The call came from Mario Lemieux.
“We talked,” Bob Errey recalled over the weekend. “He just congratulated me on a great career.”
This was Wednesday night, soon after Errey learned he had been fired as a Penguins broadcaster after working for the team since the 1999-2000 season.
It was a tough call for Lemieux to make. Errey was terminated by the Fenway Sports Group, which bought the Penguins from Lemieux and Ron Burkle in November 2021. Lemieux no longer has any role with the team and doesn’t even go to any of the games because of a financial spat with the Fenway people.
It was an even tougher call for Errey to take. He and Lemieux have been close friends since he and Lemieux became Penguins teammates before the 1984-85 season. Errey was one of Lemieux’s alternate captains when the team won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992.
It’s safe to say Errey would not have been fired, along with Steve Mears, his television broadcast partner since 2017, if Lemieux still owned the team. Lemieux knows Pittsburgh and understands what Errey has meant to the franchise. No one brought more passion, enthusiasm and knowledge to the job than Errey. No one was better at explaining hockey to the audience. No one, other than Mike Lange, did more to promote the Penguins.
Clearly, Fenway Sports Group doesn’t have a clue.
“I just got a call that they were making a change,” Errey said. “I didn’t have any knowledge that it was coming. I was just looking forward to the season.
“There were no reasons given, not that I needed any. I didn’t ask. I just want to say I’m proud of what we’ve done over the years.”
Penguins fans are the real losers here. Errey said he will miss them most, although he spoke highly of the players he has covered, especially Sidney Crosby, whom he said has “more class than anyone in the NHL.”
“Everywhere I go, whether it’s for a walk or to the grocery store, people stop me to ask questions,” Errey said. “They are so passionate. I love talking the game with them. My relationship with the fans might have been the best part of the job.”
Penguins fans have appreciated Errey since his playing days. He wasn’t the biggest or faster skater, but he always played bigger and faster than he was. On a team filled with Lemieux and a gang of Hall of Famers, he willingly accepted his role as a glue player who would do anything to help the hockey club win.
“Everyone comes into the league as a scorer, but you have to adjust to whatever your role is,” Errey said. “If you’re not willing to do that, you won’t last in this league. So you work hard and knock down the hurdles in front of you. You have to work hard because you know the superstars can’t carry the team alone.”
Errey did it well enough to be a significant contributor to the Penguins’ first two Cups. One of my favorite pictures was taken after the trophy presentation in 1991, when Errey and alternate captain Paul Coffey were at Lemieux’s elbow, staring longingly at the Cup as Lemieux lifted it high in the air for the first time in Penguins history.
“He held it up so high that I could barely reach it,” Errey said, fairly giggling.
But it wasn’t just the Cups and all of those great Penguins players that Errey remembers from his playing days.
“I played with Pat LaFontaine in Buffalo. I played with Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov in Detroit. I played with Mike Modano in Dallas. I played with Wayne Gretzky in New York.
“I saw great players do great things. I’ve been lucky.”
At least Errey was lucky until last week.
“The timing of this isn’t good,” he said. “It’s early September. There is no time to get my name out there. People know my allegiance has always been to the Penguins. I’ve been a Penguin for more than 30 years. Everyone has their own people, anyway.
“It’s just a tough landscape right now. You know what’s happening with regional television. I’m not the only one who has lost his job. It’s happened to a lot of people. I just can’t believe it happened to Mearsy. That really hit me hard. He’s not just a great friend. He’s a real talent.”
The good news is Errey said he has no plans to retire. The better news will come when he’s hired by another team. He belongs in hockey. Hockey needs him.
“I love doing what I do,” Errey said. “It’s been a fantastic run.”
For Errey, for sure.
For the rest of us, as well.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter@RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: September 4, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: September 4, 2023, 9:22 p.m.
