“Good evening, hockey fans! Welcome back to PPG Paints Arena for tonight’s matchup featuring the visiting Dallas Stars, and YOUR Pittsburgh Penguins!”
On Saturday evening, those words weren’t spoken by Ryan Mill, who was out for the game due to a family commitment.
Instead, Will Millick was behind the microphone as the Penguins’ public address (PA) announcer, realizing a dream he's worked toward for years.
“It's emotional,” said his dad Ryan, who flew in from their home state of Idaho. “Just watching him come from where we're from... he used to do games there, and some for the neighboring towns, just to be out there doing it. So, for him to get this opportunity, it's priceless. We're super proud of him.”
Will, who has been working as the Penguins Coordinator of Partnership Operations and Virtual for the last few years, was born and raised in a small mining town called Challis. Growing up, they would go to Boise State football games at the stadium with the famous blue turf, and that’s where Will caught the PA announcer bug.
“What was exciting to me when was there, and what I remember distinctly, is the show, and ‘please welcome to the field, your Boise State Broncos!’” Will said. “I was like, wow, that was so cool. Then he would say, ‘That’s another Bronco...’ and the whole crowd will say, ‘First down!’ I had so much fun with that.”
As a three-sport athlete back in Challis – with Will joking that he almost had to be, considering the size of their high school – he was involved in a lot of sporting events, where the athletic director handled PA announcing in addition to all of their other duties.
Inspired by those Broncos games, Will wondered if he could step in and help out. And one day, he got the chance to fill in on the mic for a volleyball game.
“It was in front of 40-50 people, mostly consisting of parents and relatives of these players, on a on a wired mic coming out of the floorboards of the old high school gym,” Millick said. “These are my classmates I’m announcing for, and they enjoyed it a ton, to the point where it quickly went from one gig to announcing the district tournaments as a neutral site announcer.
“That's what kind of got me into it, was just, let's see what we can do and trying it. I think half of it was the AD being like, thank God somebody else can do this!”
Millick continued working as a PA announcer through his undergraduate studies at Washington State University and then as a graduate student at West Virginia University, calling baseball games for a couple of years. Because Morgantown is relatively close to Pittsburgh, he got in touch with Mill, essentially cold-emailing him about a potential opportunity.
“Just a request, like, I announce here, I went to a Penguins game with a buddy, and I heard you announce, and I thought it was remarkable. I would kill to sit next to you for a game,” Millick said.
Mill made it happen, with Millick joining him on the Mike Lange Media Level for a couple of games. That connection ultimately sent Millick on his current path.
Initially, Millick wasn’t intending to stay in the area, thinking he would return home to Idaho. But after applying for job after job in the ultra-competitive sports industry with no luck, Millick started to get discouraged.
So he reached back out to Mill for advice, and the longtime Penguins PA announcer helped him connect with more people in the organization. Ultimately, it helped Millick land his current role, where he operates virtual and LED signage.
When Millick began working in the 2023-24 season, he stepped away from PA announcing on the side to get situated in the job. He would occasionally get behind the mic for Penguins events, like the Mario Lemieux Fantasy Hockey Camp, but nothing full-time.
“Then at the end of last year, we're going into year four, life outside of work was pretty routine and kind of stale,” Millick said. “I was like, I know my job. Let's get back involved.”
He ended up with a full football season for Chartiers Valley High School, a full volleyball schedule at Pine-Richland High School, and then a bunch of fill-in gigs for the Avonworth Antelopes, the North Hills Indians, the Point Park Pioneers... and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It came together early in the week, when Penguins Chief Communications Officer Jen Bullano Ridgley found Millick as he waited for traffic to clear after the game against Winnipeg.
“She said, ‘Hey, I heard you're an announcer.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I announce on the side. Got a lot of games this week,’” Millick said. “She said, ‘I need to hear how you sound in the bowl. We'll figure something out.’ And she wasn't lying.”
Two days later, Penguins Senior Director of Production and Game Presentation Rod Murray found Millick around lunchtime to do some reads, “and it turns out that was a full-blown audition. I had no idea,” Millick said with a laugh. After doing more of the same on Thursday, with Millick continuing to sound fantastic, the Penguins offered him the opportunity to do it for real when the Stars came into town.
“I feel remarkably blessed to have been a part of the show for this hockey club, and to work with this game ops team, if even just for one evening,” Millick said. “My thought process going in was just be yourself, do your very best.”
Millick was so appreciative of everyone at the Penguins who stepped up for him, from the game production and marketing teams for giving him the shot; the crew he worked with for the game; and the partnerships team, who made sure his family could make it to Pittsburgh on short notice.
Ryan, Will’s brother Garrett and his best friend Grayson were set up in a suite right below his perch.
“Every time I made a call, I would hear those dorks cheer like crazy!” Millick said affectionately.
Ryan had driven four hours from Challis to meet Garrett, who canceled a hunting trip, in Boise. They took a redeye from there to Atlanta, making it through inclement weather and landing in Pittsburgh at 5:15 AM the morning of the game. Meanwhile, Grayson flew in out of Spokane after driving two hours from the Tri-Cities in Washington.
The whole night was just as surreal for his hometown crew as it was for Will, who received a game puck and script signed by the production staff after the game.
“He'd always talked about legitimately wanting to be an NHL PA. Then, seeing as he's continued on every step, he's continued becoming an announcer and doing that and working on his skills,” Grayson said before the puck dropped. “His dedication is pretty incredible. Last night, he was going through reads and different situations. It’s been something where every aspect of his life, he's always just worked really hard. So, it's awesome to see the energy and all his hard work pay off and get an opportunity to do it.”
