Pat Foley's return to Blackhawk broadcast booth

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: Foley: He didn't shoot, but he scores with return to Hawks : Don't call it a comeback, because Pat Foley never really went anywhere. : Yet, when he returns to the Blackhawks' broadcast booth at 6 p.m. today on Comcast SportsNet Chicago for their season opener in New York, after a two-year hiatus doing games for the Chicago Wolves, he'll once again provide the voice of excitement for a franchise he enlivened - even in down seasons - for a quarter century. : "I can't wait to watch these kids play," Foley said earlier this week. "I didn't get to see them much the last two years. I watched a lot of hockey, but not the Hawks. It was just too hard, and I hope people understand that." : What Hawks fans couldn't understand is why the team fired Foley in the first place after the 2005-2006 season. : He was the Hawks' defining voice, as much for this generation as Lloyd Pettit had been when Foley was growing up in the suburbs. He never did get a good explanation why the team went with different play-by-play men when it divided up its radio-TV simulcast two years ago. : "There were a couple of people involved in that decision," Foley said matter-of-factly, "and it was not a complete surprise to me things happened the way they did." : Yet Foley never criticized it, not publicly anyway. : "The easiest thing to do is start firing bullets," he said. "It sure would've been fun." : Yet he never did. : "I handled it the way I handled it because, as I said at the time, 'Take the high road.' I just think that's the way to go. But believe me, I didn't do it because I thought I was coming back. ... I just did it because that's the way my parents brought me up and I think that's the right thing to do." : Still, there's no denying that Foley's professionalism and diplomacy paid off when the Hawks finally came to their senses - not coincidentally with the ascension of Rocky Wirtz to owner. : "Rocky has done everything right," said Jim Corno, CSNC president and general manager, "and he's fixed everything that needed to be fixed - much faster than anybody thought it could be fixed." Bringing back Foley was a key part of that package. : "That's not to say anything bad about Dan Kelly," Corno added on the play-by-play man who kept Foley's chair warm the last two years. "Hey, if Harry Caray wanted to come back to the Cubs, you'd find room for him," and not just because coming back from the dead would make him immortal. : "He's a legend," Corno said of Foley. "He's going to make this season even more exciting." : "Clearly, there's an excitement level here that dates back 20 years at least," Foley said. : The trick will be capturing that excitement on TV, something Foley has never had trouble with. : He's already mastered the switch from a simulcast to TV exclusively with the Wolves the last two seasons, and astute fans will probably notice the difference right away. : "I don't have to chart the puck," Foley said. "You don't hear me say 'near point' and 'far corner' and stuff. I always felt, doing the simulcast, try to be fair to the guy who is driving and can't see the game. So I certainly charted the puck more than I will now." : The other transition will be working with Eddie Olczyk after so many years alongside Dale Tallon or Troy Murray, now doing the team's radio broadcasts on WGN 720-AM alongside John Wiederman, or Billy Gardner. : "It's kind of interesting how hockey broadcasting has evolved," Foley said. "Especially on television, there seems to be a greater desire to have more conversation, rather than necessarily just the game. I think there's a fine line you've got to draw there. I tend to think you want to make sure you don't miss anything. So that'll be a work in progress, and the two of us getting used to each other." : Yet Foley didn't expect any problems, especially with old colleagues Mike Leary and Dave Turner still producing and directing the Hawks' games. : "I actually worked with both these guys before," Foley said, "so there's a comfort level with the crew. They're great pros and good guys, and I'll be surprised if it's anything but a smooth transition." : They'll get plenty of chances to work out any bugs, because of course the other major change Wirtz and team president John McDonough have brought to the Hawks this season is putting all their games on TV, road and home, on CSNC, which will also have the home opener on Monday night at the United Center, or WGN Channel 9, which has Saturday's game in Washington at 6 p.m. : "I think it's remarkable it's 2008 and we're talking about every game being on TV as a big story, but it is," Foley said. "It's going to be really exciting when I can say, 'Every time this team plays you can watch it.' : "But," he added with a laugh, "I've got to wear a coat and tie to the home games. I used to be able to wear a sweater and corduroys." : (Ted Cox, Daily Herald)

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