RIP Fred Cusick

Everywhere I turn, there is another story how an inordinate number of celebrities have died in 2009. Some heavy hitters have come down for their last breakfast this year, but no death has saddened me more than the passing of Bruins Broadcasting Legend Fred Cusick.

I remember Fred and Johnny (Pierson) but I grew up with Fred and Derek (Sanderson) as the broadcast team for my beloved Bruins. I can still see the old WSBK-TV opening, with Fred’s voice saying something like The Bruins are rolling as of late. Winners of their last four games, they have been firing on all cylinders. The Quebec Nordiques have been in a mid winter lull, and will look to snap out of it tonight on home ice as the Bruins come roaring into town. Live from Le Colisee in Quebec, it the Boston Bruins vs. the Quebec Nordiques on WSBK-TV 38!

Tazzer called me yesterday, and shared his thoughts on the passing of Fred Cusick. I think he hit the nail on the head when saying no one, except for maybe legendary Bruins radio announcer Bob Wilson, could call a fight like Fred. I could not agree more. With his, Sizing each other up at center ice. And here they go! call, he painted a vivid picture of the fight. So much so, if you close your eyes, you could see Lyndon Byers, and Clark Gillies duking it out. My favorite part was Fred’s reaction to Derek. A Bruin could literally be lying dead on the ice after a fight, and Derek would have said Insert Bruin here, really took it to whoever he fought here. Fred would always reply with, He certainley gave as good as he got. Or something like that. That was about as critical as he ever got of the Bruins.

For all the great fight calls, and his signature, Score!call, when Fred passed the other day, I thought instantly of my father. It was he that introduced me to games, and when I think back now, I have so many memories of sitting on the couch with my dad watching. When I was younger, he always cracked me up doing his impression of Fred saying, and the play was ruled..offsides.. as I got older and understood the game of hockey more, he’d point out things about the game.

My father was a long time youth hockey coach. He was also the equipment manager for the town’s youth program for a long time, which made street hockey especially kick ass because we got old goalie pads to use. There are a ton of kids that have stories about my dad, and his coaching methods. As young kids he was there to open the door for us, and offer a pat on the back when the shift was over. It was all about having fun for him, and making sure we had fun too. As we got older, he’d offer advice upon our return to the bench, or scold someone for taking a bad penalty (usually me) but he wasn’t the type to lose his mind out on the bench. It was still a way for us to have fun.

Ever the coach, he’d point out things during Bruins games about how defensemen would talk to one another, or how a center would have his head up, and his stick on the ice. It was kind of like having Johnny Pierson as a dad, only no random tele-strator circles, or trips to a furniture convention every year. His favorite player of all time was Rick Middleton, and he’d love to call him Nifty. That was his favorite hockey term. When writing his columns for the Concord Journal, dad would say, Paul Parker made a nifty pass to Derek Swaim for the games third goal against Gardner. Fred’s terms rubbed off onto my father, and they in turn rubbed off on me.

It has been 17 years and one month since my father died, and there still isn’t a day when I don’t think about him at least once. Fred Cusick’s passing the other day made me think of how lucky I was to have a dad that invested time in his kids, sharing something that he loved with them. I thank my father for passing on a love of hockey that is as strong now as it has ever been, and I thank Fred Cusick for providing the play by play of some of the best memories I have of my entire life. RIP Fred; tell the old man I said Hi.