Advertisements

Going Deep With New LA Kings Broadcaster Alex Faust – Part 4

June 17, 2017 by 3 Comments

FROZEN ROYALTY EXCLUSIVE: The first three installments of this series about new Los Angeles Kings television play-by-play announcer Alex Faust took an in-depth look at his background, how he got the job, his broadcasting style, his ideas for Kings telecasts and his thoughts on following in the footsteps of legendary, Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller. In the final installment, we’ll look at Faust’s biggest challenge in his new job, and it probably isn’t what you think it is.

Newly-hired Los Angeles Kings play-by-play announcer Alex Faust.
Photo courtesy Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES — As reported in Part 3 of this series, once new Los Angeles Kings television play-by-play announcer Alex Faust utters his first words during his debut Kings telecast on Fox Sports West in October, he’ll face significant pressure from various sources, primarily because all eyes will be on him as the new guy, but also because he’ll be following in the footsteps of a superstar, Bob Miller, a Hall of Famer, a legend.

Indeed, Faust will have to deal with a significant amount of pressure, including from himself, to provide fans with the high-quality broadcast they expect, game in and game out.

Read more of this post

Advertisements

Filed under Exclusives Tagged with , , , ,

Going Deep With New LA Kings Broadcaster Alex Faust – Part 3

June 15, 2017 by 3 Comments

FROZEN ROYALTY EXCLUSIVE: In the third installment of a multi-part series about newly-hired Los Angeles Kings television play-by-play announcer Alex Faust, he talked about his broadcasting style, and the fact that he’s following in the footsteps of legendary Hall of Fame announcer Bob Miller, not to mention the pressure that brings to his new job.

Newly-hired Los Angeles Kings play-by-play announcer Alex Faust (right), shown here during a college
basketball broadcast for Fox Sports.
Photo courtesy Fox Sports/Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES — After getting so accustomed to and comfortable with the style that legendary play-by-play announcer Bob Miller brought to Los Angeles Kings broadcasts for 44 seasons, fans will have to get used to new play-by-play announcer Alex Faust, who was hired by the Kings on June 1 to succeed Miller, who retired after the end of the 2016-17 regular season.

Although no one can replace Miller, the Hall of Fame Voice of the Kings, like it or not, Faust will be the new guy behind the microphone. But what will likely be music to the ears of Kings fans is that Faust’s style shares one key point with that of Miller—he doesn’t use catchphrases or shtick.

“I don’t do catchphrases, I don’t do gimmicks, I don’t do shtick,” he said. “Those are just not things you’ll find with me. If you’re looking for a catchphrase, if you’re looking for something kitschy that I’ll bring to the table, you’re not going to get it, and I won’t be apologetic about that.”

Read more of this post

Filed under Exclusives, News Tagged with , , , ,

Going Deep With New LA Kings Broadcaster Alex Faust – Part 2

June 13, 2017 by 3 Comments

FROZEN ROYALTY EXCLUSIVE: In Part 1 of this multi-part series about Los Angeles Kings newly-hired television play-by-play broadcaster Alex Faust, he talked about his rather unique path to becoming a sports broadcaster. In Part 2, he talked about how he and the Kings found each other, not to mention some of his thoughts about the Kings television broadcasts going forward.

Newly-hired Los Angeles Kings play-by-play announcer Alex Faust (left) with Kings television color commentator Jim Fox (right)
Photo courtesy Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES — Once Los Angeles Kings legendary Hockey Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer Bob Miller announced on March 3, 2017 that he would retire at the end of the 2016-17 season, the question was:

Would the Kings hire a veteran play-by-play announcer, or would they go with a young, up-and-coming broadcaster who could grow into the role and hopefully, establish himself as a star in its own right in a long career with the team, as Miller did?

Educated bets were on the latter option, and the Kings made those bets winners on June 1, when they announced the hiring of Brooklyn, New York native Alex Faust, who has called games at both the college and professional level, and not just in hockey. But at 28 years of age, not only is he relatively inexperienced, but also has the distinction of being the youngest broadcaster in the National Hockey League. Moreover, although many predicted that the Kings would go with a young, up-and-coming broadcaster, it is unlikely that anyone thought they would choose someone that young and more importantly, someone who is pretty much an unknown.

Read more of this post

Filed under Exclusives, News Tagged with , , , ,

Going Deep With New LA Kings Broadcaster Alex Faust – Part 1

June 12, 2017 by 3 Comments

FROZEN ROYALTY EXCLUSIVE: New Los Angeles Kings television play-by-play announcer Alex Faust has been spending a lot of time doing interviews since he was hired on June 1, and he spent over an hour speaking with Frozen Royalty for what will be a series of stories starting with a look at how he got his start in broadcasting and how his early work prepared him for what would come next.

Newly-hired Los Angeles Kings play-by-play
announcer Alex Faust
Photo courtesy Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES — When the June 1 announcement came that the Los Angeles Kings had hired 28-year-old Brooklyn, New York native Alex Faust as their new television play-by-play announcer, taking over for the legendary Voice of the Kings, Bob Miller, who retired after the 2016-17 season, his 44th year behind the microphone for the Kings, a new era of Kings hockey began.

And yes, you read that right. Faust is just 28 years old, and is a rookie, in terms of working full-time in a National Hockey League broadcast booth.

Prior to being hired by the Kings, Faust called hockey games for NBCSN, NESN and Westwood One Radio, along with serving as a radio broadcaster for the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets.

Read more of this post

Filed under Exclusives, News Tagged with , , ,

One More (Important) Story on Bob Miller’s Retirement

April 11, 2017 by 2 Comments

BOB MILLER RETIRES: Also includes selected photographs from Bob Miller’s final games.

Los Angeles Kings Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer Bob Miller (center), shown here with his family after the
final home game of his 44-year career on April 8, 2017 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: Shelly Castellano/SCPIX

LOS ANGELES — On April 10, the Los Angeles Kings relieved President/General Manager Dean Lombardi and head coach Darryl Sutter of their duties, replacing Lombardi with Rob Blake, who was named as Vice President/General Manager and by promoting Luc Robitaille to President, overseeing both business and hockey operations.

Despite the fact that this should be the big story, Frozen Royalty will wait to publish analysis of the front office shake up until after the Kings press conference on Tuesday. After all, there is one more story about their legendary, now-former Voice of the Kings, Bob Miller, who retired on April 9 after his final two broadcasts over the weekend.

That begs the question: Why am I only getting around to writing about Miller now?

Read more of this post

Filed under History, News Tagged with , , , ,

← Older posts