Blackhawks on track to hiring Darren Pang as lead TV analyst

The Blackhawks’ broadcast teams are undergoing more changes, but these should please fans still reeling after losing Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk last year.

Darren Pang, a fan favorite as a Hawks goalie in the 1980s, is expected to be hired as the team’s lead TV analyst, sources said. He has been the Blues’ analyst for the last 14 years, but his contract with Bally Sports Midwest wasn’t renewed. He also works for TNT, for whom he’s covering the Stanley Cup Final.

The Hawks and NBC Sports Chicago, which carries the team’s games, had no comment.

Pang told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last month that he was close to signing a three-year extension with TNT and that his next team job must accommodate that. It won’t be a problem for the Hawks, who allowed Olczyk to work for NBC Sports, then TNT.

Though newer Hawks fans might have to get past his Blues ties, Pang is beloved in the hockey community for his exuberance, including his trademark “Holy jumpin’!” He’s candid, funny and insightful on the air and has provided commentary from the booth and between the benches.

He would join Chris Vosters, who completed his first full season as the Hawks’ TV play-by-play voice after taking over for Hall of Famer Pat Foley. Troy Murray and Patrick Sharp shared the analyst’s chair. With Pang continuing at TNT, the Hawks still could use either to fill in, though it’s believed that Murray will return to a regular role on the WGN Radio broadcast alongside John Wiedeman.

One person who won’t fill in is studio analyst Colby Cohen, who announced on Twitter that he’s leaving the Hawks’ broadcast team. After two years in Chicago, he “decided it’s important for my family to be back close to our family and our home in Philadelphia,” he posted.

Hawks fans never completely embraced Cohen, who was hired to be an analyst for the team’s digital platforms and studio shows. Fans weren’t familiar with his playing career and previous broadcast work, and he struggled to win them over. He was strong as an analyst between the benches and improved in the studio in his second year.

A potential candidate to replace Cohen is former Hawks defenseman Chris Chelios, who reportedly is part of the latest round of ESPN’s layoffs and won’t return to the network’s NHL studio show next season. He made occasional appearances on NBCSCH with daughter Caley, another Hawks analyst.

At 5-5, 155 pounds, Pang played in 81 games for the Hawks. He played most in the 1987-88 season, when he went 17-23-1 with a 3.84 goals-against average and .891 save percentage. He made the all-rookie team that year and finished third in voting for the Calder Trophy, behind winner Joe Nieuwendyk and Ray Sheppard. Pang’s career was cut short by a knee injury, and he retired before the 1990-91 season.

Pang gives the Hawks an established TV personality as their exposure increases with the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft. They’re expected to select Connor Bedard, who became the first player in Canadian Hockey League history to sweep its three biggest awards: top prospect, top scorer and top player.

While the Hawks line up their broadcast talent, their future broadcast homes remain in question. They’re entering the final season of their rights agreements with NBCSCH and WGN. Wherever their TV broadcasts end up, the Hawks have said they’re committed to staying with the Bulls and White Sox.