Tampa Bay Lightning analyst visited Dave Strader hours before he passed away

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
October 5, 2017

Brian Engblom didn’t know what to say to his longtime friend Dave Strader.

What do you say to someone, knowing it’s almost certainly the last time you will ever see or speak to them again?

Turns out, that last visit to see Strader in Glens Falls, N.Y., was the last time Engblom got the chance to speak to his longtime friend and former broadcast partner. Less than 36 hours after departing, Engblom received a text – Strader had passed away, finally losing his bout with cholangiocarcinoma, a form of cancer to the bile ducts.

”It was hard,’’ Engblom said. “It’s so sad.’’

Thursday was the first game ever played at the new Little Ceasers Arena in Detroit and Strader was originally tabbed to call the game on NBCSN, bringing him back to where his NHL career started in the Motor City. Next month, Strader was to be in Toronto as part of Hall of Fame weekend to accept the Foster Hewitt Award for his outstanding work in hockey broadcasting.

Instead, a memorial was held on Thursday for Strader in his hometown of Glen Falls with the funeral scheduled to take place on Friday to celebrate the life of a one of the most recognizable voices in hockey history, described by Mike “Doc” Emerick during a tribute on Wednesday as a “Hall of Fame Soul.’’.

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Engblom and Strader first were paired together at ESPN, starting in 1996 when Strader was hired by the network to assume full-time broadcasting duties. He spent the previous two seasons as the voice of the Detroit Red Wings.

Though described as a “true pro’’, one could be assured that Strader was going to make everybody he encountered either belt out in laughter or force them to hold it in moments before going on the air.

”His great line, and he would say it all the time, we would be about 20 seconds until air time, the mics are open to the truck but we aren’t on the air yet,’’ Engblom said. “So he would be talking to the truck and say, ‘Okay crew, let’s go, let’s have a good game tonight, second star is up for grabs’, and that was great line he would have us laughing already. Then it would be, 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 and we would be on the air.’’

That was just a touch of Strader’s send of humor.

”Some of the stuff, I can’t even tell you, just hilarious things,’’ Enblom said. “He always kept it loose. When he would talk back to the truck, there would be laughter in the truck, that’s why I had so much fun with him. Even when the game was going on, I would just about bust out laughing because I would open the key so I could hear what he was saying to the truck even as I was talking and doing the game.”

Engblom said Strader even wrote a song, poking fun at himself, entitled “Wide Shot, Matchup, Single of Me’’ and wrote more words to it.

But there was a dedicated professional behind all the jokes and laughter. There was a reason Strader was called “The Voice’’ evident in his Twitter handle, @TheVoiceDS. Smooth in his delivery, Strader put in the work and was dedicated to his craft.

”He such a good pro, so easy to work with,’’ said Engbloom, who struggled to recall the amount of games the two did together while at ESPN. “He was always very prepared, knew exactly what was going on. He had a great way of going in (to the locker room) and some play-by-play guys don’t talk a lot to the players a lot, but he did. He talked to the players and got his own ideas, knew how to bring things out of (the analysts) and pick up a thought or a thread and carry it somewhere. He had a really, good overall approach.’’

Strader touched so many people he came across, he was beloved by all who knew him, especially within the hockey broadcasting community, where he spent his professional career.

Lightning play-by-play voice Rick Peckham first met Strader when the two worked in the minor leagues, Peckham in Rochester, N.Y., and Strader with the Adirondack Red Wings.

”Just a great guy and great to see him get the opportunity with the (Detroit) Red Wings, and of course just took off from there,’’ Peckham said. “He got along with everybody in the game, a terrific announcer who got thrown in to some tough spots when he filled in at the Winter Classic when Mike Emerick was ill, but he could handle it. Just a tremendous voice, a tremendous ambassador and a good friend. Very positive through his whole experience and you just felt he was going to find a way to beat it.’’

Strader returned to the booth at the end of last season with the Dallas Stars, broadcasting the game against the Lightning. After Jamie Benn won the game in overtime, the players skated toward the broadcast side of the ice and raised their stick in salute toward Strader. He remained in the booth for additional games, even picking up some playoff games for NBCSN with plans to pick up games this season.

But with so much silence around Strader as the start of the season started to get closer, it proved ominous. So when Engblom started to realize he had not talked to his friend, he had the inkling it was time to get in touch and get on an airplane.

Engblom made it just in time.

“He’ll be sorely missed,” Engblom said of Strader. “He was loved by everybody.”

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