Darren Pang
| Darren Pang | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 17, 1964 Meaford, ON, CAN |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) |
| Weight | 155 lb (70 kg; 11 st 1 lb) |
| Position | Goaltender |
| Caught | Left |
| Played for | Chicago Blackhawks |
| National team |  Canada |
| NHL Draft | Undrafted |
| Playing career | 1984–1989 |
Darren Robert "Panger" Pang (born February 17, 1964) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his professional career with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (1984-85 and 1987-89).[1]
He is currently a hockey media personality with the St. Louis Blues, and also does occasional work on nationally televised hockey broadcasts. He is good friends with former long-time Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman.
Playing career
Pang grew up playing hockey in Nepean, Ontario for the Nepean Raiders. As a youth, he played alongside many future NHLers, including Doug Smith, Dan Quinn and Steve Yzerman.
Pang played in many prestigious minor hockey tournaments as a youth goalie. He played for the West Ottawa Golden Knights alongside former NHLer Dan Quinn, in the Quebec Pee Wee Tournament, and for the Nepean Raiders Major Midget team that represented Ontario in the Air Canada Cup as a 15 year old.
He was the first goalie drafted by the expansion Belleville Bulls, winning their first ever game in the OHL. He was traded to the Ottawa 67's, where he won the Memorial Cup in 1984, while garnering the Top goalie and All-Star team awards.
Standing 5'5",[2] Pang was the 2nd shortest goalie behind only Roy "Shrimp" Worters to play in the NHL, and was often humorously considered to have a "sixth hole" above his head. He was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1988, and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the year, won by Hall of Famer Joe Nieuwendyk. His first win was recorded on October 18, 1987 against the Winnipeg Jets.
Pang was signed as a free agent by the Chicago Blackhawks on August 15, 1984. He also set a Blackhawks goaltender's record with six assists in the 1987–1988 NHL season, and had 9 points in his brief NHL career. Pang suffered a career-ending knee injury on September 21, 1990, during training camp. During his playing career, he was known to vomit before each game, as Glenn Hall had.
Broadcast career
Today, Pang is a color commentator for the St. Louis Blues TV broadcasts and a part time analyst for Sportsnet. He was recently named an "Inside the Glass" reporter for regular season and playoff action for NHL on NBC. Pang also contributes to Home Ice, XM Satellite Radio's all-hockey channel. Before joining the Blues, he was the color commentator for the Phoenix Coyotes and a part time analyst for TSN.
Pang was a top analyst for ESPN National Hockey Night[3] and NHL on ABC for 13 seasons and has broadcast over 95 Stanley Cup Finals games on National TV.
Pang has worked as an analyst for 3 Winter Olympics. In 1998, in Nagano, Japan, he was assigned as the 1st Olympic reporter that received full access "between the benches" with no glass separating Pang from the benches, on CBS. He also worked as an on ice analyst/reporter in 2002 for NBC and in 2010 he worked as a studio analyst for CTV/TSN alongside Bob McKenzie, Nick Kypreos, Daren Millard and James Duthie.
On July 9, 2009, it was announced that he would be the color commentator for the St. Louis Blues TV broadcasts, with former color man Bernie Federko, who moved between the benches, while John Kelly and Pang work together in the broadcast booth.
Controversy
On December 7, 2010, in front of a national audience on TSN in Canada, Pang misspoke and unintentionally made a statement that garnered a lot of attention, when comparing P.K. Subban (who is black) and Alex Pietrangelo (who is white). He stated that Subban should emulate Pietrangelo, because he does things "the white way". Pang immediately corrected himself and said "the right way". He later apologized during the same broadcast, saying that he felt terrible by the mistake and felt like he had a "knot in his stomach" from it.
References
- ↑ Sipple, George (August 24, 2013). "Ex-goalie Darren Pang praises Jimmy Howard's progres". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ↑ McDill, Kent (November 29, 1987). "Don't Sell Him Short: A 5-5 Goalie, Darren Pang, Manages to Stand Tall in Net for the Blackhawks". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ↑ Marchand, Andrew (May 7, 2004). "5 Questions for Darren Pang". New York Post. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
External links
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