What I learned going 'Inside the Glass' with Pierre McGuire

CHICAGO — When NBC and the NHL insisted I wear a helmet to go between the benches with analyst Pierre McGuire for a reporting assignment Wednesday, my initial thought was how silly I would look trudging across the ice wearing a bucket.

I figured players such as Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins would poke fun of me.

Penguins vice president of communication Tom McMillan said not to worry, adding, “But he probably will give you grief for wearing a Chicago Blackhawks helmet."

That was an easy fix. Penguins head equipment manager Dana Heinze put a Penguins sticker over the Blackhawks logo on the right side of the helmet, giving each team representation on my head. The helmet was officially neutral.

Go behind the scenes and between the benches with NBC's Pierre McGuire

All in all, going "Inside the Glass" with McGuire for NBC's broadcast of the game was one of the most entertaining assignments of my career.

Here are the my takeaways from the experience:

Time flies: I knew the game was faster when watching from ice level, but I didn't realize how quick time passes when you are in the center of the action. When I heard play-by-play man Kenny Albert in my headset say there was less than a minute to go in the first period, I was shocked. There’s so much going on right in front of you that you lose all sense of time. Line changes are happening two feet away, coaches are barking commands and players are calling for the puck. It’s all mesmerizing.

McGuire’s complicated job: He may not be speaking to viewers every minute of the game, but he is always talking to someone, often a member of the NBC production crew to let them know he has a story to tell or what video they should cue up. McGuire likes to identify eight possible story lines for the game. Just before players came on the ice Wednesday, he told associate producer Stephen Greenberg that he was going to be looking at the Jonathan Toews-Sidney Crosby matchup and paying attention to Duncan Keith’s impact on Chicago’s transition game. While McGuire is in between the benches, he has a button that allows him to be live on the air and another button that allows him to talk his producers. He always has his finger on a button.

The job has physical demands: When McGuire interviewed Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, he had roughly 10 seconds to travel from his spot to the bench. Because there’s no door in his booth, McGuire, 54, had to jump over the boards. When he arrived at the Chicago bench, players made room and he climbed over the bench to get to Quenneville.

Pierre McGuire's most memorable moments 'Inside the Glass'

Pre-game and in-game interviews have improved: The Quenneville interview provided interesting information about playing goalies on back-to-back nights and how he felt about a Toews-Crosby matchup. Before the game, McGuire had an entertaining interview with Keith in which Keith playfully told McGuire he wasn’t going to say what he had to do if he had to stop the Patrick Kane line. When McGuire first started working "Inside the Glass," the interviews weren’t as interesting. Why are they better?  Because players and coaches have learned to trust McGuire. Plus, coaches have watched coach Mike Babcock develop into a star because  of how authoritative he sounds in interviews. “The Babcock factor is huge,” McGuire said. “He is the gold standard for all of these interviews.”

"Inside the Glass" dance: After two shifts in the booth with McGuire, I realized there is a rhythm and cadence to watching a game from there and avoiding being hit by a stick, puck, etc. You lean out to watch the play, and then start to walk back as the play heads toward you. When players get within six or eight feet, you arch back. It’s like doing a television aerobics workout. Move forward. Stop. Step backwards. Now bend the back. Pick up the pace and do it again.

Bottom line: Fellow analyst Ed Olczyk and Doc Emrick, who missed the Wednesday game, have synergy. For example, sometimes after Emrick has had to describe a lengthy, continuous call of action, Olczyk said he will jump in and make a comment just because he understands Emrick needs a pause. “I just want him to be able to breathe a little bit,” Olczyk said. McGuire and Emrick both enjoy getting to the rink early and sitting together at a table to go over their notes for the game. “We solve some of the world’s problems sitting here at our desk,” McGuire said. “Usually I listen and he talks. Doc is an amazing man.”