Bud Lynch: Voice Behind Red Wings Hockey

[Guest E_S_A_D]

I absolutely loved this article. I can remember listening to him since his first year on the Microphone at the Joe in 1985. I still prefer his solid, unelevated tone after a goal over this new style announcer anyday.

May 29, 2009

Budd Lynch, 91, remains the voice of Wings' championship history

BY JO-ANN BARNAS

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The Alumni Room was packed with revelers by the time the elevator doors opened, delivering a smiling Budd Lynch from his perch high above the ice after three-plus hours behind the microphone as the Red Wings' public-address announcer.

His plan -- and Lynch always has a plan because he has remained, at 91, perpetually organized -- was to go in for a drink, maybe one vodka on the rocks, then head home to Wyandotte after the traffic cleared.

But he needed to reach the entrance first.

Lynch was stopped by a fan, then two more. All because, he would say later with a gleam in his eye, it was a "night worth sharing."

Longevity is not the reason why Lynch has been among the most beloved persons associated with the Wings for the last 60 years. Still a fact remains: No other soul has witnessed more hockey in Detroit.

The Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups, and Lynch's river-smooth baritone voice can be linked to all but the first three.

He was 32 in the fall of 1949 when, five years after losing his right arm and shoulder to a German shell in World War II, he was hired by then-general manager Jack Adams to handle the Red Wings' radio and television play-by-play duties.

The Wings won four Stanley Cups during Lynch's first six years on the microphone, beginning in 1949-50.

He did the play by play for the club until 1975, when he left the microphone to become the team's public-relations director.

Lynch had intended to retire for good in 1985, the year he was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. But Lynch changed his mind at the request of Marian Ilitch, who convinced him -- Lynch said -- to stay on as public-address announcer during home games at Joe Louis Arena.

Here's another honor he could win hands-down: The Red Wings Perfect Attendance Award. Since 1949, Lynch can't recall ever missing a home game.

On Wednesday night, he was assured of at least two more this season.

Wearing a sport coat over a red-and-white striped golf shirt, Lynch was six steps from reaching the Alumni Room about a half hour after the Wings' dramatic, 2-1 victory in overtime over Chicago to clinch the Western Conference title when he was stopped again. This time he was asked to describe his favorite moment from the game.

"When they shook hands," Lynch said with a smile.

Then he leaned slightly forward in his announcer's pose and began reciting part of his delivery from that night: "A great performance by two great teams pleasing all you fans. ... "

A 'Budd Lynch moment'

Ken Kal, the radio play-by-play voice of the Wings since 1995-96, grew up in the Warrendale area on Detroit's west side listening to Lynch on the radio. Bruce Martyn joined Lynch in the broadcast booth in 1964.

Kal remembers the enthusiasm with which Lynch called games. He was impressed with how easily Lynch transitioned from radio to television.

"When Budd was doing the game," Kal said, "you knew it was Red Wing hockey."

Kal recently experienced what many fondly call a "Budd Lynch moment."

"A couple of years ago, I was in a golf outing in Windsor, and he joined our group," said Kal, 51. "I never had the opportunity to spend four hours with him. I started to ask him all the questions I never had a chance to. It was one of the greatest four hours I have ever experienced in my life."

A couple of years ago, after waving off invitations to tell his life story for years, Lynch penned his autobiography with the help of Bob Duff, sports columnist at the Windsor Star.

Lynch called it one of the most memorable experiences of his life.

"We sat by the Ambassador Bridge, on the Canadian side, on at least three different mornings smoking cigars with his tape machine going," Lynch said.

The stories -- especially of his life before the Red Wings -- poured out: of losing his father in 1919 to the flu pandemic; of his first years in radio, in his native Canada, in the 1930s; of joining the Essex Scottish Second Battalion reserves and storming the beach at Normandy, France, on D Day in 1944, then nearly dying a few weeks later in Caen, France, when he was hit by a German shell.

Lynch returned home after the war an amputee. He had been so severely injured that he was given last rites. He survived after doctors removed his right arm and right shoulder.

Game-day routine

A copy of his book -- "My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown" -- is stacked atop a pile of papers in his kitchen, where he's sitting at a table near a window offering a gorgeous view of the Detroit River and Grosse Ile.

It's the morning before Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, and Lynch already is nearly five hours into his pre-game routine.

Up at 6:30 a.m., Lynch has read both Detroit newspapers and has drunk a half-cup of coffee. He smoked a cigar as he worked the crossword puzzles. Lynch -- and it's a "terrible admission," he said -- has smoked cigars since he was 15. He said he believes he has never had a health issue in part because he doesn't inhale.

"Never even laryngitis," he said.

Asked about his favorite brand of cigars, Lynch said with a laugh: "I always say I smoke OP's now -- other people's."

His routine on game days includes heading upstairs to his typewriter to prepare his notes.

Although he receives a script from the Red Wings before games, he said he never leaves home without a back-up in his canvas bag.

"You have to be prepared just in case," Lynch said.

This season, the Wings have expanded their public-address team in the press box to include John Fossen. Ayron Sequeira, recently hired as the Wings' marketing executive producer/event entertainment, stands to Lynch's left during games.

But there's no question who's the star of the show.

When Lynch walked through the press box Wednesday night, a voice was heard coming from the CBC broadcast booth: "Is that him?"

When he reached his spot, Sequeira greeted him with a friendly, "Hi, boss."

Lynch will be 92 in August. Part of the reason he thinks his posture is so good is because he stands for the duration of every game.

He has no plans of slowing down. On June 29, he will host his 20th Budd Lynch Celebrity Golf Classic to benefit The Guidance Center in Southgate. The event will be held at the Grosse Ile Golf & Country Club.

Still, all these years later, he counts his children -- six daughters -- as his biggest blessing. He has been married twice. (Both wives are deceased.) For the last few years, Lynch said he has been grateful for the companionship of Nancy Tuinier of Grosse Ile.

One sidelight about age: Lynch wants to set the record straight on senior longevity, something about another broadcasting legend in town.

"Ernie Harwell is a good friend of mine," Lynch said with a smile. "I'm six months older than he is."

Who's counting?

Contact JO-ANN BARNAS: 313-222-2037 or jbarnas@freepress.com.

Additional Facts

Our Budd

Who: Frank Joseph James Lynch -- legally changed to Budd after World War II when he became a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen.

Age: 91.

Born: Windsor, Ontario.

Resides: Wyandotte.

Family: Six children, eight grandchildren, two great grandchildren.

Red Wings career: Radio and then television broadcaster (1949-75); public-relations director (1975-85); public-address announcer since 1985.

World War II vet: Member of the Canadian Army's Essex Scottish regiment. Landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, on D Day -- June 6, 1944. A month later, he lost his right arm and shoulder after being hit by a German shell in Caen, France.

Autobiography: "My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown," published in 2007 by Olympia Entertainment.

Favorite pastime: Golf. "I drive right and putt left -- it drives my playing partners crazy."

Favorite cigar: Churchill.

Favorite city: "Any of the Original Six. With expansion, I enjoyed Vancouver. And L.A. was always fascinating to me."

Favorite road story: "I have so many, but here's one: The train trips coming out of Montreal were always impressive. We played bridge a lot. Once I went down to another car, and I came back and my Kleenex box that I used to stick all my cards in (to hold them up) was on fire. I said, 'What happened?' Someone said, 'Gordie took a look at your hand and said it was horse (poop).' " Gordie as in Howe, of course.

Bet you didn't know: Lynch has been at the microphone for eight of the Wings' 11 Stanley Cup championships. He has five rings, beginning with the 1953-54 season. He plans to give them to his grandchildren.

Favorite saying: " 'Assess a man for what he has, not what he has not.' That's a phrase I use all the time from the War Amps (the War Amputations of Canada, Southwestern Ontario branch)."

Jo-Ann Barnas

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[oldredbarnman 13]

I guess I'm dating myself, but I remember when Budd did the play by play on tv back in the 70s.

"Get up Nick(Libett), there's no penalty"

Budd is the best!

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Great article; Mr. Lynch is a true hockey icon. Thanks for sharing.