From Yale to the NHL

Dave Mishkin should be making millions litigating some high-profile case, shouldn't he? Rubbing elbows with the hoity-toity? Making babies named Blake and Courtney with his high society wife?

This is, after all, what a graduate of Choate prep school in Wallingford, Conn., and Yale should be doing, isn't it?

Mishkin laughs at the image, seeing the irony of an Ivy League graduate who's at home calling minor league hockey games for nine seasons before entering his first as the radio play-by-play voice of the Lightning.

Pigeon-holed? Not Mishkin, who would rather follow his heart.

"I think it's important no matter where you go to school or what background you have, you have to like what you do," Mishkin said. "I wanted to pursue (broadcasting). Could I have gone to law school like my classmates? Probably. But I don't know if I would have been as happy. This was really a calling for me."

That calling came to Mishkin his sophomore year at Yale, when he decided to get involved with the school radio station even though the school did not offer a broadcasting major.

While his fellow broadcasting neophytes gravitated toward the more mainstream sports, Mishkin settled in calling games for Yale's Division I hockey team.

"I think I had a knack for hockey," Mishkin said. "My junior and senior years, I was the only one interested in doing hockey play-by-play. Everyone else was interested in doing football and basketball."

He got first pro job, with the ECHL's Johnstown Chiefs, in 1992 while still at Yale, starting right after graduation. For his second, he was hired by Jay Feaster, now the Lightning general manager, to be the voice of the Hershey Bears in 1996-97.

Mishkin became known at Hershey for his game-calling and showmanship, including memorable advertising spots that included the lines I loooovvvve muffins!and When you're thinking of pie, lemon meringue might not be the first pie you think of.

Mishkin's minor league jobs were more than just calling games. He did sales, served as the team's public and media relations manager, hosted a talk-radio show, and wrote for the team Web site.

One of the first instructions he received after his Lightning hiring was keep it simple. Concentrate on the broadcast.

"Compared to my previous broadcasting, which comprised about 10 percent of my overall workload, now it's closer to 90 percent," he said.

That should allow Mishkin to further develop his style as he replaces the popular John Ahlers. Mishkin said he already has received positive feedback for his preseason work, and says he expects to get better and better as he becomes more comfortable with his surroundings.

"For me the most important thing is to paint a picture," Mishkin said. "My style is very descriptive oriented. I don't spend a lot of time waxing philosophically or telling stories or throwing out statistics. Occasionally, I work it in, but the main thing for me has always been, if I was listening, what would I want to know? That's No. 1. No. 2, I think I have a great enthusiasm for the game and I would like to believe that the excitement of the game is translated over the air."

FREE HOCKEY: For the first time since 1999, fans without cable will be able to see the Lightning on television.

WFTS-Ch. 28 will broadcast four Lightning games to be produced by the Sunshine Network, airing Nov. 17, Dec. 1, Jan. 18 and April 6.

The last local station to broadcast Lightning games was WTTA-Ch. 38, which did nine games in 1999-2000.