The Story Behind Why Darren Pang Left Phoenix
July 13, 2009 4 Comments
One of the only real stories to break during the week we were gone (C’mon, NBC!) was that Phoenix Coyotes analyst Darren Pang was leaving to take a job with the Blues and Fox Sports Midwest, who were feeling the need to bolster their coverage as they were planning on airing all 82 games for the first time during the 2009-10 season.
This may have caused some ears to perk up, as Panger is usually popular wherever he goes, and had developed a relationship with the hockey fans out in the desert. According to Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it all came down to the disarray that the Phoenix franchise is in:
Pang has worked on ESPN, ABC, NBC and Canada’s TSN, and his primary job the past four seasons had been as the television analyst with the Phoenix Coyotes. But that team in bankruptcy and its status is in such flux that Pang said the club doesn’t have a TV deal in place for next season.
“There was no one to negotiate with,” he said. “So you can understand that trying to get some answers and trying to figure out where you stand” was impossible.
It certainly is a shame that this will be one of the many effects of how badly things have been bungled by the league out in the desert. For now, Panger will become more visible on our TV dials as St. Louis is an up and coming team in the league. VERSUS should think about adding him. We were never big fans of him in the ESPN days, but he’s grown on us a lot lately, especially after doing a great job hosting the Stanley Cup Final.
Puck The Media 
Phoenix’ loss is St. Louis’ gain. Well done, JD! (thumbs up)
This is a great move for the Blues. He will work well with John Kelly who is one of the best. I wish Versus would use Kelly instead of…. well you know… 🙂
TSN should have nabbed him in case Pierre McGuire gets hired somewhere soon.
Darren Pang is a smart hockey guy, but having watched him for all the years in Phoenix and watching this game tonight in St Louis, he is extremely partisan and sees plays always in his home team’s favor. I would prefer him to be less partisan and more objective in the commentary than he is. I understand having to support those that feed you, but Darren, don’t be like the guys in Anaheim, where every call against Anaheim is a bad one and every time an Anaheim player gets touched, the refs are to call penalties. It is shamelessly obvious and many of us across the country want to enjoy game feeds and not be indoctrinated with local partisanship..