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Bill Lindsay | Florida Panthers Radio Color Analyst, Former NHL Player

Amy Lawrence Show / Amy Lawrence
The Truth Network Radio
June 27, 2024 5:54 am

Bill Lindsay | Florida Panthers Radio Color Analyst, Former NHL Player

Amy Lawrence Show / Amy Lawrence

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June 27, 2024 5:54 am

Florida Panthers Radio Color Analyst and former NHL Player Bill Lindsay joins the show to talk about his viral final call, as well at how the Panthers got to this point.

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Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with all trails. I am so thrilled that we are able to catch up with Bill Lindsey, who is a long time Florida Panther as a player and now part of the play-by-play team that called the first ever Stanley Cup Championship. Doug Plagans and Bill Lindsey on Monday night. 23 seconds left. Two-watt panthers fans to their feet.

Bouchard has missed tricidal. Down to our right, Forsling in the corner. He'll try and hold this. 10 seconds left. Two-watt panthers. A dream 30 years in the making is a reality. The Florida Panthers have won the Stanley Cup. Once Stanley is coming home, you always will have a place in South Florida.

Oh, my God. The Panthers have won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. Start the celebration, South Florida. The Panthers have done it. Stanley Cup champions. The Florida Panthers are the 2024 Stanley Cup champions. Oh, we crossed the finish line, buddy.

We crossed it. Oh, what a group of bunch of guys. Paul Maurice, congratulations. Oh, what a team. What a gutsy effort. That is some cojones, boys.

Wow. Bill Lindsey and Doug Plagans now viral for the final call of the 2024 Stanley Cup. As I was looking at the Florida Panthers' Twitter, I spotted a series of photos, and they looked suspiciously to me like they had just taken place, and so that's where I started with Mr. Lindsey. Bill, checking out your social media, it seems like you've had a chance to get up close and personal with the Stanley Cup and even hold it over your head.

Is that true? Yes, so this is all due to our ownership group, and especially Mr. Viola made a point to bring me down. I had my father here in hospice care with me and my wife, and we've been going after the Stanley Cup for a long time, did not win it as a player. My only chance maybe to touch that Stanley Cup would be part of an organization that won it all, and I've been with this team now for 24 years in broadcasting and playing, and Mr. Viola made it a point with my dad here to make sure that I got down to somewhere where I could put my hands on that trophy and I could have a family picture with it. So I was able to do that today, and it was one of the best feelings of my life, and to be able to do it with my dad, who helps you so much throughout your life and my wife of 27 years.

The same goes for her. These dreams are not possible without the both of them so thank you to the Florida Panthers organization today. They made a dream, a lifelong dream, a reality for myself, and it was amazing. Well, I'm looking at the pictures and the smile on your dad's face is priceless. What were his emotions like as he got to hold the Stanley Cup?

It was the happiest I've seen in a long time. Yeah, it really is, and it's an interesting lineage in my family is that my mom, who's passed, was from Mobile, Alabama, and my dad was from Utah. I'm the only, and I got a brother 17 years older than myself, I'm the only person in my family ever to play hockey, but I was moved up to a small town in Canada, born there. My dad put me into skates and I took off in hockey and they had to go to the cold rinks, drive me around to all the small to all the small towns, get up at five in the morning, make sure I was at practice. Their dedication was the only real reason that I was able to continue in the sport. And my dad and I, but more for him, living vicariously through me once I got to the NHL and now we're able to kind of wrap this together at the tail end of his life. His wife's got such a big smile on his face. It's priceless and the emotions of, it's different than winning as a player, but just in some perspective for him and ourselves to be together on this day is something that I will treasure for the rest of my lifetime.

I'm gonna blow those pitchers up. It's been 48 hours or so since the Panthers clinched their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The final call with you and Doug, it's tremendous.

We've listened to it so many times on our show. The emotion that comes pouring out of you. What were those moments like those final 10 seconds when the puck is stuck in the corner? There's a mad scrum. There's about 15 players over there.

I bet the clock couldn't go fast enough, but what was that like for you? So it's, it's chaotic and you hear all a bunch of different comments on the call. It's probably not the best decorum as a radio color analyst, that what comes out at the end, everyone asks, is it scripted? Do you know what you're going to say at the end of the hockey game? Well, going into that hockey game, there was no black or white for this Panther team. You are going to be part of the greatest collapse in NHL history.

And that's no disrespect to the 1942 may police, but there's 32 teams in the league now. And if you blow that three, nothing lead, how do you recover as a franchise game seven, if you win, you get the ultimate euphoria. So I was so nervous to begin at the start of the game and you're just living and dying on every second, all the way up, up to that very end.

And it's going by and those you're watching the clock, watching the clock and it goes. And when that final horn sounded, someone else came into my body. It was the outer body experience, whatever was coming out of my mouth. It probably didn't make any sense, but it was elation and joy. Like I've never felt before every Adam, every cell in your body is just pumping adrenaline through you. It's it's surreal. It's a surreal moment right before your eyes. And yeah, it just poured out of me for good, bad, whatever it was, it was just coming out.

There was no filter. Actually, one of the things that I've said on my show is that I really appreciate Doug, just let you do and say whatever came out of your mouth. He just allowed it to go because it was so authentic. A lot of play by play announcers could have gotten offended or tried to talk over you. Instead, it was pretty clear that your broadcast partner recognized what this moment meant to you.

And that more than anything, he could say your emotion captured that moment perfectly. Well, Doug's the utmost professional. When you hear him call games, it's spot on. He never makes a mistake. And I'm jealous because I make mistakes all the time. And I'm like, over here, all of these, uh, it's amazing how he just never misses a player's name, uh, pucker pass, uh, so dialed in one of the best in the business. It's been an honor and a pleasure to work beside them.

And that's where after I did feel jumpy and nervous when I saw that replay of the goal call, because that's a play by play moments. That's their dream. That's their part. Uh, that's their, and all of a sudden I'm just jumping and stepping all over them. And I'm just blessed with a great partner. That's got the kindness that he has. I actually send them a text and sort of apologize for being so out of control. And he just texted me right back and said, I totally understand.

I get it. And that's the part of beauty of, uh, Doug and the relationship that I have with him. He's a special person to me and I could not ask, I could not generally ask for a better, better broadcast partner than Doug playgrounds. Uh, he's one of a kind and we really, really, this journey over the Stanley cup final on the road, uh, going on commercial flights to Edmonton, the journey that we shared throughout these playoffs, I will remember forever. And the moment is what it is now. And that's pretty much it.

He's a, he's a class act through and through that type of emotion just can't be scripted, but I'm sorry, did you say commercial flights back and forth to Edmonton? Yeah. So here you go. We're on the team playing all the time. First three rounds, which is not bad. You're going to Boston, the Rangers Tampa Bay.

Sure. We could have, we could have busted over to step, but, uh, the quick flight over all of a sudden, Edmonton, it, the Stanley cup. And because it's across the border and the plane has to get extra doctors on it, they have to fill extra seats and there's not a lot to go around. And there's a few of us that are going to have to get taken off the team plane, which is totally fine.

And we understand that we are probably the ones that are going to have to do that. And we were okay with it. So it became planes, trains, and automobiles, uh, the last before game seven drive to Calgary, go out of Calgary to Chicago, back to Fort Lauderdale, 11 hour days. So we spent some long time in terminals in cars, all kinds of different scenarios. And looking back, if we'd lost game seven, it would have hurt.

Not going to lie. But now, now those memories of being in that terminal, just going every, going over all the games and all parts of it. That is what I'm going to cherish and remember forever. So being off that charter might, might be the best thing that ever happened to us.

Hmm. Bill Lindsey's a long time Florida Panther, both as a player and now as a broadcaster. And he was part of that final game seven, the call that you've heard on our show so many times, we love it. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, bill, when you think about the series that went to a game seven, ultimately a one goal difference, what factor, what key ultimately gave them the win that played in game sevens before a couple of them and one for the Eastern conference final, you forget about the first six games.

And that is a true statement. It becomes like a super bowl, a national championship, and you've never felt more alive as a player. You recognize you're on the center stage at the biggest moment at the pinnacle of your sporting life. Now, how do you handle that pressure?

How does it come out? But everyone's going to perform their best and be at the top of their best. And when this Panther team is going, and I actually had that conversation with Paul Maurice today when I was down there with the trophy and he said from the drop of the puck, I knew our team was right. It means they're going to be hard on the forecheck, the back check, they're closing gaps.

It's going to be tough for Edmonton. They'd kill this with three on twos, two on ones with speed that was not going to be available in game number seven. If Edmonton wanted to win the game, I know Yan Mark did score on a breakaway.

That was the one exception, but you take that away. The three on twos weren't there. The two on ones, if Edmonton wanted to score, they were going to have to grind. They were going to have to dump it in.

They're going to have to deflect pox. And when the Panthers are going, they're forechecking. They were after it.

They were hungry. And you could go to all 18 skaters on that ice and they were going to leave every ounce out there. And that is the Panthers when they're at their best. And like Paul Murray says, when they're right, they are the best team in the NHL.

I firmly believe that. And they were right for game seven. And that is what made the difference. They got back to their identity, their DNA, and everyone in that lineup played with their heart and soul. How does the team go from being up 3-0 to then seeing the Oilers come back and with this explosion of goals?

What changed? So you're not ready for game four in Edmonton at all. Connor McDavid, the best player in the world, explodes. All of a sudden, the Connor McDavid effect starts to filter in. You came back for game number five.

You weren't ready at the start. A little bit slow. Connor McDavid again, another four points. And then the role players start getting going for Edmonton. And they're skating.

That team can fly. They're finding open ice. And when they're moving and when they're flying and you're not sharp, as I touched on when the Panthers, when they're not right, when you're beat out of sync with what you're trying to do, that team on the other side is so good, they are going to exploit you. And that's what Edmonton did. They exploited the Panthers with their speed, with their top-end talent, the power play. They're shorthanded. The Panthers power play. There's no other way to put it. It sucked for the whole series. That Edmonton oiler penalty kill is outrageously good.

So you factor in all that things. The speed of the Oilers, the star talent, they get some confidence. And you get back on the ropes. And Edmonton was able to crawl back in the series. And I am, for the Edmonton fans, they were a worthy opponent. But being out there and watching games in Edmonton, wow. That building, ours is loud.

That's on another level. I almost felt like the babies, you know, when you have to put those headsets on. It felt like up there in Edmonton.

And they won a couple of games up there and to their credit, they found a way back into this series. You said you were nervous going into game seven after the Panthers blow that 3-0 lead. Any indication that the players themselves were feeling those nerves or that pressure? You feel the nerves. There's no way around it because I've been through it as a player. You feel the nerves.

How do you handle it? The difference between being up in the broadcast position or being down on the ice. On the ice, you have control.

You're gonna have a say in what happens into this outcome. And I recognized when I played into the game sevens that, as I just touched on, you're never gonna experience this as an athlete. This is the best.

So how do you wrap around it? I thought they handled the nerves well, but when they went out and played in game seven, they played with passion and they played with joy. Nerves are gonna be in the body, but if you take the pressure out of it and you play the game with passion and you play with joy and you go out there and you can't think in a game seven, you have to trust every instinct in your body that you ever had as a hockey player and rely on it.

If you think, you're done. So go out there and just read, react, and hopefully play the best game of your life. And that's what the Panthers seem to do. So I believe last year's Stanley Cup playoffs helped somewhat going into game seven, but they controlled their nerves, their energy, and were able to come out.

And as I said, when you go up and down the lineup, pretty much everyone on that team played the best they could. What makes this group of guys special when they're off the ice? They keep talking about it, how cool this group is, how much they really care about each other. How did you see that?

The product that you see on the ice is built off behind the scenes. It's a brotherhood. It's like a pack of bulls, one for all, all for one.

Everyone's going to do it. And when you get to, when you get on a team like that, and it starts with your leadership with Alexander Barkoff, and it kind of filters down into the lineup, but you see how, how hard your top end players work and everything that they give. And if you have that next year, it goes down to the next player and the next player, all of a sudden you go home at night and you play a bad game. You don't feel sorry for yourself.

You are upset because you let that person down beside you. Yeah. And Brian Scootland, an old captain of mine, put it simply best to me. It says, if you play bad, it's tough for you and your family. But remember, I got a family to feed too.

And that kind of put it all into perspective. So that's where this Panther team understood that if we're going to win, I got to feed my family, but my teammates are relying on me to feed their family for us to be successful. They played cards all together on the plane, everywhere they went. Uh, they were a group, uh, in the locker room, tight knit, and that's what it takes at this time of year, uh, for good teams to become great. Uh, there has to be that brotherhood off the ice. Bill Lindsey is with us from South Florida, where the Panthers will celebrate the first Stanley cup in their franchise history coming up on Sunday morning. What are you expecting with the fans and the cup in attendance? Bill?

It's going to be the best. It's been a long time. We had rally rally towels at our games for the playoffs in the finals. It said all six of us because we were beaten on by other franchises when we won games and said, congratulations to you and all six of your fans. Uh, that was kind of the motto down here. Well, they took it to heart and got the rally towels out and they stuck through it through the good and the bad. And we made the playoffs four straight years when the president's trophy back-to-back Stanley cup finals now win it all. So this group that's been through the thick and thin, they're going to get to see a parade down a one a down the beach. And that is going to be a special moment.

Uh, there's, it works here. It's been a diehard fan base. This team has earned the trust of the fan base that was not there for a lot of years with the way that they come to the rink and perform.

And when you work like that, people want to come out and watch it because they know that they're going to give it their all and they finally get rewarded. So it's going to be spectacular to see it go down. The cups already been in the ocean.

Hopefully it doesn't go floating again. So we don't have to have to fish it out, but for our fans to be up close, up close and personal, uh, they've been waiting 30 years for this. And actually the day that we won the Stanley cup was 31 years to the date that the original expansion draft was taken. That's when our, our team was originally put together 31, June 24th, back in 1993, uh, was when the original team was assembled. And that is the day that we won the Stanley cup. So there was the journey kind of came full circle for the Florida Panthers.

And now we'll soak it all in. I've seen some comments from guys like Barkov as well as Aaron Eckblad, two guys who've logged more games as Panthers than any other players. And they've talked about the bleak years, the revolving door, the constant changes. How bad was it? Bill?

It was rough. Yeah. I go into the office and I say, is Jack here? And they said, well, Jack doesn't work here anymore. I'd say, okay. So I'd go back in two weeks later and ask, is Tim here?

Uh, no, Tim doesn't work here anymore. Uh, so the coaching changes, the GM changes, and that was a tough time and no district discredit to the owners. We've had some incredible, incredible owners as far as people go. But as far as when Mr. Viola was able to take over this group and just give all the resources, it changed and changed everything totally, but it was bleak. It was tough.

Uh, the constant change, the constant rotation. Uh, we got so many players that played 10 games for us, 15 games for us, and they're gone somewhere else, 20 games. Let's try someone else. So let's bring a new player in. And the one constant through all that time, two constants were at glad Barkov.

Well, and who would know for a while, but the Kachuk trade, but they stayed there and they gutted it out and they fought their way through it. And because of those experiences, uh, failure in life is a good thing. As long as you keep going, because you are always going to fail at something, but if you stop at failure, you'll be stuck there. But if you continue on past failure and fight, uh, you'll learn and you'll keep growing. Uh, you're going to fail. You're down the road.

You're going to land on your head and fall down again. Somehow keep pushing. I heard it in a speech one time called fail forward, just fail forward, fail forward. Well, bark off that glad continued to learn, fail forward.

Now got the group. We had the couple of experiences last couple of years where we're close, but still failing this year. It all comes together.

And all of a sudden, when you put all that failure together and you, you continue to push and you continue to learn, that is when champions are made. Bill, you were in your mid twenties when you played in a Stanley cup final, the first one for the Florida Panthers against the avalanche. What do you remember about that series and that experience? Well, it was different, but we went straight from Pittsburgh to Colorado, and there was like five or six days off between the Stanley cup. We had two days off going up to Denver before we started game one. And the one series that we had time off between the other series, the one series that I would have liken a breather for was the Stanley cup, because all of a sudden you're getting phone calls, requests for tickets from people that you went to grade school that you haven't heard from and forever. How'd you find my number? You're home back then.

No cell phones, but your hotel phone is ringing tickets planning. Uh, there was so much going on and you're going against this Colorado team. That's just unbelievable. And we got off close game and not game one got blown out in game two.

All of a sudden it just happened so fast. Uh, we're down to nothing and credit to our team. We lost game three by one goal and we lost game four and triple overtime. Uh, we weren't going to quit.

We weren't going to roll over. And that was the strength of that team. Would we have been Colorado with some rest?

Not quite sure that they were brilliant. Patrick law was unbelievable. Forsberg sack. We probably still end up losing the series, but it's still a something that, that I look back on and I got to be in a Stanley cup and never got to see the trophy. And I guess that's why maybe this is a little bit more, more special, but those are kind of my takeaways from that Stanley cup against Colorado. Just maybe a little bit more time to prepare.

Also, we're going against the historically great team. Bill, were you part of the first origins of the rats on the ice? Yep. Yeah. I was in the room when Scott Millenby, Nellie killed the rat.

Uh, yeah. So it plastered against the dry wall. He impaled it with a one timer. So, and then that's when he went out and scored two goals and our goaltender after the game coined it, the rat trick, uh, John van Beasburg. And all of a sudden when they first started coming on, you wouldn't believe it. There was actually a couple of live mice, the white light, white mice that made it on. I was like, well, this is not right.

Uh, this, this is definitely not right. Um, but all of a sudden the kid that came flowing and became part of our legend and our lore, and it's still stuck around to this Stanley cup championship. But after that year in 1996, the NHL had had enough. I know that because there was no objects to be thrown on the ice ever since then.

So that is the last time in the NHL that you were ever allowed to throw objects on the ice and not, not, not be called a penalty that the NHL Thai boss that immediately, but it was part of our franchise. And it's something that's stuck and it's stuck to this day. So I guess that rat, it did not die in vain. Maybe the most famous rat in history.

And this is part of our history down here in South Florida. Oh my gosh. Did you ever get hit by a flying one? Oh, a few times. Yeah, you get, yeah, they came down. They, uh, it had to be two, three minutes. We had working as a sponsor back then in the playoffs to pick the things up. Uh, so, so working was on the ice was a good sponsor, but there were so many of the goaltenders, the opposing goaltenders, especially would just hide into their nets. They would, because so many were coming down, they would just kind of tuck into their nets and that's in the Colorado series. I knew we were Patrick law. When we scored the few goals we did at home, he just skated out and just got pelted with rats.

He didn't care. And I thought, yep, this is different than we seen from the other goaltenders, but yeah, a couple of times got hit by rats. All part of the Panthers story now to get to the point at which they are Stanley cup champions. Bill Lindsay is part of that great play by play team with Doug Playgens back and forth, back and forth from Edmonton to sunrise or to South Florida, and yet all worth it.

So you can find the pictures of him and his family with the cup on his Twitter at Lindsey B hockey. It's an honor to talk to you. Congratulations, bill. I hope you enjoy every second of this. Thank you so much. And I appreciate having me having me on and yeah, I'm going to take it all in and, uh, yeah, it's trying to still trying to wrap my head around it. Okay. Thanks Jack. I appreciate that.

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Whisper: medium.en / 2024-06-27 07:04:52 / 2024-06-27 07:17:01 / 12

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