Everett Fitzhugh: Seattle Kraken Radio Play By Play Announcer. Release The Kraken!

Everett Fitzhugh is my guest for this episode.

Everett is the Seattle Kraken first radio play by play announcer. We chat about his journey to the NHL. Everett had a goal of being in the NHL by 40. He made it with seven year to spare!

Growing up in Detroit Everett began following the Detroit Red Wings and the Edmonton Oilers. He attended Bowling Green University and became a play by play announcer. After college Everett worked for the USHL, The Youngstown Phantoms, and the Cincinnati Cyclones.

When hired Everett became the first Black team broadcaster in NHL history. In February 2022 Everett and JT Brown became the NHL’s first all Black broadcast duo.

Everett and his wife have embraced Seattle and we are enjoying getting to know the city and the area. Of course I ask about coffee and we talk about Cincinnati style chili (spoiler he’s not a fan)

Seattle Kraken Announcer Everett Fitzhugh Episode Transcript

I gotta ask you. You just said that that was the happiest day of your life. Yeah. Is your wife gonna listen to this episode? Because Welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. Here’s your host, Scott Cowan. Welcome to this episode of the Exploring Washington State podcast. I am, talking today with Everett Fitzhugh, who is the radio play by play announcer for the Seattle Kraken. So here’s a guy who talks more than me, and I love that.

Scott Cowan [00:00:46]:

I so ever can you just well, first off, welcome to Washington because you’re not from here originally. So Yeah. What’s the story? How did you end up here?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:00:55]:

Yeah. So I I mean, honestly, I I tell folks all the time the the story of me getting here is, something out of a Hollywood movie. There was an article that was written about me. I’m the only black play by play announcer at any level of professional hockey. So, Tod Leiweke , our CEO, read an article about me, and he he emailed me out of the blue, which I’ve worked in sports my entire adult life. The CEO of a major league team doesn’t email you. So when I saw Tod Leiweke i in the email, email line, I I didn’t believe it. I thought it was spam.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:01:35]:

I thought it was one of, some of my other coworkers playing a joke on me. So I don’t

Scott Cowan [00:01:39]:

even That’s what I would have thought.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:01:41]:

Yeah. I didn’t even answer it for, like, a day and a half maybe, about a day. So I left him sitting there in the inbox for a bit. But I I’ve ultimately, I replied to it. We had a great conversation, and he said that he loved my story and he wanted to know more about me. So we had a great conversation, and he wanted to keep in touch. And then he told me about the NHL Seattle. We weren’t even a crack in yet.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:02:03]:

We were still NHL Seattle. So, well, then COVID hit, and the whole world turned upside down. And, I got furloughed for my job. I was living in Cincinnati working for a double a hockey team at the time. So, baseball reference there. You’ve got double a hockey, triple a hockey, and then the NHL. So I was at double a. So he, I’m sitting there, my wife and I, my my fiancee at the time, now my wife, were coming back from the grocery store and she was like, you ever hear back from that crack that hockey team in Seattle? And I was like, no.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:02:37]:

You know, I I think we’re just gonna it’s it’s a pandemic. They got more important things to worry about than hiring a radio guy. Well, I don’t know. Again, out of a movie, because we’re coming back from the grocery store, and I check my phone, going through my email inbox, and then there’s Todd. Emailed me again, and he said, hey. I know the whole world is is is going through something right now, but we’re still building toward our future. And I wanna know if you’d still be interested in in in a position here. And if so, I’ll put you in touch with our, with our people, and we’ll we’ll start the hiring process.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:03:13]:

So, with the interview process. So once I I pick my jaw up off the floor, I turned to my I turned to Shelley, and I was like, so we’re in that conversation we just had about twenty minutes ago.

Scott Cowan [00:03:25]:

Yeah. Here you go.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:03:26]:

Here’s my phone. We got an email. I I kid you not. I kid kid you not. Wow. Alright. So we had a bunch of Zoom interviews, obviously. We had a few phone calls.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:03:36]:

They were gracious enough to to fly Shelly and I out here to Seattle, for an in person meeting. I got to meet Tod. I got to meet folks that I would be working with. I got to tour the arena site as it was being constructed. And and, you know, they they were trying to sell me on the Kraken and and or I guess sell me on the NHL in Seattle and and sell me on the job. But I’m saying to myself, guys, I should be trying to sell you on me.  I’m coming. If you offer me the job, I’m coming.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:04:08]:

You don’t stop digging. You’ve already

Scott Cowan [00:04:10]:

So so but your negotiation strategy would be bad if you would, you know

Everett Fitzhugh [00:04:14]:

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So we get back to Cincinnati, and then July 14, happiest day of my life. I get a phone call from, my my now boss, Katie Townsend, and and she said we’d love to offer you the job. So Shelly and I were sitting on the couch. I put it on speaker phones, so she heard it too. You know, so we’re we’re jumping up and down.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:04:38]:

We’re laughing, we’re crying, we’re hugging each other and moved out here on October first of twenty twenty. So that that’s how it happened from an article that was read back in late February of twenty twenty until October 1 is my journey from, from Cincinnati to to here to Seattle.

Scott Cowan [00:05:03]:

So I gotta ask you. You just said that it was the happiest day of your life. Yep. Is your wife gonna listen to this episode? Because

Everett Fitzhugh [00:05:11]:

That was the happiest day of my life up till that point. Because a few other things happened have happened since we’ve gotten married. Yeah. You’re actually, the day the day we left for Seattle, we drove across country from Cincinnati. The day we left for Seattle, we were supposed to get married the next day. That was our original wedding date. But because of COVID, we had to push everything back. So we actually got married here in Seattle with a few of our friends, on October 15.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:05:44]:

And then we had our wedding. We just had our wedding back in September. So we’ve been legally married for over a year, but we we had our ceremony back in September.

Scott Cowan [00:05:54]:

He was trying to keep you out of hot water with, you know, the

Everett Fitzhugh [00:05:56]:

wife’s sister. Up until that point, that was the the happiest day of my life.

Scott Cowan [00:06:02]:

So because you brought this up already, I’m I gotta ask you. This is the hard hitting journalism I gotta hit you with. That’s fine. Skyline or Gold Star?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:06:10]:

Oh my goodness. Well so Skyline, because they were a a sponsor of the Cincinnati Cyclones, personally, I did like either. I I’m not a Cincinnati Chili fan. I I don’t like either. I, you know, I

Scott Cowan [00:06:30]:

I don’t get it.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:06:31]:

I will say if you if people who are listening to this, if you find yourself in Cincinnati, try it just to say you did. I mean, it’s it’s it’s famous in Cincinnati. It’s what they’re known for. I would recommend trying it. I tried it. Take it or leave it.

Scott Cowan [00:06:51]:

My, my kids ended up moving to Cincinnati with their mom. Okay. The my first my first trip out to see the kids, they, they were little and they said, we gotta take you to Skyline. I’m like, okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:07:05]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:07:06]:

And I’m like, what is this? They love it. I mean, they still, they, they both both my kids well, my my son lives here in Wenatchee, and my daughter lives in Europe now, but they it was so I’m like, I don’t get it. I just don’t get it. But it’s a when you get your thing.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:07:21]:

Chili through a straw. I’m Yeah. I I’ve done that before. It’s and, again, it’s unique. It’s it’s uniquely Cincinnati, but, one for me. It wasn’t for me.

Scott Cowan [00:07:33]:

Well, so I did just a little bit just a little bit of of, you know, backstory on you. Very little. Yeah. But you grew up in Detroit.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:07:41]:

I

Scott Cowan [00:07:42]:

did. So keeping it on the same the same level as Cincinnati for a second, what’s Detroit well known for? Like, Cincinnati’s got this chili thing going on. What what what’s Detroit’s food that’s kind of the rest of the world might go, what? What’s that? Or does Detroit have that?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:07:59]:

We we’ve got two things. So Detroit has, its own version of of a Coney. Like, we’ve got Coney Islands, which are like New York. So you’ve got actual length hot dog. You put mustard, onions on it, and and and the chili, obviously. So you’ve got that. And then we have the, six corner square pizza. So, if if if any of you out there have heard of Jet’s Pizza or Buddy’s Pizza, that is a those are Detroit style pizza places, and it’s known by the the thick crust around the outside.

Scott Cowan [00:08:36]:

Okay. Yeah. Alright. So so I told you it warned you this could go anywhere. Right?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:08:40]:

That’s fine. I love it.

Scott Cowan [00:08:42]:

You so you grew up in Detroit Yeah. Which is well known for hockey

Everett Fitzhugh [00:08:46]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:08:47]:

And Baseball. But but what drew you to hockey?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:08:54]:

You know, honestly, I, I I I became a hockey fan, in the third grade. All of my classmates were hockey fans, and, you know, when you’re in the third grade, what are you, nine years old? You wanna fit in, you know? They’re they’re they’re they’re hockey fans. I wanna be a hockey fan. So I hadn’t really I hadn’t really paid attention to hockey that much. I was I’m a I still am a huge baseball fan. So growing up in Detroit, most of my formative years were spent watching baseball and listening to Ernie Harwell and the Tigers. I was a basketball fan as well, so I love the Pistons. But luckily for me, the Red Wings were the best team in the NHL for a good decade when I was growing up.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:09:38]:

They won back to back Stanley Cups in 9798. They went to another final, I wanna say, in, like, o two maybe, and then they went again in o eight when I was in college. So the red wings kind of they they were one of the best. So it was actually pretty cool for me to be able to have that. So I went home one day, and I watched a Red Wings game, and they just happened to be playing the Edmonton Oilers. And on the Oilers, there were two black players. And that was huge. I’d I’d never seen black people playing hockey.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:10:13]:

I’d never known when that black black folks were, you know, we we weren’t into hockey. You know, we I was always told, oh, black, you know, you’re black. You gotta play basketball. You gotta play football. I never thought that hockey was for me. And then here I see two black dudes playing for the Oilers, and I was like, yo, hey, all right. This is kinda cool. And then a couple of years later, Edmonton adds a third black player.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:10:36]:

So now there’s three black players on the Oilers. There is one stretch of time, late nineties, early ‘2 thousands. I think there were probably five or six Oilers, black players on the Oilers throughout, you know, a five to six, seven year period. So that was huge for me. So I luckily we lived close enough to the Canadian border in Detroit, Windsor, right over the border. So we got to watch hockey night in Canada. So I watched it every single week, and I watched the Oilers all the time, and I got to see Jarome Iginla who played for the Calgary flames, and, you know, watching Toronto and and Montreal and all of these great, classic historic NHL franchises, and I fell in love with the game. And then obviously the Red Wings were winning.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:11:21]:

So it helps when you’re when you have, you know, you have the front runner living, you know, playing right in your hometown. So that’s how I became a hockey fan. I always fell in love. The speed of the game, the strength, and the beauty of hockey is something that, you know, you have to see to believe. And in my later years when I was working in hockey, I always told folks, I said, listen, I will buy you your first hockey game, and you only need two periods to I’m not even gonna give you the full game. I wanna give you 40 minutes to fall in love with the game. And I remember when I was in Youngstown, One of the places that I worked, I actually, would carry tickets around with me. I would carry vouchers around if I ever went to a bar, to a restaurant, and I’d strike up a conversation.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:12:08]:

And I actually the year that I was there, I think I probably, turned three, four, five people into season ticket holders, just by giving them those vouchers at a bar. Like, hey, Phantoms are home this Friday. Check out the game. Let me know what you think. And then sure enough, hey, we just bought season tickets. Love this. So, I I I fell in love with it at an early age. And, again, the Red Wings and and the Oilers had a had a huge, huge part of that.

Scott Cowan [00:12:39]:

How old were you when you got to go to your first, hockey game?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:12:44]:

So, I didn’t go to my I didn’t actually go see my first hockey game until I was in college.

Scott Cowan [00:12:52]:

Okay. So you had ten years, let’s

Everett Fitzhugh [00:12:55]:

just say.

Scott Cowan [00:12:55]:

Because yeah. Okay. Ten years, a decade of following hockey on TV. Mhmm. During that time, did you listen to it on the radio as well, or did you just watch it on TV?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:13:03]:

I just watched it on TV. I listened to a couple of games here and there on the radio. I went to high school. So I’m from Detroit, but I went to high school up in Ann Arbor. So I listened to Michigan hockey on the radio. So I got to listen to a couple of some college hockey games, and then a handful of Red Wings here or there, but Okay. I I really only watched it, on on TV.

Scott Cowan [00:13:25]:

So when you were in college, so decade of following hockey. So you know the sport now. Right? I’m gonna guess you you pay attention. You know the sport. Yep. Were you prepared for the difference between watching it on TV and seeing it live?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:13:38]:

No. Oh, no. No. No. No. Watching hockey live is the best experience you will have as a sports fan because every other sport translates well to television. And in fact, in the case of football, I would much rather sit in my living room with a six pack of Coors Light than go to a game. I would much rather just watch football on TV.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:14:05]:

Hockey, you have to be in the arena. You you don’t understand and you don’t pick up the speed and the grace and just how awesome the game is until you go watch it live.

Scott Cowan [00:14:19]:

Well, as I told you before we hit record, I I have not I know nothing about hockey. I I know, you know, I I like sports. I pay attention, but, you know, I I’m not but I can’t remember when, and I think it was Fox, and no disrespect to the Fox network. But they tried to bring hockey to TV Yep. With a like, an electronic you know, like, they kept a light on the puck. Yep. I tried to watch that, and I just I couldn’t do it. I just I’m like, I know there’s something here.

Scott Cowan [00:14:50]:

I know there’s something that seems cool, but it just it left me flat on TV. And I feel that same way about soccer. Mhmm. So because I just once again, I don’t get to sport all that well, but a friend of mine took me to a Sounders match. And I walked out of there going, well, that was ninety minutes. That was a whole lot of fun. That was crazy. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:15:09]:

So I’m gonna hope that my my first hockey experience is similar to that in the sense of, like, wow. This is really cool.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:15:15]:

Yeah. And I I can guarantee you it will be. I promise you. And, again, a lot of folks have that same reaction. They they go into it not knowing the game, not knowing the sport, but all it takes is a willingness to to want to go, a wanting to, to wanna be there. And I think once you are there and once you’re in that space, you will have the exact same reaction.

Scott Cowan [00:15:40]:

This goes way back. This predates me, but my mom, I I grew up in Tacoma, South Of South Of Seattle there. And so back then, they had the, Tacoma Rockets and the Seattle Ironman, so the minor league hockey, and I don’t know what division it was. But my mom and her mom and dad, they went my my mom’s not a sports fan, and she gushes about her time going to see the Tacoma Rockets. And somewhere in my office, I’ve got a puck that my grandfather caught. Wow. Yeah. It from a from a Rockets game back in the fifties.

Scott Cowan [00:16:12]:

Anyway, so I’ve always just, you know, I it hockey’s been that sport I hadn’t followed because it’s yeah. But you started following it third grade through high school. You went to college. What was your plan in college? What what why did you go to what did you go to college for? Let’s let’s put it that way.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:16:34]:

I wanted so I I went to college initially for broadcast journalism. I I knew that I wanted to work in sports, but I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do. But I think in the back of my mind, like, the the end goal, I wanted to be, the late great Stuart Scott. I wanted to be on the sports center desk, you know, every night at 11:00. That that is what I saw my career morphing into when I first got to college. I didn’t even think that play by play was an option to tell you the truth. I I didn’t even know how you got into play by play. I just thought those guys like Vince Scully and, you know, Dave Niehaus and some of the greats, I thought they were just, like, grown on trees and just plucked out of the out of the So

Scott Cowan [00:17:22]:

you were sitting in your bedroom calling calling games.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:17:26]:

No. I was not. I was not. I I didn’t even know that was an option.

Scott Cowan [00:17:30]:

So when you started college, you’re gonna okay. When did you start when did play by play present itself to you?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:17:38]:

It was my freshman year. It was actually and and I’ll tell you another baseball related story. I’m sitting in my dorm room watching, a Tigers playoff game, and my my buddy comes into my dorm room and he says, hey. You’re you’re into sports, right? You wanna work in sports, right? I was like, Yeah, eventually. And he goes, Well, I heard about this group, Bowling Green Radio Sports. They got a meeting in a half an hour. You wanna go? And I’m like, The Tigers are on. I’m trying to I’m trying to It’s playoffs, man.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:18:10]:

We 1984, we’re trying to end the drought here. And he was like, don’t care.

Scott Cowan [00:18:15]:

Okay. I’m a Mariners fan. No drought talk. Alright?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:18:18]:

Just none none of that. None. Trying to end the drought here. So, he was like, don’t care. Get up. We’re going. So I get up, go to this meeting, and, you know, it’s a bunch of 17, 18, 20 year old dudes sitting around talking hockey. So or talking sports rather.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:18:40]:

I’m in heaven. Like, I yeah. Whatever you got, I found I found a group of guys that just love to sit and argue about sports. This was, this was right around the time when cold pizza was making its way onto the ESPN scene. So we just sat around and talked about, we were reenacting cold pizza every day. It was awesome. So I went to this informational meeting and I loved what I heard. And, you know, I said, all right, you know, an opportunity to do basketball and baseball and football and hockey games.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:19:10]:

All right. Sure. Why not? What the hell? I got nothing to lose. So I start doing board hopping. I start doing some intermission reports, some halftime shows for our broadcast, did a couple of football game halftime shows, which is the big deal. And then January of my freshman year, so February, an opportunity came up to be a color commentator for the hockey team. So the way that it worked was the men’s, basketball team and the football team, they were contracted out through they had their own guy for that sport through the university. We were the student station that did those games.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:19:52]:

For women’s basketball and hockey, the student station was the flagship. So we were we were the sole broadcast entity for those games. So, we had a guy that was hired through the athletic department, but we used they used us as color analysts, for those games. So I volunteered to do a game one time. Nobody wanted to do it. Everybody in the in the group, they wanted to do basketball and football. Hockey wasn’t wasn’t sexy enough, I guess. So I volunteered to do a game, and I got my first color analyst spot against the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Nanooks.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:20:29]:

I wanna say it was like 01/25/2007. It was that last weekend, and I thought I’ll never forget that. And I and I fell in love with broadcasting. And I fell in love with broadcasting hockey, and and I knew right then and there, like, yep. This is what I wanna do with the rest of my life. I called my mom, and I said, hey. We’re putting all of our eggs in the hockey basket. We’re we’re going to the NHL.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:20:55]:

Come hell or high water, somehow, some way, I’m going to get to the NHL in the radio booth. And and that the rest as they say is history. I I knew I knew very early on at 18 years old what I wanted to do when I grew up.

Scott Cowan [00:21:12]:

I saw online that you had made a statement something like you wanted to be in the NHL when you’re at by 40 at 40. How old are you?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:21:23]:

33.

Scott Cowan [00:21:24]:

There you go. There you go.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:21:26]:

33. NHL by 40 is is is what I wanted to say, and and and that was my goal. And I I had every intention on on getting there, and and who knows. Right? I mean, the journey’s the the this journey has been awesome, and some people get to the NHL early. There are some guys, you know, who I know that I I passed up, and and I I stepped over to get here, and and, you know, it’s not lost on me that, you know, they are just as talented, and they’ve been doing this. Some guys have been doing this longer than I’ve been on this planet. So I I definitely understand the the lucky rare position that I find myself in to to be here. I got the job at 31, and I just turned 33, a couple months ago.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:22:15]:

So

Scott Cowan [00:22:15]:

Alright. Well yeah. After okay. So you you called your first game as a freshman. Yep. Where did you go from so you you went to Bowling Green? Yep. Okay. Why Bowling Green? Do they have a good journalism department? Or

Everett Fitzhugh [00:22:33]:

They did. So, I I actually I went to school for broadcast journalism, which their journalism program was one of the best, in the country. And then actually, my minor was going to be German. I took a little bit of German in high yeah. I know. I took a little bit of German in high school. I went over to Austria for a couple of weeks when I was as a junior in high school for a a brief foreign exchange program.

Scott Cowan [00:22:58]:

Where? I gotta stop you. I I and there’s a reason. Where in where in Austria?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:23:02]:

We went to Graz, Austria.

Scott Cowan [00:23:04]:

Okay. My daughter lives in Linz.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:23:06]:

Oh, okay. Tells.

Scott Cowan [00:23:07]:

She lived in she lives in Tells. I apologize because I she’ll she’ll she’ll critique me there. Just not a benchmark. But, yeah, she that’s where she lives. So Yes. Okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:23:15]:

So that was my minor. So they had a great program for both broadcast journalism and for German. And then I also known that I wanted to work in sports, I wanted to go to a school that had all four sports at the d one level, which is very, very rare. There are only a handful of schools. I think there are probably 10 or 12 schools in the country that have all four basketball, baseball, football, hockey that have all four.

Scott Cowan [00:23:40]:

I can think of Michigan Yep. And Minnesota. Yep. Notre Dame?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:23:45]:

Yeah. Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Miami of Ohio, Western Michigan, Bowling Green, Boston College. I think I’m missing one.

Scott Cowan [00:23:57]:

Yeah. But the list you’re right. The list because I mean, there’s yeah. Okay. There

Everett Fitzhugh [00:24:00]:

aren’t that many. So I I wanted to go to all four. Minimally, that had all four sports, but if they had them at the d one level, that’d be even better. So that was that was my goal, and that’s what I wanted to do. So Bowling Green kinda rose to the top of that list. I had a few other schools that I applied for, got accepted to, but I weighed my options and and Bowling Green won out.

Scott Cowan [00:24:21]:

Okay. Yeah. So after college, where’d you go?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:24:25]:

After college, I went back home for six months. I worked at one of these head hunting firms, and I a desk job from nine to five that I absolutely hated. No offense to people out there who work in desk jobs. It’s, you know, it’s hard work.

Scott Cowan [00:24:39]:

This wasn’t for you.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:24:40]:

It’s one for me. Didn’t like it. So then I I went to Chicago where I worked for the USHL league office, which is the top junior league in The US. So I worked for their league office for a year and a half. I then went to Youngstown, Ohio to work for the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL. I was there for a year. And then after that, I went to Cincinnati, which is double a hockey, for the cyclones. So I worked, there for five years, met my wife, and then, now I’m here in Seattle.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:25:10]:

So k. My entire adult life has been spent in Michigan, Illinois, or Ohio until I moved out here to here.

Scott Cowan [00:25:19]:

So what is give me a memorable takeaway from your time in Seattle so far. What what about Seattle has surprised you?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:25:28]:

Oh, man. The it’s it’s been there’s been so many things, about Seattle. But I I think the one thing that is that is is surprised me so much, not not even I’m not even gonna say surprise, but the one thing that I’ve really enjoyed about Seattle is the passion that people here have for everything they do. If they’re if they’re a Mariners fan, they’re a Mariners fan. If they’re a Seahawks, if they’re a sports fan, they are they live and die by their sports. If they are an outdoorsy person, they will go hike 15 miles a day up to the top of Mount Rainier and not break a sweat and then come back down. If they are if they are craft beer people, they will do a tour of Ballard. You know what I mean? Like, the the passion that Seattleites have in everything they do, I I admire that, and I absolutely love it.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:26:28]:

I’ve never heard people speak with the the reverence and and with the the the love and the passion for something, that I have Seattleites and people who live here.

Scott Cowan [00:26:43]:

One of the questions I ask everybody, and, normally, I wait towards the end, but we’ll just slip it in here now. Yeah. Do you drink coffee?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:26:49]:

I do.

Scott Cowan [00:26:50]:

Speaking of passion okay. I do. What what do you where are you going for coffee these days?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:26:58]:

So here I am a very simple coffee person.

Scott Cowan [00:27:01]:

That’s cool.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:27:02]:

I I I do black coffee, two shots of espresso, and then a splash of almond milk. Or if I’m feeling a little cocky, I’ll do like a caramel macchiato. But I’m very, very easy, very simple. If I’m not going to Starbucks, I I know Starbucks, it’s in Seattle, but if I’m not going to Starbucks, I’ll find like a a very small kinda mom and pop roastery or something to try it out.

Scott Cowan [00:27:29]:

And There’s there’s none of those in Seattle?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:27:31]:

None of those. I have not found a single small it’s all big corporate coffee.

Scott Cowan [00:27:35]:

Right. So drop a name on a small mom and pop that you’ve you’ve you’ve checked out.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:27:40]:

Oh, I don’t know if I can do that. Oh, let me see. There’s so many. There’s so many. Just drop

Scott Cowan [00:27:44]:

one. Just you know? What what neighborhood do you live in, if you don’t mind me asking?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:27:49]:

I live in Greenwood. I live in Greenwood. So there’s a place called Diva Coffee that I really like. I like Diva.

Scott Cowan [00:27:56]:

Good coffee.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:27:57]:

And there’s there’s another place, and I forget the name of it, but it’s right across the street from the Angry Beaver. It’s on Greenwood, and, in between 80 Fifth and like, 80 Eighth, something like no. I’m sorry. 80 Fifth And 80 Eightieth. Somewhere in that You should know that,

Scott Cowan [00:28:14]:

and I don’t. Okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:28:15]:

In that little five block, radius there. So a little bit south of South Of 80 Fifth. Okay. And it’s like a little chocolate place. They’ve got, like, dynamite truffles, and they also make some pretty good coffee there. And I forget the name of it, but it’s right on the corner. I think of, like, Greenwood and 80 Sixth, maybe. I think it’s 80 Sixth.

Scott Cowan [00:28:32]:

It’s it’s hard to find bad coffee in

Everett Fitzhugh [00:28:35]:

this city. I’ve not had a bad cup of coffee since in the city.

Scott Cowan [00:28:38]:

It’s hard. It’s really you know, even the Denny’s ups their game. They don’t drink diner coffee.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:28:45]:

Denny’s coffee. Man, that’s the best that’s yeah. Yeah. 100%. It’s delicious. Yeah. Yeah. There we go.

Scott Cowan [00:28:52]:

The Kraken. Yeah. What was it like that first night?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:29:00]:

Electrifying. For me, it meant a little bit more because I actually missed the first six first five games of our inaugural season. I had COVID, so I was sitting at home watching on TV. Our first all the lead up, all the build up, and I had to stay my butt at home.

Scott Cowan [00:29:22]:

So we

Everett Fitzhugh [00:29:22]:

went, we did Vegas, Nashville, Columbus, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. So I missed those first five games on the road. But the first home game was, the October 23 against Vancouver. And it was it was everything that I imagined it and more. And to see the people of Seattle who have been waiting so long for an NHL team and, all of the hard work that went in by our our our staff and our our our organization to build, the building and to build the team and to see them finally rewarded for all of their hard work, was was remarkable. It was fascinating to be a part of that. I got goosebumps the entire night. Even though we lost the game, you know, I think losing winning that game would have just been icing on an already delicious cake because of everything that was accomplished.

Scott Cowan [00:30:29]:

As a play by play guy, in your opinion Yeah. What’s the most exciting thing to call in a hockey game?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:30:40]:

Oh, I think it’s gotta be overtime. It’s gotta be three on three overtime, sudden death, you get five minutes. The ice opens up. Rarely do you have stoppages. I mean, you’ll go you’ll go a minute and a half, two minutes straight in between whistles. And, you know, odd man rushes, two on ones, you’ll have one on o’s. There was a a two on o breakaway that we had, and and the goalie saved it. But, you know, you’re just, oh, what a big save.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:31:12]:

Oh, you can like, you just go insane, watching watching three on three overtime. So I think three on three overtime, has to be the most exciting aspect of a game for me, to call. I I I wish that the the Kraken were on the other end of a lot of the overtime games. Unfortunately, I think we’re two and five this year in overtime games, but, I I would like I I love the three on three overtime. That’s probably the best part. Or last minute of a game, third period, you’re either up by one or you’re down by one, and you have to tie or preserve the lead. And that last minute of the game is some of the most exciting hockey you’re gonna see.

Scott Cowan [00:32:01]:

Is there a team that you haven’t that the Kraken haven’t played yet that you’re ex looking forward to calling the game? I I what I a full disclosure, I don’t know if you’ve called the Detroit Red Wings game with the Kraken yet. Okay. So that might have been the the answer. But yeah. So what was that like? What was that like calling calling the game against your childhood team?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:32:23]:

It was yeah. So it was actually in Detroit when we we it was back on, December 1, and it was really it was surreal. I mean, there were there were a couple of games that I had circled on my calendar at the beginning of the season. I grew up an Oilers fan, so my first game in Edmonton, which was a preseason game, so it kinda took a little bit of the of the the luster off of it when we returned back in in November. But my first trip to Edmonton, was number one. Or actually, it was number one, was on the list. Detroit, obviously, my first game back in Detroit. I wanted to I’ve always wanted to go to Madison Square Garden, call a game at MSG.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:33:11]:

So doing that against the Rangers, and then this past weekend, Saturday night, hockey night in Canada in Montreal. I I grew up watching that. I I you know what I mean? For any hockey fan. So that was cool. So those four games were the ones that I’ve circled on the calendar. But going back home and and calling my first game in Detroit, my mom was there. I got her I got her a Fitzhugh cracking jersey, and her and I hugged before the game. I’m actually a very emotional guy.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:33:46]:

So I actually I cried in my mom’s arms because I was like, your baby boy made it. You know? He’s he’s calling an NHL game in his hometown. And, Yeah. It was cool. It was so cool. My ad

Scott Cowan [00:34:00]:

That’s so cool.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:34:02]:

I had about twenty, fifteen or so, 20 family and friends there, calling the game. And, yeah, it was it it was great. It was it was so cool to be able to to go back for the first time and call that game. And, John Forslund, who’s our television guy, and and JT Brown, everybody, they were cracking jokes. Hey. How was the parade today? You know? How was the fits fits parade? I was like, that was great. No. You missed it.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:34:28]:

11:00 in the morning. March right on down to Woodward. So, no. It was it was it was great. It was great. And plus, it was my mom. My mom, had recently celebrated her birthday as well, so I got to go out for dinner for her birthday. So just just that whole week, that whole day, was was great, back home in Detroit.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:34:48]:

So I I that was my most memorable game of the season, for me. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:34:55]:

So have you have you have you called games down every NHL arena yet?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:35:01]:

Not in every arena, but I’ve called games against, all but one team. So since

Scott Cowan [00:35:07]:

Who’s the who’s the holdout?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:35:08]:

The holdout is Jersey. I would have went to Jersey, but it was that first, that first trip of the year that I had COVID. So the devils come to Seattle later in April. So once the devils come in April, I will have broadcasted against each of the 31 teams.

Scott Cowan [00:35:26]:

Alright. So now I’m gonna ask you to dish dirt.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:35:29]:

Oh, yes.

Scott Cowan [00:35:31]:

Because I’m gonna guess as the radio guy

Everett Fitzhugh [00:35:33]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:35:33]:

For the visiting team. Every booth is amazing. Oh, yeah. No. Who what’s the worst booth that you’ve had to call it? I mean, as far as not I don’t mean in a bad way, but, like, like, is there one that they put you in, like, a little a little closet space with a, you know, with a terrible view or or are all these arenas now so nice that even though even the away team gets good good stuff?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:35:58]:

As far as the space itself goes, there really isn’t a bad space.

Scott Cowan [00:36:06]:

Okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:36:06]:

Anaheim and Florida are a little cramped. Like, they’re a little tight.

Scott Cowan [00:36:12]:

Okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:36:13]:

So, both myself and Dave Tomlinson, who’s on the radio, is the radio color analyst. We both kinda have our own little setup. We’ve got our own papers and laptops and stuff. So, you know, it can be a little bit hard to spread out in in those two booths. I think Florida. Yeah. Florida and at least the ones that I’ve been to because I have them to Nashville, Columbus, Philadelphia, Jersey. So I haven’t been to those yet.

Scott Cowan [00:36:38]:

You haven’t been there yet?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:36:39]:

Yeah. So but so but I would I would say as far as the space goes, just about every booth is is pretty pretty good. As far as the view goes, I don’t like Vegas because you’re up and you’re back in the corner. Pittsburgh, you’re up back toward the corner. Edmonton, you’re calling the game from Red Deer. Like, you’re way the hell up there at Edmonton. You know, but you’re you’re close to center ice, which is fine, but you’re very, very high up there. And then the Islanders, which is brand new building that OVG, the same company that built our building, beautiful, beautiful building.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:37:26]:

The press box is awesome. But the only problem is they try to recreate the old coliseum. So they kept the very low roof, but as a result, you can’t see the scoreboard because you’ve got a bunch of girders in the score in the way. But that said, you can still see the ice pretty well. You’re kind of in the corner for the visiting team, but, you know, you can still see the ice very well. But, that that place was was was okay. But, yeah, other than that, I mean, every every other booth, every booth does have a redeeming quality to it. Okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:38:01]:

But like I said, all these buildings now, they’re so state of the art. They’re so brand new. You’re not gonna find a truly bad, bad thing.

Scott Cowan [00:38:11]:

I was hoping you were gonna, you know, be able to dish dirt on somebody.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:38:14]:

Well, like like I said, the ones that I mentioned where you’re where you’re up, you’re back, and you’re either in either corner, that’s a little rough, you know, especially because places like Seattle and Detroit and New York, the Rangers and Montreal, Toronto, You’re right over the ice. They’re in a gondola style, so a Calgary as well. Like, you’re you’re standing right I could probably I could probably drop my my pen by accident, and it ends up at center ice at some of these building. Oh, yeah. Like, some of these buildings, you’re right on top of everything. And then others, you know, you’re up and back. So

Scott Cowan [00:38:51]:

Okay. You were so you’re the first black play by play announcer in the NHL.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:38:58]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:38:59]:

But you were also part of the the first what was the it happened last month.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:39:03]:

Yes. JT Brown and I were, we were part of the first all black, television play by play broadcast, in NHL history. So JT Brown is our color analyst on the TV side with the legendary John Forslund. John had a national assignment, the day before, and getting back over the border, we were in Winnipeg. So getting back over the border and with layovers and all that, he wouldn’t have been able to get into Winnipeg until, like, 04:00 in the afternoon. And, you know, it didn’t it didn’t make sense, on that regard. So, JT, he gave our he gave his blessing to allow JT and I to to call that game, which was which was so much fun. I’d never done a TV game before.

Scott Cowan [00:39:51]:

Oh, you’ve never done TV before.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:39:52]:

Oh, okay. I’ve I’ve been solely radio. I did Okay. I’ve done one television broadcast, and I wasn’t even play by play. I was, Okay. I was the sideline reporter, for the ECHL All Star Game back in 02/2018. So

Scott Cowan [00:40:11]:

So how’d you I mean, what what about t what about that TV experience was something that you didn’t expect?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:40:20]:

So when when when you do, excuse me, when you do, radio, you know, you have to call everything. You’re painting on a blank canvas. With television, you can see what’s going on. You see the picture, you see what’s happening. So for me, I had to remind myself, hey, you can you can lay out a little bit. You don’t have to say everything that was going on. And, you know, I’m not gonna lie to you, that TV game was probably one of the more stressful days that I’ve had simply because of, you know, it was such a big opportunity and it was something that was historic, you know, but also I was doing something completely different. I’d never done TV play by play before.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:41:10]:

So, but I thought the first period was okay. And then personally me, I mean, everyone else said, oh, it was great. We loved it. You did fantastic. You know, you are your worst critic. So I’m saying to myself, no. But second period, I thought was a lot better. Third period, we were rolling after that.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:41:33]:

So, but it was it was really cool to to do that with him. Him and I have actually become, you know, we’ve become close over these past eight months. We travel together. We’re Right. All in games together. You know, we’re both black men in America, Black men in hockey. So we we share that experience and those experiences together. So, you know, him and I have have have have become pretty pretty close.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:41:58]:

So to be able to to call a game with with someone that I now consider one of my good friends is, you know, how many of us get to say that? I get to go to work with my good friend every day. Not a lot of us. So that was that was fun.

Scott Cowan [00:42:11]:

Did you go and watch yourself? Did you go watch the show after? I mean, was that I mean, so you sat down.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:42:18]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:42:19]:

Your own worst critic. You watch it. Yeah. Painful. That’d be weird. Painful. That’d be weird.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:42:25]:

It was Yeah. I went back and watched it. At the end of it, I kept saying and luckily, you’re only on camera for all of four minutes, the whole game. Because when you’re doing play by play, like, they’re not watching you, they’re watching the game. You’re just adding the context to the picture. So I wasn’t worried about being on camera, but I just think, you know, I go back and listen to a lot of my radio games that I do. You know, I’ll take five, ten minute snippets, and I’ll just go back and listen. And, you know, I don’t like to I’ll just pick random random segments because like, oh, that one sounded really, really good.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:43:09]:

I’m gonna go back and listen to that one. Well, no. Like I know I did well this time, right? So let me just pick a random spot. But I went back and I sat and watched the whole thing end to end, it was painful. Again, I don’t like watching myself, I don’t like the sound of my, I don’t like listening to myself even though I never shut up, But I but I went back and I remember saying, I was like, all right. Definitely can improve. It wasn’t, you know, as as nuclear as I thought it was, you know, because again, in my mind, I’m saying to myself, oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, oh, God. But when I went back and watched it, I was like, oh, all right.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:43:53]:

This was actually that’s pretty good. Okay. Yeah. It’s a good good foundation. I’m not obviously, I’m not there yet, and and none of us are. Right? None of us Sure. Are perfect. But I went back and I watched it, and I said, okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:44:06]:

I this is not I need to give myself a little bit more credit. You know, this wasn’t as bad as I thought it was gonna be. And so that actually was kind of surprising, but again, you are your worst critic. So everyone’s, oh no, what are you talking about? You did great, you did fine. I’m like, Stop blowing smoke. Like you can be honest with me, it’s fine. No, I am, you’re fine. And I was like, Well, I don’t know, I don’t trust you.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:44:30]:

But when I went back, I went back and watched it, and it was actually pretty good. So.

Scott Cowan [00:44:35]:

So the Las Vegas Golden Knights have ruined hockey for the expansion teams.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:44:39]:

Those guys.

Scott Cowan [00:44:40]:

Because they they, you know, they they win the Stanley Cup.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:44:43]:

They they didn’t win it. They made it.

Scott Cowan [00:44:45]:

Oh, man.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:44:45]:

They made it.

Scott Cowan [00:44:46]:

They made it.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:44:47]:

If they had won it, oh my goodness. But, yeah, they they didn’t win it.

Scott Cowan [00:44:50]:

So once again, I haven’t been to a Kraken game, but I do I do I do look at the I look at the paper. I read. Mhmm. They’re not a particularly good team based on their record.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:45:01]:

Mhmm. But

Scott Cowan [00:45:02]:

they’re an expansion team. Shouldn’t be surprised other than Vegas. You know, Vegas has teased everybody. Well, give an expansion team. You’ll win immediately.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:45:11]:

You’ll win immediately. They screwed it up for all of us.

Scott Cowan [00:45:14]:

What’s it like calling this expansion team that’s trying to find its identity?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:45:25]:

The only word that I can use is it’s it’s an honor. It’s an honor to be able to be a part of of history and to be able to to be able to lend your voice to the thirty second team in the National Hockey League, and in my opinion, the last expansion team that we see for a very long time. I I I can see I can see teams maybe moving to another market. I know Houston’s always been popular and other places, but I don’t think we’re going to go over thirty thirty two for a very long time. So it’s an honor to be able to to be on the broadcast every night. And you’re right. The record isn’t where people would like it to be, and and and where people would have thought

Scott Cowan [00:46:24]:

it was going to be.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:46:26]:

But I can tell you that this team works as hard as any other team you’re gonna find in the NHL. And and I can count on one hand the number of times since the turn of the the the calendar, since since the first of the year, I can count on one hand the number of times where I’ve said, alright. Yeah. This team, they they were the worst team. They they they weren’t the best teams tonight. Or, yeah, they played bad. They they they didn’t deserve to win that game. Right? This doesn’t happen that often.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:46:58]:

Unfortunately, they’re not rewarded for a lot of the effort that they put in, but I can tell you night in night out, this team gives optimal effort. And it’s been really cool to see the the growing pains, the successes that we have to be even though I wasn’t on the call for the first Kraken win, I was on the call for the first Kraken home win to be able to say that I got to call the first hat trick, in in Kraken history. Mark Giordano played his one thousandth NHL game, and to be able to say that I was on the broadcast for, a guy who was gonna have his number retired in Calgary. Mhmm. And and and we’re gonna be able to celebrate his one thousandth game coming up on Tuesday on Wednesday. So, it’s it’s been an honor to to be able to be here for this. And even though the record isn’t where folks would like, I I don’t want the ride to end. You know? I I I I it’s gonna come to an end.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:48:02]:

We’ve got twenty twenty games left, nineteen twenty games left.

Scott Cowan [00:48:06]:

And,

Everett Fitzhugh [00:48:07]:

You know, I I want I want 19 or 20 more. I’m actually expecting my first child in in May, mid May. So my wife is like, nope. We can we can end it right here. That’s fine. I want you home helping me out with the kid, which I’m totally fine with. But, you know, it’s been so much fun. It’s been so much fun to be a part of this.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:48:27]:

And looking back on it, it’s going to be, it’ll probably be the highlight of my career. When all is said and done, being able to say that I I was able to be a part of, and I was able to help bring the first season of the Seattle crack into life.

Scott Cowan [00:48:52]:

Yeah. I mean, that’s it it’s you only get one first season. Yep.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:48:56]:

I mean You only get one. It. Everybody gets one.

Scott Cowan [00:48:58]:

No matter. And no matter what the record shows, whether it’s good or bad, it’s we all everybody at least in every other sport I follow, you go back and you look at, you know, you know, unless you’re a Mariners fan and then you just kinda, like, hang your head and don’t you don’t wanna talk about anything.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:49:18]:

But Or a Lions fan. You could also be a Lions

Scott Cowan [00:49:20]:

fan as well. Woah. Yep. Yep. Yeah. I forgot about that.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:49:26]:

So You’re right. Yes. I feel your pain, Mariners fan.

Scott Cowan [00:49:30]:

So let’s let we’ll come back to the Kraken first. Let me put you on the spot. So football. Are you you you like football? I like football. What’s your team?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:49:39]:

The Detroit Lions.

Scott Cowan [00:49:40]:

Through Is this the

Everett Fitzhugh [00:49:41]:

thick or thin. The Detroit Lions have had one playoff win since 1957. I’m a say it again. The Detroit Lions have had one playoff win since 1957. We have not gone to a Super Bowl. We have not gotten out of the first round of the playoffs since 1992. I was three. We beat the Redskins, now the Commanders, in the wild card game, and then proceeded to get mollywapped the next week.

Scott Cowan [00:50:33]:

So The Super Bowl hurt,

Everett Fitzhugh [00:50:38]:

No. It didn’t. Okay. Because because I I I I I was happy for Matt Stafford

Scott Cowan [00:50:47]:

Okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:50:47]:

Because now I wasn’t I wasn’t doing all the gymnastics that a lot of my other hometown brethren and sister in were doing. Okay. You know, I wasn’t buying Detroit Rams T shirts, but, you know, Matt Matt Matt Stafford and his wife, Kelly, they they did so much for the city and and the community. They gave back. They were great ambassadors. He he he did everything that was asked of him, and I’m not even gonna say except for win because he was never asked to win. They never put him in a position to win. Like, he did everything that they asked of him.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:51:27]:

So I was happy for Matt Stafford. On the other side, I having spent five years in Cincinnati, part of me wanted the Bengals to win, but I was also bitter because they waited until I left to not suck. And I was very bitter about that. I was like, I I lived there for five years, and you guys were terrible. And now I leave, and all of a sudden, Joe Burrows, he’s the savior, and we’re going to the Super Bowl. If they hadn’t won that Super Bowl, I was gonna book a ticket to Cincinnati, and I was gonna celebrate with my friends. I was gonna I still got a bunch of friends, lifelong friends in see in Cincinnati, you know, that are, you know, probably in the running to be the godparents of my child. You know, like Cincinnati was a great place.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:52:19]:

It’s it’s my second home. I love that place, but that was better. It’s real better.

Scott Cowan [00:52:24]:

Alright.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:52:25]:

It’s real better. Baseball? Are you Tigers? Tigers fan. Tigers fan. And I’m not saying this because I live in Seattle and I’m trying to make friends. I’ve actually been a Mariners fan as well. Like, my backup American League team growing up was the Seattle Mariners. So as long as the Mariners and Tigers weren’t playing, I was rooting for the M’s. So I’ve actually I’m I I consider myself pretty lucky that I get to live in Seattle because I’ve always been a closeted Mariners fan.

Scott Cowan [00:52:52]:

Alright. Well, I got I asked my questions out order. I got back up to football for a second. Yeah. You’re you’re a lions fan. Yes. Your arch nemesis team. What’s the team in the n h in the NFL that you’re like, oh, I just can’t like, I wish them no good professional luck.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:53:09]:

The Green Bay Packers.

Scott Cowan [00:53:12]:

Okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:53:12]:

The Green Bay Packers.

Scott Cowan [00:53:15]:

Okay. Zach, you can’t root for them no matter what.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:53:17]:

No. Don’t care. Okay. And it sucks because I love cheese, and I I I love cheese. But if Alright. If if I if I didn’t if I didn’t love cheese, I would I would I would not eat cheese. I hate I do not like Green Bay. Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:53:36]:

No. Thank you.

Scott Cowan [00:53:37]:

Okay. Yep. So the flip side of that on baseball, what’s the arch nemesis for for baseball?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:53:41]:

Cleveland. Hey, Cleveland. The Guardians now. They were the Indians. Don’t like the Guardians. Don’t like them. I don’t like I’m actually just like so growing up in Detroit and then spending most of my life in Ohio. Right? Right.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:53:55]:

I’m a Michigan fan, Michigan football, Michigan basketball. I wish nothing but bad things to Columbus, and Ohio State. A lot of my friends are are from Cleveland, and I I don’t I don’t like Cleveland. The  Guardians, though though those are my that’s my nemesis baseball team.

Scott Cowan [00:54:18]:

Alright. Yep. I gotta ask now basketball. Pistons fan?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:54:20]:

Pistons fan? Let’s see. Tennessee,

Scott Cowan [00:54:26]:

the Pistons haven’t been good for a

Everett Fitzhugh [00:54:27]:

long time. They’ve not been good for a long time. I was actually I was around, I remember when they won the championship at o four. So I was going into my ‘three, ‘four, ‘four, ‘five. I was going into my junior year of high school. And that was actually a pretty cool experience for me because, you know, when the Red Wings won this daily cup, I was eight years old. I was nine years old. I really didn’t get to, you know,

Scott Cowan [00:54:56]:

you’re a kid.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:54:57]:

I was a kid. I was a teenager when the Pistons won. So like that was like that was the first championship that I’m like, oh man, like I remember what happened. Like I remember watching the games and and I could tell you, you know, Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups and all, like, I I remember everything about that team. So that was actually that was an exciting moment for me. So the Pistons problem the Pistons are my favorite team, but you’re right. They’re not they’re not that good.

Scott Cowan [00:55:23]:

Well, I don’t have a basketball team anymore.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:55:28]:

They’re you know? They’re both. If they’re both. It’s it’s a matter of when, not if. I

Scott Cowan [00:55:33]:

It’s it’s it’s been a tough year to be a a Seattle sports fan.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:55:36]:

I know. I know. But, hey.

Scott Cowan [00:55:37]:

So the What’s the what’s the nemesis in the NBA? The dreaded

Everett Fitzhugh [00:55:42]:

Oh, you know what? I didn’t really have Okay. If I had to pick one, it’d be it’d be Cleveland. It’d be the Cavaliers. Alright. LeBron. Okay. As all my friends in college, LeBron fans, and like LeBron was a savior. LeBron, LeBron, LeBron, LeBron, LeBron.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:55:59]:

I don’t like Cleveland. The cavaliers are the one team I don’t like. Yeah. Okay. The Cavs.

Scott Cowan [00:56:05]:

Okay. I won’t ask you about hockey because they’re not professional. You you you have to call them barely. Looking forward in the Kraken’s future

Everett Fitzhugh [00:56:16]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:56:18]:

What are you excited to see? What, like, what I Kraken going to the the Stanley Cup. Of course, that would be Yeah. That’d be amazing. But what what other sorts of milestones are you looking forward to experiencing with the Kraken?

Everett Fitzhugh [00:56:32]:

I’m looking forward to Seattle becoming a hockey town. And and what I mean by that is I lived in Chicago when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup back in ’13. ’13.

Scott Cowan [00:56:50]:

Okay. And

Everett Fitzhugh [00:56:53]:

I was around when all of the, you know, the city, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing a Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews jersey, Marion Hose jersey. You couldn’t go anywhere without seeing Blackhawk stuff. Nashville, it’s now Smashville. They’ve turned the city into a hockey town. I am from the original hockey town, Detroit, Michigan. Like Right. I am looking forward to seeing our community embrace the Kraken like those other teams have, and I’m looking forward to Seattle turning Seattle the the Kraken turning this region into a hockey town, a bona fide hockey market. We already have youth hockey participation, new learn to play skate, adult learn to play skate, like hockey.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:57:48]:

People are getting involved, and it’s only gonna grow and get bigger and bigger and bigger. And we’re an organization that we live in the community, we live in the community, we want to be in the community, and that’s what I’m looking forward to. I know this may be blasphemous to say in Seattle, but the Seattle Kraken are going to take their place alongside the legion of boom Seahawks in terms of what they mean to this city, what they’re gonna do for this city in terms of of growing the game, growing the sport. The Sounders are doing the same thing, growing the game of soccer, growing the the the culture of youth soccer and and the Kraken are gonna be right there. So that’s the one thing that I’m looking forward to is continuing to watch Seattle climb the Seattle Sports Landscape Mountain. See the Kraken climbing that mountain and and hopefully get to the top.

Scott Cowan [00:58:52]:

Alright.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:58:54]:

On the ice daily cup. That’s that a winning winning team playoff. There’s nothing better than playoff hockey. That playoff hockey is the best part of sports. Full stop. End of discussion. It does not get better than the NHL playoffs. So the first Seattle Kraken playoff appearance is going to be unlike anything this city has ever witnessed.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:59:22]:

And and I promise you that. I promise everybody watching and listening to this right now. There is nothing like playoff hockey. Like, think ’96 when the Bulls beat the Sonics. And was it ’96, ’90 ‘7, or what?

Scott Cowan [00:59:42]:

Are you trying to make friends here? No.

Everett Fitzhugh [00:59:43]:

I’m saying but, no, but I’m saying, imagine, like, remember the passion and the excitement that was here in the city during that run. Yeah. Now multiply it by 10. That’s the NHL playoffs. Alright. And I’m excited.

Scott Cowan [01:00:01]:

Hypothetical question. Yes. Completely hypothetical. You could call any sporting event in history. What would you, what would be like for you, what would be, like, the ultimate like, if you could be there witnessing it, what would it be? Any sport, anytime.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:00:28]:

Oh, man. That is a really, really good question. I would probably have to say am I broadcasting it or am I just there watching

Scott Cowan [01:00:44]:

it? Well, I’ll give you both.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:00:47]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [01:00:47]:

You can do one of each.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:00:50]:

If I’m if I’m watching it, it would probably be two thousand ten gold medal game in Vancouver, US, Canada, Sydney Crosby, the golden goal in overtime, being able to watch a team win an Olympic gold medal on their home ice. Oh my God. And and and the only reason why I don’t put that as a game that I would wanna broadcast is because as an American, I don’t wanna broadcast that game because we lost that game. So, but that would probably be the one game that I would wanna be at, would be 02/2010, seeing Canada win gold on their home soil. That that was as a as a pure sports fan, that’s probably the one that I would wanna see. As far as as far as calling a game goes, oh my goodness. Yeah. There have been so many.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:01:57]:

I would probably have to say I don’t know. Man, that that that is a very tough one. Alright. I would say if I if I could broadcast one game, I am a proud alum of Bowling Green State University. I love my Falcons to to the ends of the earth and back. So 1984, Lake Placid, New York, ‘5 overtime, national championship game against the University of Minnesota Duluth. Bowling Green wins their one and only championship in school history in any sport. Okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:02:44]:

That would be the one. That’d be the one.

Scott Cowan [01:02:46]:

Alright. Alright. That’s yeah. That’d be Yeah. That’d be fabulous to call it, wouldn’t it? Alright. What’s we’ll wrap this up. But what about the Kraken has surprised you this year? In general, your whole experience here, what has what has surprised you? What’s been like, wow. I didn’t expect that.

Scott Cowan [01:03:09]:

Was it the coffee in the play by play booth?

Everett Fitzhugh [01:03:12]:

Hey. That it’s it’s good strong coffee the way that I like. We actually outside of the press outside of the radio booth, we have this candy bar. So there’s, like, peanut clusters and gummy worms and Sour Patch Kids and all types of stuff, and it’s awesome. Let’s see. One is a prime of the cracker. I think the thing that surprised me most about this team is just how much they enjoy playing for the city of Seattle. And even though, again, we’re not where we would like to be in the standings, and and it it’s been it’s been a disappointing year in that regard, I think the fact that every single day, the guys are still showing up, they work hard, they practice hard, they play hard, they find time when they can to interact with the fans.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:04:15]:

I think our entire organization, our entire front office staff, you know, first year, we’re not doing too well. It could be I’m gonna check out. It could be easy to check out. No one’s checking out. Everyone is is still committed. Everyone is still buying in. We’re looking forward to to bigger, better, brighter in the future, but they’re still living in this inaugural season moment. So I think it’s the no quit from anybody.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:04:55]:

Literally every single person in that organization. Not one person has quit, has thrown in the towel, has said, all right, we’ll we’ll come back next year. Everyone is still there. And that is and again, that goes back to what I was talking about. Lot of folks from Seattle who work for us, lot of folks who aren’t from Seattle who work for us, but they are passionate in everything they do, and they are passionate about this team and about this venture, and and they are they are they are are will. They I’ll be damned if they don’t see it all the way through and make this the best experience they can.

Scott Cowan [01:05:37]:

Alright. Last question about hockey. K. Kinda going back to what you said about your that it’s having to crack and climb the mountain and be see how it’d be hockey town. Yep. You know, be a hockey town. I told you before we push the button that, you know, I haven’t been to a a hockey game. For my first hockey game, where should I go, and where should I sit?

Everett Fitzhugh [01:06:05]:

So where should you go? In the arena, you gotta go to Shaq’s fried chicken. Like Shaq? Shaq’s fried chicken. That is

Scott Cowan [01:06:18]:

Oh, talking food. I mean, look at me. I mean, does it look like I miss food? Right.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:06:21]:

I find a way to sneak down there. You have to sit. Everyone’s gonna tell you glass seats. And if if if if it’s if it’s your first game

Scott Cowan [01:06:32]:

And what’s a glass seat? Is that behind the plexiglass?

Everett Fitzhugh [01:06:34]:

Yeah. So you’re sitting row one, row a, right up on the glass, banging on the glass. You know, if it’s your first game, then I would recommend it, but your view is kind of obstructed a little bit. I would say your best place to sit would be on either one of the straightaways. So you’ve got you’ve got the the corners, and they turn to the ends. So on on on the two the two straightaways, about halfway up the first level. So you’re just above the glass. So if a puck comes flying, you may be able to catch it.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:07:11]:

You’re far enough away that you can see everything. You can see plays develop. You can you can just you can get a real appreciation for how fast the game is, but you’re also you’re also close enough that you can you can still feel the wind as the guys as a two on three rush comes by. You you can see the whites of their eyes. You can read their lips, and see what they say. And you can hear what’s going on on the player bench and in the press or the palmy box, I should say. So that’s that would be my, my suggestion of places to sit.

Scott Cowan [01:07:49]:

Okay. Alright. I’ll I’m gonna make that happen. You should. As we wrap this up, when you’re not calling hockey, newly married, kid on the way. What do you like to do for fun?

Everett Fitzhugh [01:08:02]:

Now sleep. No. Get all the sleep that I’m gonna miss out on the next eighteen years till my kid goes to college.

Scott Cowan [01:08:11]:

Too bad you can’t bake that. Yeah.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:08:12]:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can’t bake sleep.

Scott Cowan [01:08:13]:

You can’t bake it. I’m sorry.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:08:15]:

You know what? I think so what what my wife and I, we really enjoy doing, and obviously she can’t much now anymore because she’s pregnant, but when the baby comes, we’re gonna get back to it. We love just walking around the city for hours. We’ll pick a neighborhood, we’ll go to Fremont One day, we’ll go to Ballard another day, we’ll pop into one place, have a beer, we’ll go to a store, and we’ll have lunch somewhere. We just love exploring the city. We live near Carkeek Park. We’ll walk the length of I think we walked from Carkeek Park all the way to Golden Gardens Park or along the beach there once. You know, it was probably like a seven mile walk. We did that.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:08:56]:

We just love exploring the city. Getting out, I mean, it is, it is a in the summertime, I don’t have to tell you, it’s I’ve never seen a place so gorgeous.

Scott Cowan [01:09:06]:

Sounds beautiful.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:09:06]:

Gas works. We’ll go grab a lunch, got a picnic, we’ll sit on the park and watch the boats, and we just love being outside. We love being a part of Seattle. That is what we enjoy doing, and that’s what I enjoy doing. And you know, now that I’m gonna have a newborn on the way, that’s gonna be our summer. We’re gonna strap them, I’ll strap them in, and we’re gonna we’re gonna go explore the city.

Scott Cowan [01:09:27]:

That’ll be great. My get out jail free card always says, what didn’t I ask you that I should have? Oh. Man,

Everett Fitzhugh [01:09:37]:

all right. So I got one little one little fact that people don’t know about me. Everyone always asks, someone asked me one time, what would you do if you weren’t broadcasting? Like what would you wanna do if you weren’t working in hockey? I initially, before I got involved in sports and in broadcasting, I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. And yeah, I wanted to be an early childhood education. So K through three.

Scott Cowan [01:10:10]:

Okay.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:10:10]:

That that was that was what I was going to do until I put the microphone on for the first time. And I said, well, sorry kids. We’re gonna Well, but you see you’ve

Scott Cowan [01:10:19]:

got a chance. You’re gonna have one

Everett Fitzhugh [01:10:21]:

at once.

Scott Cowan [01:10:22]:

Yeah. You could you still could do this.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:10:23]:

I still could. You could moonlight as a as a daycare worker in the summertime.

Scott Cowan [01:10:31]:

Yeah. Alright. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to sit and talk to me today. I’ve enjoyed it a lot. You’re very entertaining, and I’m, you know, you’re a great ambassador for the team. Your your your, enthusiasm is making me wanna go go sit down and and check out a hockey game.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:10:50]:

I

Scott Cowan [01:10:50]:

really mean that. That’s gonna be fun.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:10:52]:

Thank you.

Scott Cowan [01:10:52]:

And I will report back to you on my experience. I will tell you about it. Please.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:10:56]:

So thank

Scott Cowan [01:10:57]:

you so much for making it happen.

Everett Fitzhugh [01:10:58]:

Scott, this is awesome. Thank you so much, man. I had a blast, and let’s stay in touch. I’m looking forward to doing this again.

Scott Cowan [01:11:15]:

Join us next time for another episode of the Exploring Washington State podcast.