The Lightning will lose a familiar voice in the announce booth when this season comes to an end. News broke on Wednesday afternoon that long time color commentator Bobby “The Chief” Taylor will change roles on the broadcast team. This shift will leave a big void for fans that have enjoyed 21 years of Taylor’s insight in that role.
After a playing career that saw him win two Stanley Cups, Taylor shifted into television and radio for the Philadelphia Flyers in 1977. He has been calling Lightning broadcasts since the second season of their existence in 1993-94. Rick Peckham came aboard as the play-by-play announcer in the 1995-96 season and they have worked together since. Peckham and Taylor are one of the longest active TV pairings in the NHL.
Taylor will remain involved with Sun Sports even though his role will be changing. He’ll appear during the pre- and post-game shows. He’ll also take part in the intermission segments, one of the things he told the Tampa Bay Times he was most interested in getting back to:
“I’m really not getting a whole lot of teaching done (during the broadcast),” Taylor said. “I love to show the little idiosyncrasies of the game. We don’t really do that anymore. … With the way the game goes now, you don’t get a lot of time to talk and really get to do anything.”
The Lightning will start looking for a replacement immediately. No word on who that may be as of yet.
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