Feature Stories
Throughout the course of my time with Spire Sports + Entertainment and the Rapid City Rush, I tried to best capture the spirit of our company’s stories, and our team’s players and staff through feature stories on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, SS+E and Rapid City Rush websites. Below are some of the stories I had the privilege to share with our fans, sponsors, and employees.
ALMOST TEDDY TIME: FUN FACTS FOR THE FUZZY FRENZY
As a broadcaster of 12 years in hockey and college sports, I don’t shy away from telling fans and staff that I have the best seat in the house on a nightly basis for any of the events I’m at. This view adds a perpetual appreciation for my absolute most favorite night of the promotional calendar: The Teddy Bear Toss. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a player score the “Teddy Bear Goal” and absolutely lose their mind as they celebrate amidst a fluffy frenzy of stuffed pandemonium.
Much to the amusement tolerance of my co-workers, I tend to go down statistical and historical rabbit holes (see what I did there?) of random numbers and trends in a pursuit of knowledge to present on a nightly basis for my broadcasts and our games. With my favorite game of the season looming on Saturday, I researched the history of the Teddy Bear Toss over the previous 14 seasons of Swamp Rabbits/Road Warriors hockey and found some pretty wild numbers when it comes to the holiday favorite.
“ICE GUARDIANS”: ALAN JOHNSON AND FIRST RESPONDER HOCKEY
Much like hockey has its guardians in many ways, so do we in our community, especially through local law enforcement. Police in our communities have pledged themselves to our safety on a daily basis, putting their lives on the line to ensure the law is upheld and its citizens are protected.
Alan Johnson, a retired Greenville Police Lieutenant that is currently with Furman University as a Lieutenant over patrol, has been in law enforcement for over 30 years. An avid hockey fan hailing from Connecticut, he decided to marry his career in law enforcement and first response with his passion of the greatest game there is.
To this effect, Johnson created the Greenville Guardians hockey team, made up of entirely first responders in the Upstate region. On this past season’s “First Responders Day”, presented by Carolina Handling, the Guardians squared off against the Richland County Blueliners from Columbia, South Carolina, in the first-ever first responder exhibition game at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
MY BATTLE ON AND OFF THE ICE: THE STORY OF BRANDON FEHD
Brandon Fehd is easy to spot on the ice while playing for the Rapid City Rush. You’ll probably recognize his #93, or see him kneeling in prayer after every game he plays. As a defenseman, you’ve seen him clash opposing forwards and desperately try to keep the competition away from his net.
You’ve seen him battle countless times for the Rapid City Rush on the ice. What you haven’t seen is his constant battle off the ice, a battle that has followed him for his entire life.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Click below to read his battle on and off the ice with OCD, and how he’s persevered as a professional athlete.
THE GREATEST GAME I’VE EVER CALLED
During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, we got to relive some of those great sports moments in our lives because all that sports channels played were old broadcasts of classic games. It was a time where we got to relive the memories and moments that made us fans, or perpetuated our fanhood, in the first place.
This game in particular shaped the early portions of my career with the Rush. It’s one of those games that I can vividly recall everything that happened throughout the entire day and in the game itself.
It is Game 7 of the 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs First Round against the Quad City Mallards.
Still to this day, I consider it the best game I’ve ever called, and the best game I’ve ever watched in my eight years with the organization. Click below to read more about how heart-pounding and catastrophic the game was all these years later.
FROM VICTORY LANE TO MEMORY LANE: SPIRE’S DAYTONA WIN ONE YEAR LATER
On July 7, 2019, Spire Motorsports pulled off the unthinkable with its No. 77 car. As a first-year chartered team at the NASCAR Cup Series level, and with 20-year old rookie Justin Haley making only his third-career Cup Series start behind the wheel, the No. 77 car earned its first win.
As far as NASCAR is concerned, it’s arguably one of the biggest upsets in the history of motorsports.
Click below to read more about the Herculean feat that Spire Motorsports pulled off at Daytona in July of 2019.
“THE SHERIFF ON THE ICE: GARRETT KLOTZ”
Garrett Klotz is one of the most unmistakable players to identify on the ice in the entire ECHL. Wearing #88 for the Rapid City Rush, Klotz is almost certainly the largest man on the ice regardless of who the Rush play against, standing at a near-Goliath level 6’6” and over 240 pounds. Because of this immense size and strength, Klotz has taken a role in hockey that isn’t for the faint of heart, a role he’s held for 13 years and 570 games across four leagues in two continents for 15 different teams.
Klotz is “The Enforcer”.
Click below to read about how he has used his fists to ascend the professional ranks.
CEDRIC MONTMINY: HOCKEY RUNS IN THE FAMILY
Ask any child what they want to be when they grow up, and you’ll hear countless different answers. Most will give you the usual childhood fantasies: a fireman, an astronaut, a doctor, even a cowboy. But for children who grew up in a household influenced by athletics, professional sports seem to be an easy option to latch onto.
Just ask Rush forward Cedric Montminy.
For Father’s Day 2020, read how much Cedric’s father, former Quebec Nordique Andre Gaudette, shaped, and continues to shape, his career to this day
ERIC AND GAVIN BECHTOL: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Sports are special for a variety of reasons, one such being how it seems to create bonds between people. In sports, friends become family, families become friends, and family itself comes closer together with fond memories that will last a lifetime.
Eric Bechtol, and his son Gavin share their bond through family and sports on a deeper level: they’re both Head Equipment Managers in professional hockey.
Click below to read how their father-son bond strengthened through hockey, and unintentionally led them on the same professional path.