EXCLUSIVE: Inside Josh Bailey's Islanders Radio Debut
Get a behind-the-scenes look at Josh Bailey and Alan Fuehring's radio call from Monday night's preseason game against the New York Rangers.
While I was covering the Islanders’ preseason game, The Elmonters’ Editor David Kolb sat in the radio booth taking in Josh Bailey’s debut. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look.
ELMONT, NY — Josh Bailey played 1,128 combined playoff and regular season games for the New York Islanders, but last night was another night of firsts for the former Islanders forward.
Bailey launched his media career, sitting in the color commentators chair in the radio booth up on the Stan Fischler Press Level at UBS Arena, calling the Islanders’ 3-2 OT preseason loss to the New York Rangers, alongside the new radio voice of the Isles, Alan Fuehring.
Much of the game, I was lucky enough to stand behind the broadcast team with radio engineer extraordinaire, Chris Majkowski, to get an inside look at the radio team’s unveiling.
For a new radio pair, they seemed to have a firm understanding of each other from the get-go. Fuehring carried much of the broadcast, as most radio play-by-play announcers would, but Bailey would sprinkle in brilliant missives that can only be launched from a former NHL skater -- with many shifts at the pro level.
Bailey balanced his thoughts and what he conveyed to listeners properly, allowing Fuehring to call the game with his sharp and crisp voice that flows with great passion.
“I feel like I’m a guest on Alan‘s show,” Bailey said.
But Bailey was far from a guest. He provided elite-level insights into the game. Like after the Islanders failed to convert on their second power play of the night, leaving them 0-for-2.
Bailey explained to listeners that yes, the Islanders didn’t convert on the PP, but they carried the play nicely — and what then typically happens is a wave of momentum.
Sure enough, the next two shifts, the Islanders were all over the Rangers. “They didn’t score but (momentum) rolled over into two good shifts,” explained Bailey.
Fuehring also brilliantly engaged Bailey several times throughout the broadcast, having the luxury of chatting it up with a former NHL skater.
When asked about where the team’s mindset is in this stage of camp, Bailey quickly answered, “You see the light at the end of the tunnel,” later commenting on how hard and grueling an NHL training camp really is.
And then Fuehring took it to another level, asking Bailey about the “Josh Bailey Song.”
Bailey quickly reminisced back to the first time he heard the song, and he remembers asking, “Is that a thing?”
Believe it or not, at that point Bailey started to sing the song, but stopped after the first word ”Hey…”
In between periods, former teammate and now Special Assistant to the GM, Matt Martin, paid a visit to check in on his old teammate, and the two had a blast reminiscing.
In the third period, the Islanders' Tony DeAngelo scored on a wrist shot to tie the game at 2-2, and when it went past the Rangers’ backup goalie Dylan Garand, Bailey quietly said, “Nice!” He then followed up, explaining his true appreciation for the play, voicing that it wasn’t just a normal wrister, and that DeAngelo moved the puck with his stick and waited for the right screen from the defenseman before he shot to find the back of the net.
Brilliant analysis, particularly considering it’s a radio broadcast. He really painted the picture.
But the real home run, in terms of analysis, came when Bailey really took the listener inside the glass. An example was when he spoke about referee Kelly Sutherland, and why he actually liked it when Sutherland officiated. “He was easy to talk to, and he lets the game unfold,” Bailey explained.
Now that Bailey has one game under his belt, he is looking forward to opening night in Pittsburgh, yet is relatively calm after skating his rookie lap in the radio booth Thursday.
“Alan made it easy. He’s a real pro,” Bailey told The Elmonters as he completed his first broadcast.
And judging by the detail in his game-prep folder, along with the pristine calls, Fuehring truly is everything Bailey credits him to be. A pro!
“I thought Josh was excellent,” Fuehring told The Elmonters. “Right off the bat, he blew me away with how well he adjusted on the fly to providing real-time analysis. He’s got a brilliant hockey mind, and it came out right away. He walked into the booth, said he wasn’t nervous, and he wasn’t. I am really excited to work with him this year. And I think, if he wants, he could have a career in the booth one day.”
Like with any firsts, there are always things to work on, but Fuehring said they got their bearings pretty quickly.
“It’s always tough to work with someone for the first time, even someone whom you’ve known for years and years,” Fuehring said. “When you throw the headset on, it’s a different animal. So, it was good for us to build chemistry on air, which I thought we did right away. And I thought Bailey was really easy to work with. I was able to play off of him well. He was able to return the favor. So I think, the biggest thing with having a partner on air is just having the chemistry that makes it fun for the fans to listen.”
Fuehring finished the broadcast, providing listeners in cars the game recap strung together with his own highlights of goal calls, and cuts from the locker room.
Then, after hours of using his voice, Fuehring is clear, but not before taking one last look at the ice – – almost in anticipation of the next time he’ll be behind the mic.
Scotty Mayfield is going to have a great season. He looks lighter more mobile. Perfect 👌 pairing of Schaefer - Mayfield
Occasionally, Schaefer is going to be in a bad position for a hit. All the Islanders being aware that he is on the ice is fantastic, and a sign how important it is for a young player to be on a vet team surrounded by good people. In those rare occasions he will have to use the tricks of the trade elbow up or a timely dip down. The kid seems to have survival skills, and he is no choir boy. He is going to be a pretty physical player that seems baked in. Everything we are seeing with him will be the same with the rest of the Islanders young prospects. All the blue-chippers they have in the system, have both skill and physicality. You cannot thrive in the NHL without it. We are just going to have to be patient. This year is going to be a struggle unless we have player’s playing their absolute best as far as offensive career production. It is NOT looking good in the Preseason and it’s a tremendous concern. The playoffs or playoff contention looks like a long shot!!!!!! Barzel center experiment 🔬 should end get him on Horvat’s wing. Honestly they are getting beat by the B Squads this preseason when their starting lineup is whole.