As the Predators celebrate their 25th anniversary this season, one voice has been a constant in bringing the action to fans since the puck first dropped in October 1998. Over the course of these 25 years, play-by-play voice Pete Weber has seen and described it all to the teams’ fans.
Whether through television, radio or both, all the highs and lows of more than 2,000 Predators games have been backed by Weber’s unique vocal delivery of the action, tailoring it to the particular broadcast format.
In the early days of the franchise, Weber voiced the games on television and radio in a simulcast format. He then moved to television only when the Predators switched to separate broadcasts and has now transitioned to the radio side.
Play-by-play broadcasting is best when it is tailored to the medium. On television, viewers are being told what they are seeing. On radio, the broadcaster needs to paint a picture with their words. Weber excels in both formats.
Weber has two favorite calls from his time so far with the Predators. The first was Mike Fisher’s triple-overtime goal in Game 4 of the playoff series against the San Jose Sharks in 2016. “Go ape everybody, go ape,” Weber yells as then color analyst Brent Peterson screams in the background.
Unbeknown to the radio listeners, Peterson was being hugged so tightly by Terry Crisp, another of Weber’s former broadcast partners, that he was struggling to keep air in his lungs.
His other favorite call came when the Predators advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017: “Sit down if you need, the Predators are going to the Stanley Cup Final.”
While hockey teams are purposefully vague with their description of players’ illnesses and injuries, Weber has been upfront and public about some of the health challenges that have kept him away from the microphone in recent years.
In 2014, he suffered a heart attack in Minnesota before the Predators playing the Wild that night. That was the same day then-general manager David Poile was struck in the eye with a puck during the team’s morning skate.
Early last season, Weber dealt with hydrocephalus, essentially fluid on the brain which caused him to lose his balance.
“I think I did two CT scans, three MRIs but we didn’t know anything until we did the lumbar puncture, better known as the spinal tap,” he says. “A little bit of water was taken out and all of a sudden, my balance was back.”
Sharing such personal medical information with the masses is one that Weber elected to do because he has such a close connection with the fans.
“I’d rather they know what’s going on and not wonder if I’m dead or dying,” Weber says.
Crisp, his longtime former partner slightly misunderstood Weber’s hydrocephalus diagnosis.
“Crispy told people that I had hydro syphilis,” Weber says.
As quick-witted as her husband, Weber’s wife Claudia chimed in and says, “Yeah, he got it from a mermaid, Terry.”
During their days on television together, Weber and Crisp combined for some memorable broadcast moments. Their shared Halloween costumes were also must-see TV, with their “Slapshot” Hanson brothers, and then Vanderbilt and Tennessee head coaches Woody Widenhofer and Philip Fulmer costumes topping the list.
Like the sports and athletes that they cover, broadcasting is a highly competitive business. Instead of looking over his shoulder, Weber is embracing the next generation of who voices the Predators.
Max Herz has been called upon to pinch hit for Weber during his absences, and Weber has been the Vanderbilt graduate’s No. 1 champion.
“Every time I’ve had a chance to fill in for him, he’s always talking to me and letting me know, whether it’s with a joke or something more direct, is to just have fun with it,” Herz says. “It’s amazing to feel supported.”
Herz also noted that even during Weber’s serious health struggles, he went out of his way to make sure that Herz had everything he needed from him to have a successful broadcast.
Looking at his time with the Predators, Weber is succinct in his assessment.
“It’s been fun for me, an awful lot of fun,” Weber says.
Yes, it has Pete.