The Kraken radio broadcast team began dialing into its current frequency in 1989 with a 17-year-old left wing, Al Kinisky, arriving in town to play for the Western Hockey League Seattle Thunderbirds. The Kraken color analyst was a rough-and-tumble forward who put up double-digit point totals and triple-digit penalty minutes, prompting Philadelphia to select him in the third round of the 1990 NHL Draft. More impactfully, Kinisky fell in love with a Lake Washington High classmate, Melissa Harke (now Kinisky) and the couple settled in the Seattle area when a knee injury ended his playing career.
KJR’s lead sound engineer for home games, Terry Ryan, was the public address announcer for the Thunderbirds back then, calling Kinisky’s name for goals, assists, starting lineups and, yes, penalties committed. Mike Benton, KJR and iHeart Radio Network host for pre-game, post-game and intermissions, was eight years old in 1989 and by the early 2000s was attending a college in southern California with a one-track mind about becoming an NHL broadcaster.
Everett Fitzhugh, the Kraken’s radio play-by-play man and a popular team ambassador in the PNW community, was an infant in ‘89 who fell in love with hockey when, as a third grader, he watched his hometown Detroit Red Wings play Edmonton with two Black players, Mike Grier and Georges Laraque, on the Oilers roster. Quite the historic and symbiotic moment for Fitzhugh, the NHL’s first Black play-by-play announcer. Grier, the San Jose Sharks general manager, is the first Black NHL GM.
As the Kraken’s road trip continues Thursday with the first of four more games in the Eastern time zone starting at 4 p.m., no doubt many Kraken fans with daily commitments will be tuning into 93.9 KJR FM and the iHeart Audio Network for Fitzhugh’s high-octane game call and Kinisky’s on-the-spot explanations of what just happened on the ice. Benton will bring the stats and scouting reports before the game, and then, post-game, per usual, will invite the fan perspective on KJR’s text line and social media channels.
Circle of Trust and Friendship
It’s a tight-knit circle and now a full circle. Benton and Kinisky called a season of WHL Everett Silvertips together, and before that, Benton did the pre- and post-game honors while Kinisky paired with other Silvertips play-by-play announcers. Like Benton, who spent 10 years in hockey’s lower-tier pro leagues, Fitzhugh’s last role before Seattle was the play-by-play voice of the ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones. Fitzhugh and Benton have been on the Kraken beat since the inaugural season. Kinisky joined for the third season in 2023-24 when Dave Tomlinson left to take an NHL job in his hometown of Vancouver.
“I go back to our very first meeting that we had in the iHeart offices,” said Fitzhugh when asked about his favorite moment of work alongside his on-air partner. “Al comes in for his audition. We pull up a random Kraken game. We're sitting in a studio, just doing a game on TV for 20 minutes. We're trying to feel each other out. I could feel that chemistry ... He leaves, and I remember talking to Rich [Moore, senior vice president of programming for KJR and the iHeart Audio Network]. I said, ‘Man, Al has to be the guy.’ It felt so natural from day one.”
For his part, Kinisky made a point of noting that Fitzhugh is routinely sought out by media and home-team broadcast types for insights and a few laughs in the media dining rooms or up in the visitor radio booths on road trips. That is not hard to believe after spending an hour-plus with Fitzhugh hosting last Thursday’s season opener “blue carpet.” A couple of dozen fans walked right up to the play-by-play man, some to praise his and partner Kinisky’s work, others coming straight in for a hug and/or selfie, plus a handful making it clear they were aware Fitzhugh toes the MLB line between rooting for the Mariners and his childhood Detroit Tigers.
“Everett’s style is high energy and passion,” said Moore. “Good play-by-play people have their own persona. It's been great to see him come from basically out of the market and win over a fan base tied to a new sport. That’s a pretty hard task. But he has done it since day one. For Al, it’s a big jump for him to be an analyst in the NHL for the first time. But he’s a smart guy, a dedicated guy, who closely studies the league. His personality is a great fit, not only with ‘E’ but also the Kraken fan base.”
Ratings and Synergy Both Rise
Proving Moore’s point, he said last season’s ratings were the highest of the first four, highlighted by significant increases in female and younger adult listeners. The duo and Benton can now be heard on 26 affiliate stations across Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Montana and Idaho. Only the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins have bigger audio networks.
“We definitely got a little bit younger,” said Moore. “Traditionally, you'll see baseball skew a little bit toward older. With football, you'll see a slight skew toward men. We’ve got a healthy balance of demographics for Kraken games.”
Those fans who stop Fitzhugh at the blue carpet and other Kraken community appearances pretty much greet the play-by-play man as a pal, even an old friend, impressive in that the 36-year-old has been a Seattle fixture for just five years. For their part, Fitzhugh and Kinisky are close pals who stick together on the team plane, pre-game meals and spend a lot of time with each other’s families throughout the calendar year.
In some ways, they are a pair of dear friends talking to each other. That in turn affords listeners to feel like it is an intimate conversation, including them. As the second period of the season opener started, Fitzhugh and Kinisky chatted about their families’ offseason downtime. “A lot of time with my young son playing hockey at the park and in San Diego for some baseball games,” said Fitzhugh. Kinisky added: “We took a trip to Italy and had lots of time outdoors in our beautiful Seattle summer weather.”
Some of their chemistry is not apparent on air, such as the two chest-bumping and double-fist bumping after their opening pre-game remarks and turning over the rest of the pre-game show to Benton. Fitzhugh growled, while Kinisky smiled before shouting, “Back on the tandem bike!”
Another nonverbal element is the duo knowing when Kinisky can jump into the radio call. At times, Kinisky can read his partner’s body language, especially true in early games together during the 2023-24 season. These days, it is more instinctual for the duo, similar to how linemates or defensive pairs are familiar with where a teammate will be on the ice for a breakout or pass.
