Fitzhugh talks Kraken, radio play-by-play job in Q&A with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. In this edition, we feature Seattle Kraken radio play-by-play announcer Everett Fitzhugh.

Everett Fitzhugh is finally comfortable.
In his second season as the radio play-by-play voice of the Seattle Kraken, the NHL's first Black team broadcaster says he's grown along with the expansion team.
"My first year, you're, in a positive way, kind of walking on eggshells a little bit," Fitzhugh said. "I think it's been a little bit easier for me my second year, being able to relax a little bit and call the games the way that I know how. I've gotten a bit more comfortable in this chair."
These days, Fitzhugh says he's just letting his play calls flow. And why not? Seattle (15-7-3) is in second place in the Pacific Division this season after a last-place finish (27-49-6) in its inaugural season.
"We're actually playing well which is, I think, not a surprise to a lot of people here," he said.
Fitzhugh joined the Kraken in August 2020 after being the only fulltime Black play-by-play announcer in North America for years. He spent five seasons with Cincinnati of the ECHL doing radio play-by-play and working as the team's director of media relations.
Before joining Cincinnati in 2015, he spent one season as the radio voice for Youngstown of the United States Hockey League after working for the league's communications office in Chicago for a year-and-a-half.
Fitzhugh became a hockey fan growing up listening to Ken Kal call Detroit Red Wings games. That inspired him to become a broadcaster and call hockey games while a student at Bowling Green State University.
Fitzhugh shared his thoughts on his job and the Kraken broadcast team with NHL.com.
How is this season going for you thus far?
"Honestly, it's been really, really good for me. Having been through the league now and having seen a lot of guys, all of my prep work was done from last season. So this year, it's a lot of just updating. I played with the fonts and the margins on my line feeds as opposed to having to create new line sheets for over 1,000 different players. So it's been a little easier I think for my second year compared to the first but I say it all the time: I'm still playing with house money. I'm still having a blast doing what I love for a living."
What lessons did you learn last season and how are you applying them this season?
"I think the biggest lesson that I learned is who I am, being the broadcaster that got me to this point. I think that when you're in the NHL, when you are in an industry and you get to the top level of said industry, it can be easy to try and be who you think other folks want you to be, right? Be a broadcaster, like, 'Oh, you should be like XYZ because they've been in this league for 30-plus years.' Well, no, be what made you successful up to this point. I've learned and I've grown a little bit more confident, I think, in my broadcasting style, in my calls. I have never been one to take myself too seriously, so I've opened up a little bit and I'm joking a bit more and having a little bit more fun on the radio with my partner, Dave Tomlinson. We've got a really good partnership, a really good relationship on the air and off the air."
You've mentioned that Doc Emrick was a broadcasting role model for you. How does it make you feel when young broadcasters say that you're their role model?
"It's still very surreal. I've been a fan of hockey, I've been a student of broadcasting and a student of the game for so long. I'm the one who looks up to these guys being able to have a guy like (Kraken and 'NHL On TNT' play-by-play broadcaster) John Forslund two booths down and being able to sit with him on the buses and on the plane and share a meal with him, share a glass of wine with him and pick his brain about stuff.
"I don't have the resume that a guy like that has, but it's still just so surreal and still very, very humbling. To hear when people say, 'Man, I listen to you, I look up to you,' it's something that I never take for granted."
The Kraken broadcast team got a little larger with the addition of Eddie Olczyk on the television side. What's it been like having him as part of the team?
"It's been really good. I mean, obviously when you have one of the best color analysts to ever do it, you add to an already strong broadcast crew with John Forslund and JT Brown. So when you add a guy like Eddie, who's been doing this for so long, and who has the experience and the Rolodex of information, and the amount of people he knows, it just adds to the broadcast."
How do you think JT Brown has done in his transition from NHL player to television analyst?
"JT, even though you know he's in his second season, he is already leaps and bounds ahead of where he was at the beginning of last year. A lot of folks gravitate toward JT because he's in a unique position because he just retired from playing pro hockey a little over two years ago and he was just in the NHL three years ago. So we're in Tampa, we're in Minnesota, and he's still the mayor of those buildings. He goes down to the locker room and the entire Minnesota Wild team lit up when they saw JT. He still has relationships with these players. He'll be sitting on a bus getting ready for a game and he'll say, 'Hey, I was talking to so and so over in the visiting locker room, look out for this, look out for that.' So he's been using those relationships to his advantage and it's really helping him grow into an even better, more polished analyst."

Do you think you and JT will reunite to form an all-Black television broadcast team like you did on Feb. 17, 2022?
"That's a great question. You know, as of now, we don't know of any plans in the works. A lot of it all depends on John's national TV schedule and if there ever are any holes or openings in the schedule. But you know, I'm happy doing radio. I've told you I've told you multiple times that this is the dream job for me, NHL radio-play-by-play. If I just so happen to have an opportunity to get back on TV and partner with JT again, that'd be great. But as of now, nothing's in the works. But you never know, right?"