Bob Miller Q&A, part 1

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Does Bob Miller really need any introduction?

OK, perhaps just a quick run through his resume:

Miller just completed his 35th season as the voice of the Kings, and of course in 2000 he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.

We were privileged to chat with Bob Miller to see what keeps him coming back for more Kings hockey each season, and to discuss some of his fond memories of hockey in Los Angeles.

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Q&A: Bob Miller

Question: I can't help but think of poor old Ralph Lawler who has suffered with the Clippers for so long when I think of just how long you have been with the Kings. Knowing that you've seen much more bad than good, what keeps you coming back for more?

Miller: Well, the fact that if I retire I'm afraid that they will win the Stanley Cup the next year (Laughs). That will make me feel even worse. You know I still enjoy doing games and it still excites me to do a live three-hour telecast, which is really only done in sports these days since all of the other shows are taped. I still get excited at 7:30 on a given night that we are going to do a two-and-a-half or three-hours of live TV and see if we can do it with a minimum of mistakes. I still enjoy doing it. I got some pretty good advice from a doctor this summer who asked me the same thing - how much longer are you going to do this? I'll be 70 in October, and I said that I didn't know. He said; let me give you some advice: Don't ever retire because of age. He said, I think too many people retire because they think they have to because of age, and they have no hobbies or interests and they don't last very long. He said as long as you enjoy it and have the ability to do the job, age has nothing to do with it. And I thought that put it in a pretty good perspective for me.

Question: Speaking of age, the Kings are going through a rebuilding with some very talented young players in the pipeline. From your perspective, what makes this rebuild different from other rebuilds?

Miller: I think it is because Dean Lombardi has a plan, and he is going to stick with it. I think too many times in the past we've had a plan and if we didn't win for two years we'd scrap that and go back to square one, and then if we didn't win we'd scrap that too. Pretty soon, years and years go by and you've made not strides whatsoever. Every time I hear Dean talk about his plans - and he did do a good job in San Jose - I'm enthused about what could happen here in the next few years. Dean said that he knows it's tough on the fans and everyone to go through this right now, but I believe when Dean gets this done, this team is going to be built for several years and not just one year. I look at that and that is going to be an exciting part. When we get all these young guys through all the difficult times now and get them into their prime at a relatively young age, then this team is going to be good for a long time. So, I believe in what his plan is. Who knows if it is going to work out like he's planned, but I know someone else in the NHL who said to me that when Dean gets this done, it is going to be done the right way and it is going to be good for years and years.

Question: You've seen so many players come and go. Do you have a particular Kings player who came through the system that you call your favorite player?

Miller: There are quite a few that would fall into that category, but if we talk about guys who came through the Kings' system it would have to be Dave Taylor. Dave Taylor was a low draft choice and ended up playing over 1,000 games and scored more that 1,000 points and was such an outstanding player for this team as a member of the Triple Crown Line and then went on as the assistant general manager and then general manager. Here is a guy who wasn't flashy, but when you talk about someone who leads by example out on the ice it was Dave Taylor. I've mentioned this before, but I never heard Dave throughout his entire career complain about anything. He never complained about the long bus rides, flights being delayed or injuries, he just really appreciated the fact that he was getting a chance to play in the NHL and never worried about the things that he couldn't control. He never complained about anything, which is amazing to me because everyone complains, not just players, but everybody about their flights being late, or why are we going this way.

Question: You've seen and called countless classic moments in the game. Is there a particular Kings highlight that stands out in your memory?

Miller: I think from an individual player standpoint, the night that Wayne Gretzky passed Gordie Howe as the all time leader scorer in the game, and having a chance to call that play on TV, it was such a great moment. It wasn't a surprise, because we knew it was going to happen early in that season, but it was such a storybook way that it happened. Of course it happened in Edmonton where he had had such a great success. It happens with 53 seconds to go in regulation and they stop the game and have a 10 minute ceremony, and then they start the overtime and of course who gets the winning goal in overtime but Wayne Gretzky. Things like that happened in his career that made you think that it wouldn't happen unless it was in a Hollywood script. But those things did happen. That was such a great night. I know it sounds trite to say that it will never be broken, but it really is true because when you look at what players would have to do and the point totals that they would have to amass, it would take them about 20 years to pass that and players just don't play that long these days. They make so much money, they play for a while and that's it. To be able to sit in on that piece of history and be able to call it, well that is just a huge highlight.

As far as games go, that is a little tough. You have the Miracle on Manchester, which was just so memorable, and even now this many years later people say that they were there or they were listening to it. And then in 1993, not the Finals, but the seven games with Toronto to get to the Finals was just the greatest series I have ever seen, with both captains, Wayne Gretzky and Wendel Clark stepping up and having great series. And going to a game seven in Toronto, and you knew everybody in Canada wanted the Finals to be Toronto and Montreal and the Kings win. I remember the last thing that I said in the game when the final seconds went by and it was obvious that the Kings were going to win, I said that the Kings were just four wins away from the Stanley Cup, and some people said that they recorded it so that it was on their answering machine. That was just a classic series with two great teams.

Question: Back to Gretzky breaking Gordie Howe's scoring mark; I've heard you talk about it before that the line you used - Wayne Gretzky, the Great One has become the Greatest of them All - I'm paraphrasing, hopefully I'm close....

Miller: Yeah, that was pretty good.

Question: Well, I know you don't necessarily rehearse lines, but I know you were happy with that one and came up with it before the game. Any chance you can share any of the lines that ended up on the cutting room floor?

Miller: Oh yeah, I don't know if I can remember those (laughs). The way that it happened was, it was in August when a friend of mine called and asked me what I was going to say when Wayne did break the record. And I hadn't even thought of it, and I said that I was going to do the play-by-play and get it right. So then I started to think about it and I did jot some things down, and I don't really remember what some of those other ones were, but I did write down the one that I used and you are right, I didn't want to sound like I was reading it. But I had it in front of me because with all of the excitement of the moment I didn't want to stumble and fumble around on it. I told our producer at the time that I knew he just wanted me to be quiet and let the crowd noise in, but give me about six seconds to say something and I'll be quiet. I had rehearsed it and read it enough that I don't think it came off like I was reading it. You know, unlike the Al Michaels' "Do You Believe in Miracles," this was not something that all the sudden popped into my head simply because we knew it was going to happen and I had the chance to prepare a little because it wasn't spontaneous. So I came up with that and I do think it was a capper to the moment, and of course four years later when he became the greatest goal scorer I had to come up with another one.

Question: And you mentioned the Miracle on Manchester, which is such an interesting game that gets a lot of air time in Canada during the playoffs. Is there anything that happened in that game that doesn't get talked about a lot?

Miller: Well the one thing that I couldn't believe was when I looked down at the start of the third period and Jerry Buss was gone. He had those four or six seats between the benches and I saw that he was gone and I wasn't sure if I should mention it or not on the air. I think I did mention that Jerry Buss was not here, and the story goes that he was in a limo on his way to Palm Springs with Cathy Crosby and they had the game on radio in the limo and we scored and we scored again, and the driver asked Jerry if he wanted to go back and he supposedly said, no, the farther away we get the better they do. I don't know if that was true or not. The other thing happened in the second period because I remember being so upset because we had everyone so excited because we had won that first game 10-8 in Edmonton, so the series is tied and it is a best three of five and everyone is just so excited, the place is sold-out and we go right into the dumpster losing 5-0. And that has really been the pattern, outside of 1993. The Kings get into the playoffs and go to a game seven with Boston in 1976 and lose, right when you've got the city excited about the Kings and the excitement would grow if you could win that and go into another series. So here I thought, here we've done it again, the place is sold out, great interest in town, and here we are losing 5-0. Not only losing, but even the players on the bench will tell you that it was embarrassing. And the Oilers, they were such an arrogant team, they were laughing at the Kings and I just hated the fact that we were falling flat on our face in a game that meant so much. And that made the comeback even more memorable, because when it was 5-0 I don't think there was anyone who thought that could happen.