Among the all-time greats.
You have almost certainly heard Eddie Olczyk’s voice if you have seen hockey on television at any time during the previous 20 years. The former NHL player, head coach, and cancer survivor has been a fixture on both local and national broadcasts for years, establishing a reputation as one of the sport’s most astute and approachable analysts. It was inevitable that the news this week about “Edzo’s” huge professional change would create waves across the hockey community.
Olczyk made it public that he was leaving his position as color analyst for the Seattle Kraken’s local broadcast crew, the Kraken Hockey Network. He started working with the group in September 2022, when he joined analyst JT Brown and play-by-play voice John Forslund to form a beloved three-man booth. According to a heartfelt statement released by the Kraken, Olczyk said that his decision was based on personal and family issues, and that he was appreciative of the bonds he had created in Seattle while making it apparent that his time calling local games was over.
A Fresh Chapter on the National Stage
This is where it becomes really interesting. Even though Olczyk is quitting Seattle’s local coverage, he is not abandoning his hockey broadcasting career. He will remain the main analyst for Turner Sports, the network that broadcasts NHL games on TNT. Since 2007, when he first joined NBC Sports, Olczyk has been one of the most prominent voices on U.S. national television broadcasts. He relocated to Turner Sports when the company acquired the U.S. NHL broadcast rights in 2021.
Olczyk made 65 national television broadcasts last season alone, including coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, in addition to his Kraken responsibilities and national radio engagements. The amount of the workload, along with regular cross-country travel between his permanent home in Chicago and a flat in Seattle, eventually became too much. Olczyk chose to streamline his calendar and put being there for his four grandchildren, their children, and his wife Diana first since his 60th birthday was in the middle of August.
It now appears that Olczyk may play a more significant part in the country. He can dedicate himself completely to TNT’s coverage by eliminating the need to follow a local broadcast schedule. Even in his retirement message, he suggested the chance of covering national Kraken broadcasts with Forslund in the future, implying that the two could still come together on the biggest stages the sport has to offer. This is far from a retirement declaration for those who were concerned. In any case, Olczyk’s presence on the national stage might only increase from this point forward.
What This Means for Seattle and the World
Although Olczyk’s departure for the Kraken is bittersweet, it is not completely unexpected. Due to his national responsibilities, Forslund and Brown had a lot of experience together in a two-person booth last season, as he only played 21 Kraken games. While also expressing his enthusiasm for what is to come with Brown as his full-time colleague, Forslund raved about Olczyk. For his part, Brown praised Olczyk for assisting him in growing as a broadcaster over the last four years.
Olczyk’s ties to the Kraken organization are extensive. His brother Ricky is an assistant general manager, his son Eddie works as an amateur scout, and his other son Nick previously worked on Kraken broadcasts before joining the Utah Mammoth. The opportunity to work alongside his brother after their mother’s death was a major factor in his choice to accept the Seattle position in 2022, which made the whole encounter very meaningful.
However, as Olczyk himself stated, since he was married in 1988, every aspect of his life has centered around his hockey calendar. He has earned the right to recover some of his time after fighting Stage 3 colon cancer nine years ago and spending a total of seven years traveling for broadcast work between Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Seattle. The excellent news for hockey fans is that Olczyk will not be leaving. He is just opting to be more selective, and he is laying down roots on TNT’s national broadcasts. If he plays a bigger role in the biggest games in the upcoming seasons, don’t be shocked.
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