for my work. I told him how much fun it was covering his teams and wished him luck. I heard he later nominated me for the New England Soccer Writer of the Year. Didn't come close to winning, of course. But it was nice of him.

Hartford wasn't the same to cover afterward. Jim Evans had some success, but did not have the same personality and talent as Cirovski. I was able to take a trip to UNC-Charlotte for an NCAA quarterfinal game, which the Hawks lost 3-0 in 1996, but they only made the NCAAs twice.

Southern Nights In Florida

Ray Reid built a dynasty at Southern Connecticut before taking over at UConn. I rarely saw them play, but I was able to cover the Owls in the Division II Final Four twice.

The Owls beat Gannon 2-0 in the 1993 semifinals and lost in the final at Melbourne, Fla. However, the thing I remember most about that weekend was the pulsating semifinal game between Seattle Pacific and host Florida Tech.

My story was in already and just needed a line on who won the other semifinal that would never end. The teams tied 3-3 in regulation and skillful Tech delivered two goals in overtime to take the lead, but Seattle Pacific scored with 62 seconds left in the second OT and in the waning seconds to survive. After 30 more minutes of scoreless sudden-death OT, it took 13 rounds to end the penalty-kick shootout in Seattle Pacific's favor.

A story on the internet said the game last 4 hours and 7 minutes. It is one of the best soccer games I have ever seen for skill and drama. Just amazing.

The two players I remember most from that Southern team were talented goalie Bo Oshonyi and midfielder George Kiefer, who would later become the head coach at USF.

The following year Southern returned to the Sunshine State as I was introduced to my future home. The Owls took on the University of Tampa in a 0-0 tie as goalkeeper Rick Koczak from Wallingford put on a show before the hosts won a PK shootout.

Tampa felt like home. It wasn't long before I started vacationing here. I guess I can thank the Owls 

Central Had Plenty Of Heart

You almost forget about Central Connecticut soccer, but I had some good times occasionally covering teams coached by Shaun Green (men) and Mick D'Arcy (women).

Green, a product of Newcastle, England, was a great interview and stuck around for more than 30 years as coach - well after I left the state. It all nearly ended in the early 2000s when he suffered a heart attack. His recovery turned into a feature story for me. I look back at some of the quotes now and think about how just being diagnosed with heart failure a few years ago changed my life.

"The problem is you tend to think you always have something left in your account," Green said. "You always save a little bit of yourself. Since then, I'm not that way. I try to get as much out of every day as I possibly can. Every day is worth 10 times what it was before. ... If I do live until 80, I'd feel blessed that I had a heart attack. It's made me a much better person."

I knew D'Arcy (left) a little before he took over as coach at Central. He was an assistant with both the men and women at Hartford and worked for Tony DiCicco's camps. D'Arcy, a native of Ireland, is approaching his 26th year as coach. I can still hear him yelling "Ohhhh, Mr. Referee!"

The best memory I have of his team was their 1-0 victory at Boston College in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. I wrote my story in a little hut near the field, on the outskirts of the campus. Kelly Shimmin led the Blue Devils, who lost to UConn in the second round 3-2 in three overtimes. Don't remember that game. Perhaps I was covering something else that day.

 The Huskies went on to the NCAA championship game that year, only to lose 6-0 to North Carolina.

Woooooooo!

Some of the players with the men's college teams I covered went on to suit up for the Connecticut Wolves.

The Onolfo Family founded the team that played in the USISL to start in 1993. Clif Onolfo ran the Wolves for the first four years until the city of New Britain bought the team. While his brother Curt played for the national team and was always classy, Clif was more of a snake-oil salesman.

It was a poorly run team off the field, but there were some memorable moments at Willow Brook Park. Tony Meola showed up to play one night for example. I think Glastonbury's Erik Barbieri scored on him. They met a club team from Latvia one night. National team player Janusz Michallik played some games with the Wolves in 1995 as well.

The best thing about the Wolves was player/coach Leszek Wrona. The former Polish national was always a pleasure to talk to. He went on to coach other teams and then led the girls and boys squads at Plainville High.

On To MLS

The 1994 World Cup created a buzz that turned into a new pro league in America. Major League Soccer opened its doors in 1996 and I was allowed to cover the teams in Foxborough and New Jersey the first few years.

I traveled to cover the New England Revolution more often than the New York/New Jersey MetroStars and had a lot of fun with it. The Revs had a good following and some characters, led by Italian goalie Walter Zenga early on.

I didn't write on deadline some nights in Foxborough and I can remember zipping out to the media lot after the game ended, listening to the Beatles classic song "Revolution." You always worried if MLS would survive early on, but look at it now.

I covered the first MLS Cup final as D.C. United beat the LA Galaxy 3-2 in Foxborough. Not sure about 1999 and 2002. Really enjoyed some of the Revs teams that could never win a Cup. Michael Parkhurst (left) was one of the best defenders and Shalrie Joseph was fun to watch in the middle of the field while Taylor Twellman and Clint Dempsey could score with anyone.

Twellman seemed to start every answer after games with "At the end of the day. ...," which became a running joke in the press box. Later, he became an analyst on TV. Maybe he was just fooling with us.

Dempsey was a force, and always a good quote. However, some of the players used to joke about how bad his try at rap music was. Lots of swear words. LOL.

Miss those trips for night games at Gillette Stadium. I don't watch as much soccer these days. Perhaps some day, I will get into it again.

Those crisp autumn days in New England will not be forgotten, though. Whether it was Joe Morrone Stadium, Al-Marzook Field or even at Yale, where the men made a run in 1991 under Steve Griggs and Rudy Meredith's women reached the round of 16 in 2005, it was more than just a job.

Soccer was my life in the 90s.

My 40 Years In Journalism, Chapter 4: American World Cups

 

By Mark Pukalo

I came down the elevator from somewhere in the Chicago clouds on June 17, 1994 and met the door man at the ground floor with shock washed across his face.

"OJ. He's in a bronco. With a gun to his head!" he said.

Huh?

It was a total surprise to me. I was so focused on my job covering the opener of the 1994 World Cup soccer tournament at Soldier Field between Germany and Bolivia that I had not heard about the madness on the left coast the previous few days.

I was heading across the street to Kitty O'Shea's for some food, beer, a little Irish music (the Unicorn Song was heard) and to watch the Knicks-Rockets in the NBA finals. Unfortunately, every television in the wonderful bar had the bronco chase.

It was crazy. 

The FIFA Men's World Cup returns to the United States next year (unless they move it) for the first time since and I probably won't be able to attend any games. I still have so many great memories from 31 years ago. Someone asked me recently what was the best experience in my career and it's easy. The summer of 1994.

I had covered the U.S. national team for quite a while since they qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. My first story was on Paul Caligiuri, whose long-range shot beat Trinidad & Tobago to get the Americans back in the tournament after a long absence. I interviewed him one day after the team trained at a small field in Wallingford.

One of my favorite stories was when I called John Harkes (left) at his home in England when he was playing for Sheffield Wednesday between 1990-93.

"The Daily Telegraph said of Harkes: "The last American to hear such roars of approval - from one side of Wembley Stadium at least - was Bruce Springsteen."

One of my best friend's sisters Pam Calhoun Sievers lives in the Chicago suburbs and close to where Germany was training before the Cup opener. I proposed that I fly in a few days earlier, go to the Germans camp to do a story, and my editors approved. I believe the first night I was there I watched the Rangers win the Stanley Cup.

The Germans' camp was amazing. They trained on a beautiful high school field and held a press conference afterward. In pure German form, everything was set up impeccably. I got what I needed and headed to Chicago.

The press room at Soldier Field was huge and when I received my seat I realized I would be out in the sun. It was brutally hot and I sat way down near the center line for the pregame festivities. Oprah apparently fell through the stage after introducing Diana Ross. Bill and Hillary were there.

The game was fine. Jurgen Klinsmann (above), who lived in California and would later coach the US National team, scored the only goal in a 1-0 German win. I might have sat in the press room for the second half because it felt like 100 degrees outside. Then, I found out about OJ.

I stayed up way too late and got very little sleep before heading to the airport for m early flight to Detroit to cover the first USA game at Pontiac Stadium. The flight was overbooked and I had fear for a while that I would be bumped.

Swiss fans were ringing cowbells on the flight. I was told that there would be shuttle rides to the stadium at the airport in Detroit. But I had to fight to get into a car for the half hour ride to the Silverdome.

I walked to the entrance at Pontiac and the guy at the door said something like, "Do you really want to go in there?" You did and you didn't. It felt like a sauna inside and I made it to my seat with very few minutes to spare before the kickoff.

It was an amazing game. I had a perfect view of Eric Wynalda's brilliant free kick that found the net as the Americans worked out a 1-1 tie. Somehow, my pass for the media area (the infamous Mixed Zone) was not in my packet (well, it was, but I could not find it at first). I was lucky to see some people I knew from US Soccer and I joined the scrum around Tony Meola and Wynalda, among others.

What a day. I went to the work room at the media hotel and watched Ireland beat Italy.1-0 on Ray Houghton's beautiful shot from way outside the penalty area. 

I believe I covered 11 games in the tournament, staying in Foxborough or Giants Stadium for the final nine. I don't remember something from all of them, but a few stand out.

The first game I made in Foxborough at the old stadium was Greece versus Argentina. Diego Maradona was likely playing in his last World Cup at 33 and scored a magical goal in a 4-0 triumph for the Argentines. He only played one more game before failing a drug test and getting banned for the rest of the tournament. I was there for his last goal in a World Cup.

The only other memorable first-round game was in East Rutherford, N.J. and it wasn't because of the play on the field. The crowd was like none I have ever seen. It was a 0-0 tie, but the fans of Norway and primarily Ireland sang the whole game. I've sat in many arenas or stadiums with stirring atmospheres. This one was the best.

I also covered four incredible 2-1 games in the knockout rounds.

First it was Italy versus Nigeria in Foxborough. Roberto Baggio saved the Italians with a goal in the waning minutes of regulation and forced a penalty before converting the winner in the 110th minute.

Next it was a quarterfinal in Foxborough between the Italians and Spain. My lead in that story read this way.

"Blood dripped from Luis Enrique's nose, spreading on his Spanish national team uniform in the final minutes. A look of distress washed across his face.

Enrique's nose was broken by an errant elbow from Italian defender Mauro Tassotti. But the sucker punch the Italians laid on the Spaniards a few minutes earlier was much more painful."

Baggio's 88th minute goal gave Italy the win and sent them to the semifinals in New Jersey.

Another Eastern quarterfinal at Giants Stadium was an upset as Bulgaria sent Germany home earlier than expected. The irrepressible Hristo Stoichkov tied the game with a banger of a free kick and Yordan Lechkov's shiny bald head delivered the winner for Bulgaria, which barely qualified for the tournament. In the something you will rarely see category, the Bulgarian press stood up and cheered the win.

That set up a semifinal with Italy, and Baggio scored twice in the first 25 minutes. Stoichkov cut the lead in half before intermission, but the Bulgarians could never find the equalizer. 

It looked like this would be Baggio's World Cup. However, he missed a penalty in the shootout after a 0-0 tie and Brazil took the trophy. I did not attend the final at the Rose Bowl, but wrote a story while watching the game with both Italians and some Brazilians in Hartford.

It was sort of an anti-climactic end to an amazing month. The travel was tough at times, but it was all worth it. It was a different time in America. People enjoyed the diversity. They came together to watch the beautiful game.

We may never get that back

Hail To The 99ers

It was 1991 and the United States women's soccer team had just won the first FIFA World Cup in China.

I have memories of writing something when they got home, centering around Wilton's Kristine Lilly. The 20-year-old was at the University of North Carolina and a key member of the Americans' midfield.

It was the first of many stories I wrote about Lilly, Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Julie Foudy and many others. They were amazing group to be around and when Wethersfield's Tony DiCicco took over as coach, the coverage went to a new level.

The World Cup came to the USA in 1999 and the tournament was a springboard for women's sports in the country. Every sport. Fans fell for this group of players, who were so tough, so skillful and so accessible.

I covered the tournament with our incredible soccer historian Jerry Trecker and my friend Lori Riley. Lori was pregnant with her daughter Kate at the time, but she soldiered on through the games we covered in Foxborough and Giants Stadium.

I honestly don't remember many of the games we were at, but the final first-round game under the lights in Foxborough was not forgotten. Shannon McMillian broke a scoreless tie in the 56th minute with a howitzer of a shot and Tisha Venturini added two goals for a 3-0 win over North Korea.

We all had to watch the final against China at the Rose Bowl on television, and what an event. Yes, it was a 0-0 tie, but it is still one of the most intense games in my lifetime.

Lilly saved a shot off the goal line and former UMass star Brianna Scurry made a save in the penalty-kick shootout before Brandi Chastain's left-footed shot heard around the world.

I'm not sure which of the players was my favorite to cover over the years. I know the best anecdote was in a Sports Illustrated article about Mia Hamm. Her mother was a dancer and her dad a fighter pilot. That was Mia - poetry in motion and tough as nails, except when I made her cry with a question once.

It is one of my claims to fame. I made Mia cry after the 1992 NCAA Championship game. I asked her how she felt about this being the last game for her and Lilly to play in Chapel Hill. Oops. Lilly had one more year because she sat one out, even though the media guide said "senior." Despite the mistake, the thought still made Mia cry.

Way to go Mark.

Lilly (left) was shy and hard to reach on the phone, but she was always willing to chat as she got to know me. It took me about a month to get her on the phone in Chapel Hill for a story. It took me quite a while to get her when I was writing a story for the "50 best athletes of the 21st century in Connecticut" series. That might have been one of my best pieces ever as I caught up with many of the boys she played on a team with when she was a little soccer wizard.

Foudy was always good to talk to, Akers classy and Tiffeny Milbrett was an under-rated interview. 

There will never be another women's team like them. They were pioneers. I was lucky to spend time covering them.

My 40 Years in Journalism, Chapter 3: Stories From The Road, Oddball Memories

 

By Mark Pukalo

I finished my story on the Celtics-Sixers game in the press room at the Spectrum in Philadelphia early in 1995, and asked what the number was for a cab to take me back to my hotel near the airport.

"Oh, cabs don't come out here this late," was the reply.

Huh? How the heck am I going to get back?

I'm not sure who spoke up first, whether it was Hall of Fame Globe writer Jackie McMullan or the person from the Sixers' radio or TV crew that had another spot in his car for me. But, thankfully, I had a ride.

I don't remember whether there was some bad traffic on the highway or the guy was trying to impress us with his local knowledge, but the driver said he was going to take an alternate route. He knows what he's doing, I thought, sitting in the backseat with Jackie - the first woman to win the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame.

We took a left at some point down a side street and, what the  ... is going on? Dozens of people were running toward us, fleeing something. They streamed by and there was silence for a few seconds.

"Oh, no. They do illegal drag races on this street some nights," the driver said.

Drag races? Police had apparently broken up the fun. Wonder if James Dean got away. 

We turned around and finally got back to our hotels. I always exaggerate it a little bit and say I almost died in a car at 32 with Jackie McMullan. But who knows if we had gotten to that spot a minute earlier? I only covered one or two more Celtics games in my career, but when I saw Jackie again at the old Boston Garden once after that she remembered the strange trip. She couldn't have been nicer.

In parts of five decades as a sports writer, there were oddball trips and some very memorable events I covered outside my main beats. I will have full blogs on both my life covering college and pro hockey and college, pro and international soccer soon.

This one is about all the rest, like the one time I covered the New York Yankees.

Somewhere in the 90s, I was asked to fill in for Jack O'Connell on a quick two-game series in Kansas City. I flew out to KC and hopped in my rental car for the half-hour trip to a hotel in the city.

The skies were dark and getting darker as I started out. Honestly, I had never seen a sky like this before. Soon after, a special weather advisory came across the radio.

"Golf ball sized hail in the Kansas City area. Take cover."

Golf-ball sized? I don't remember why I did not find an underpass to stop at. Maybe there were none that looked safe. But as I was approaching the city, it started to pour. I'm in a rental car that I'm not used to, on a road I've never seen before and I can't see anything.

Many years later, I had a similar situation when I drove into a blizzard in the West Virginia mountains coming back from a horse racing trip to Kentucky. However, I was in my own car and I was able to follow the lights of another vehicle in front of me, just enough to stay safe.

The monsoon in KC lasted maybe five minutes. Seemed longer. Not sure I have been more scared  Luckily, there was nothing stopped in my way and the road was straight. The hail was more like the size of M&Ms and once I could see again it was time to enter the main part of the city.

That was some 30 years ago, but the complex in Kansas City with the two stadiums (above) and the parking lot was amazing. It was a fun trip and the Yankees treated me well.

Baseball memories are few, but I did cover a handful of games at Fenway. When I saw the movie "Moneyball," I can say that Brad Pitt might be sitting in the Courant's seat when he was talking to John Henry late in the film. Maybe Paul Doyle can verify that. I was there for a John Rocker appearance at Fenway as well.

I also covered the New Britain Red Sox a little bit one season. I remember interviewing Curt Schilling while he was young and sane. I saw Tori Hunter go deep. witnessed a three-run deficit evaporate with two out and no one on, but I will always remember Vladimir Guerrero.

I had heard about Vlad when I talked to someone in the locker room pregame. Then, I saw him make the most incredible throw I have ever seen. He tracked down a gapper on the warning track in deep right center, turned and unleashed a laser beam to third base. It soared, dipped, took one bounce and easily nabbed a runner. I'm not even sure it was the guy that hit it. I'm pretty sure it was the guy that started on first base.

Incredible.

I can name drop, too. I went to the bar for lunch at a nice hotel in Tampa the afternoon before a Whalers-Lightning game back in 1997. Whaler brawler Kelly Chase introduced me to Chicago Cubs Brian McRae and Mark Grace, who were visiting. Cool stuff.

Ouch

This story still seems a bit surreal.

I'm not sure what year it was. Maybe just before or just after the New York Giants won their second Super Bowl in 1990, a group of players came to West Hartford to participate in a basketball game. The opponent this night was the Hartford media. Really.

The game was played on a court at the Jewish Community Center in West Hartford. I honesty don't remember all of the players who suited up on either side, except one. His name was William Roberts, a behemoth offensive lineman who played for the Giants from 1984-94.

I was anxious to play, but early on I went up for a rebound in traffic and I came down on Mr. Roberts' huge sneaker. My whole body twisted and I suffered a groin injury. The pain was horrible as I tried to recover in the locker room.

Wanting to play so badly, I came back to join the team for a bit in the second half. I remember hitting one shot from the corner, but I couldn't really move. It took me at least a month to get off the disabled list.

I will always remember the injury. I still don't understand why the Giants wanted to come to play the Hartford media in a small gym. Must have been some sort of benefit tour. I vaguely remember signing autographs afterward. Some guy 30-something now might have my autograph. LOL.

Out On The Links

Golf provided some great times. The drama or individual triumph always made stories easier to write.

I was there for Tiger Woods' win at Bethpage on Long Island in 2002. What a course. We parked 20-30 minutes away and took a shuttle. After the last round, I got home 3-4 in the morning, just in time to watch the USA beat Mexico in the World Cup.

I covered countless GHOs (won't call it anything else), interviewing Tom Watson, Ernie Els, Tom Kite, Paul Azinger, Phil Mikkelson, Greg Norman, Nick Price, Fuzzy Zoeller and many others. It's strange, though. I was looking at a list of the winners from 1986 through 2007 and nothing really stands out. Heck, I don't even remember local boy J.J. Henry winning.

The golf staff went to a Senior PGA event in Paramus, New Jersey one year to work on the 50th anniversary of the GHO special section and got to talk to many legends. That was pretty special.

I saw Martina Hingis putting on the practice green with then-boyfriend Sergio Garcia in the late afternoon at Westchester CC. I covered Bob Tway's son Kevin winning the U.S. Junior, and wrote an A1 story on Liz Janangelo winning Connecticut Women's Open at 13-years-old.

"Elizabeth Janangelo weighed two pounds when she was born. She was nine weeks premature and spent six weeks in the intensive care unit. Nearly 14 years later, Elizabeth is still doing things ahead of schedule."

However, probably my favorite two golf stories involved the names William Salvatore and Brandi Faia.

Who?

Salvatore was the only player to win the State Junior Championship three times (1956-58) and Wethersfield's Richard Breed gave himself a chance to match it in 1988. However, Jon Veneziano of Berlin stood in his way.

The event was my favorite to cover in the summer. Watertown GC was a perfect venue for match play golf. It is filled with unique risk-reward holes. I loved walking it with fellow reporters and catching the key shots from certain vantage points.

Salvatore was a Watertown boy and did not play much golf anymore. He did not attend, but his mother Doris showed up for the match - likely with mixed emotions.

Neither player had more than a one hole lead through the first 16 holes and they were tied on the 17th tee. Veneziano stuck his approach 2 feet away from the pin and went ahead, but his drive on the 18th slid way right. The state high school champ found a window and landed his pitching wedge on the green. Breed (left) could not make birdie and Veneziano finished it in "Salvatorian fashion" with a long, winding birdie putt.

No player has won three in a row since.

Faia caddied for Dave Stockton Jr. at the Nike Connecticut Open in 1993. She was a relatively tiny young woman who had never done the job before, but proved to be a perfect sidekick for Stockton's triumphant week that ended on Father's Day. If I remember right, Dave didn't use the big PGA-type bag. That one might have been bigger than Faia.

"She never said anything wrong and everything was positive," Junior said of his friend. "She's never caddied before, but it seemed like she'd done it for 30 years."

Take that Fluff.

Junior sealed the event with a 60-foot birdie putt on the 17th green and was an absolute delight to watch and interview. He later played pretty well at the GHO. But that week at Yale GC was one of the best I've had covering an event without the big crowds. 

The best thing about our GHO coverage was the 50-year anniversary issue. We each took a decade and mine was the 70s, which I remember well because I had a chance to go there and watch as a kid. Me and my friend Ty Roby used to sit behind the green on the Par 5 16th hole at Wethersfield CC and one year we hunted several autographs as the players made the long walk to the 17th tee. Wish I still had that pad.

It was the perfect decade for me and I wrote a fun story about the local people who had lemonade stands, primarily Jack and Elsie Grant near the sixth fairway. I also wrote a story on Lee Trevino, who met his future wife - when she was 13 - at Wethersfield. I was able to interview the Merry Mex at the course and wife Claudia on the phone. From what I heard, the article was one of the most viewed in Courant sports history. That surprised me.

Probably my favorite story of that project was on the 1979 GHO, which ended on Tuesday without TV coverage after horrible weather from Friday through Monday. Jerry McGee, who was being sued by a former sponsor, found a way to win the event and Jack Renner was second. The tournament staff did an incredible job getting the course ready Tuesday and the WTIC radio coverage was outstanding. 

I was able to track down both McGee and Renner on the phone somehow. The private Renner was harder to reach outside San Diego, but he was surprised and happy to help. The guy who wore the Ben Hogan hat said he had been out of golf circles for a while, but one of the tournaments he missed was the GHO at Wethersfield.

It was always a tiring week to cover the event, which later moved to Cromwell where we parked in the cornfield. It was a lot of fun most years, though. The GHO media days were not bad either.

The previous champion came in during the early Spring for a press conference and all of us media types got a chance to play the course. One year I shared a cart with ESPN's Chris Berman and had a great time. Saw him a few times after that day and he always came over to say hello. I'm still annoyed I did not win the long drive contest that year. I didn't play very well overall, but absolutely hammered one down the 18th fairway with my old wooden driver. I think someone cheated. LOL.

Outside of soccer and hockey, golf probably gave me the most fond memories.

Tennis Anyone?

I did very little with tennis in my career. But the one event, - other than high schools - I covered was a major highlight. I just can't find any details on it. All I can remember is it was a lot of fun and it was close to 100 degrees all week.

It was either in the summer of 1988 or 89 at a small venue in Simsbury with pros over 35-years-old, who all struggled in the heat. Rick Peckham, the Whalers announcer, did the final on the local New England sports channel and one of his lines was, "The players pause for a few seconds to enjoy the first breeze of the week."

Colin Dibley was one name I remember. Perhaps Roscoe Tanner and Rod Laver played? It's going to bother me if I can't find more specifics. It was an amazing week early in my career development.

I vaguely remember covering Hartford FoxForce professional co-ed team tennis at some point. They had a neat stadium set up at Blue Fox Run GC in Avon. The Jensen brothers played doubles for the team.

The only other "sort of" tennis thing I remember is covering one of Ivan Lendl's five daughters winning a junior golf event (Isabelle?). Lendl was there to watch. "Ivan the Terrible" seemed like a decent guy. Apparently, he lives in Vero Beach these days.

Who Am I? What Am I Doing Here?

I was assigned - at the last minute - to attend a get together at the Governor's mansion in Hartford, probably in 1992 or 93. I had no instructions. Just go. Oh, thanks.

I threw on a suit jacket and walked into the affair. To be honest, I'm not sure if I even wrote any kind of story. Perhaps the Courant got a few invitations, someone could not go and they needed someone to fill a spot. I don't remember ever getting an answer.

So, at the time, I was working on the Yale Bowl's bid to host World Cup games in 1994. When I had a moment with then-Governor Lowell Weicker, I asked him a few questions about it and got a quote that I used at some point.

If I remember right, there were higherups from the Courant there. I was told I did well. I'm not sure what I did well. But, great! LOL.

Odds and Ends: Huskies, Warriors and Coneheads

The first time the UConn women's basketball team made the NCAA Tournament, I joined the Husky family and friends at a local restaurant just off campus to see who they would play. LaSalle was to be the first opponent and my byline announced it.

Who could have thought the program would win 12 national titles and not miss the NCAA Tournament since? I still have that sports page (left).

I was able to cover the NCAA men's tournament in Hartford one year, writing a sidebar on a losing team (Army). Early in my career, I traveled to the Trenton, N.J. area to cover the Eastern Connecticut softball team win a national title. It's been so long, but it was one of my first - if not my first - trip out of state to cover an event. The Warriors were a juggernaut at the time.

Another neat memory was covering David Cone's rehab appearance in Norwich after he suffered an aneurysm in his right shoulder in 1996. People wore coneheads in the huge crowd. My story was simple and detailed. The mid-to-late 90s was probably my peak of efficiency before I began to get a little burned out.

The only time I remember covering a regular-season NFL game was a Bengals-Patriots contest at old Foxboro Stadium. I covered the other kind of football much more at that great venue.

I actually enjoyed the few times I covered local stock car racing at Riverside and Thompson. It was a pretty easy night, they had good food in the press box and it was a good change of pace.

It is technically a high school piece, but I also did a feature on Rick Fox's brother Aaron, who played basketball for Suffield Academy. He was an interesting story because he had a bad leg from an accident as I recall, but was still had great hops and was a major factor for the team. He later played at Jacksonville University.

The best I can remember, I covered events in 17 different states from California to Florida to Michigan to Vermont and two Canadian provinces. I have been to only nine other states, counting the time the Whalers charter stopped in Kansas to refuel.

Hopefully, I can build on 26 at some point.