Q+A: Mike Stubbs, voice of the London Knights, hits 2,000 games

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With 30 years and more than 2,000 games under his belt, the London Knights recently honoured Mike Stubbs, the club’s longtime radio voice and play-by-play commentator. Amid another season of calling the Ontario Hockey League’s No. 1 team, Stubbs spoke with LFP reporter Jack Moulton about his career so far. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Q: How did you get started with the London Knights?

A: From Western, the London Knights were looking for a play-by-play announcer, and I was lucky enough to get that. I remember being at CHRW at Western, I remember (Mario Circelli) running into the newsroom, and he says: “Mike, Mike, Mike, you need to get a tape. Give me your demo tape right now!” And I said, “I don’t have a demo tape,” and he said, “Well, then we’re going to make one!” I was lucky enough to get that job and stayed with it for three years, and then went out to Calgary, and was lucky enough to work with the Flames for a couple of years as their pre-game and post-game show host. Then we were having a family, and we had some life decisions to make, and it just so happened that Mark and Dale Hunter were purchasing the team, and we got to talking at one point, and one thing led to another.

Q: Can you recall your worst game, and why?

A: It might be one time in Kingston (Jan. 15, 2010) where I had a fever of about 103 or 104 and I remember getting sick outside the press box during the intermission, and I don’t know if I looked at the game as much as I should have that night. So if you went back and listened to all of the games, you’d probably find one in Kingston where I wasn’t doing very well, but I just didn’t want to not do the game.

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Q: Have you ever had a major on-air gaffe? What happened?

A: The first season that I was working, the team only won three games (1995-96) and that’s still an OHL record. There are all kinds of stories from that year, but I can remember being in Kitchener and the way that the press box worked. To get to the press box, you had to duck under some duct work, and I wasn’t paying attention, and I walked into the duct work and I knocked myself out. It was pretty early on in the day, and not too many people were around, so I banged my head, and then I remember waking up on the ground and I just continued on. I put my stuff together, but you had to plug into the ceiling, that was where the outlet was. The Knights were up 3-2 in this game, and it was late, and somebody iced the puck, and that was going to mean a face-off in their zone with less than a minute to go. So I sat down on the chair (normally, I stand up when I call games) and I ended up pulling the plug out of the ceiling. As I did that, I happened to say a bad word, not the worst of bad words, but a bad enough word. All of a sudden, we had a phone and it started ringing, and it was the producer, and she said, “You’re off the air!” I thought, I’m gonna lose this job before I ever get going into it, and the Knights ended up winning the face-off, winning the game, and nobody ever called me on that.

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Q: Do you have a favourite memory from your calling of the games?

A: One of the moments that was really unique was the year the London Knights won their first Memorial Cup (2004-05), the team now known as the team of the century. There was a lot of pressure on that team, because there was no NHL that year due to a lockout, and so a lot of the hockey world started to focus on them, and they started the year on a 31-game winning streak. They’re the best team that we’ve ever seen in junior, and yet they had to carry that pressure with them. We had gone to Ottawa for the OHL final, games three and four. So the Knights and the 67’s had split the first two games in the series, and then London won both games in Ottawa. I think it was the bus ride to the airport, you could just sense this relief. For the first time, these guys were thinking, “You know what, we are good enough to do this. We are good enough to win this franchise’s first championship.” The music was playing and the guys were singing, and it was just this incredible atmosphere of knowing they were going home to achieve one of their biggest goals.

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Q: Do you have, for better or for worse, a memorable fan interaction?

A: They happen all the time. The fans are so great. My favourite interaction is just being able to talk to somebody on the concourse before any game, and it can be any number of people. I’m lucky just to be a storyteller, and the storyteller really doesn’t have much of a role if there’s nobody there to take in the story at the other end.

Q: Would you consider going pro again, or are you sticking around?

A: I really love junior hockey. I don’t know that I would find a better situation than what I have right now, being able to live in this area, being able to work for the team and the organization that I do, and being able to learn what I have.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

@JackAtLFPress

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