ALLEN, Texas – One of the often overlooked but rarely missed portions of a live professional hockey game is the importance of an engaging and enthusiastic public address announcer.
An inexperienced PA announcer stands out quite easily while the smoother, more polished gems become such a familiar part of our in game experience that we often overlook their welcome tone.
The Allen Americans have that welcome tone in the talented chords of Lee Hastings, a veteran announcer picked up by the Americans prior to their inaugural season who has become a permanent fixture at every Americans game, literally.
Priding himself on never missing a single game, despite some tough battles with “cough due to cold” as Forrest Gump would say; Lee has never missed announcing a game since he began his PA career in 2001. An impressive accomplishment, and one driven by the old fashioned work ethic instilled in him by his father who dedicated his life to a career of service in the Air Force.
“I am a guy that always gives 100% in whatever I do, and I do it with as much passion as I can,” Hastings said. “I learned that from my dad, he spent 30 year in the Air Force so we traveled around a lot. That was an experience that taught me a lot about life.”
Traveling as often as Lee’s family did, he was not able to settle down and play much hockey aside from pickup games. However the seed was planted which bloomed into a lifelong love of the sport from watching it on TV, most notably, the 1980 US Hockey Team’s emotional upset victory over the former Soviet Red Army team that led to their eventual gold medal.
“What really got me hooked on the game was the 1980 US Hockey Team winning it all and beating the Russians…how could you not get hooked after that?” Hastings reminisced.
Hastings cut his chops doing PA work for the Halstead High School football team in Wichita, Kansas. This progressed to covering baseball and even dirt track racing before doing some radio work in Wichita which was fun but more importantly, allowed him to hone his speaking skills.
Although Lee missed out on playing competitive level hockey, an odd twist of events would afford him an opportunity to blend his lifelong love of hockey with his professional talents. Not on the ice but from a much different angle, off the playing surface and behind the boards.
A good friend of Lee’s was the vice president of ticket sales for the Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League who one day called asking if Lee wouldn’t mind filling in for the teams regular PA announcer who would miss some games due to work. He knew Lee had some past PA experience and wasn’t afraid of speaking in front of large crowds, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a scary experience the first time out.
“I remember the first game, I was so nervous I was in a cold sweat”, Hastings chuckles. “After I got through the first period I was thinking, wow this is a lot of fun! I ended up doing three games in a row for them and after the third game the (Wichita) GM asked if I would like to take over the job full time and the rest is history. I’ve never looked back and absolutely love it”, Hastings proclaims.
Hastings watches the action at a recent game
In 2007, Hastings did play-by-play coverage for the Tornado before handing over the reins to Tommy Daniels for the back half of the season. As you can see, the nucleus for the current Allen Americans staff was already taking shape. The summer before the Americans took the ice, Matt Canavan asked Hastings if he’d like to try out for the Americans PA spot and he jumped at the chance.
“While I really like doing the play-by-play and color, I really love the PA spot the most. The energy I get from the fans and the team is unreal at times”, Hastings said.
When Lee Hastings is behind the microphone, you will find that the energy in the building starts well before the players hit the ice and the puck is dropped. Next week, we’ll have part two of our feature on Allen Americans PA announcer Lee Hastings. Find out about his pre-game rituals, his thoughts on this year’s Americans squad and the overall play level that he’s seen develop over the years that he’s been involved with the Central Hockey League.
Contact the writer at maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at chip.crail@prohockeynews.com
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