Workrate Hockey - January 6, 2026

Welcome back - it's the first newsletter of the new year, and still buzzing off of a successful youth hockey weekend, let's get into talking about big boy hockey.

First though, before I get into the muck and the chaos, I wanted to send my sincere congratulations to Mike Maniscalco, who was named North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year for 2025 by the National Sports Media Association. Mike, amazingly, is in his sixth season calling play-by-play for the Canes, and my "amazingly" I mean it seems like just the other day Mike got the call to stand in and do play-by-play - something he hadn't done since college - taking the place of someone irreplaceable, the beloved John Forslund. We've watched Mike grow on the air, finding his voice while dealing with criticism from fans whose main argument was that Maniscalco wasn't John Forslund. Because he was starting out as well, you can be sure that there were tons of "notes" being slipped to him every broadcast - "show more energy" but "don't get too excited", "don't assume the fans are hockey experts" but also "don't talk down to the listeners". "Be yourself", but "here's instructions on how we want you to be yourself." Though it all, Mike has carved an identity and done an admirable job filling the impossible shoes of his predecessor, and now has some hardware to show for it.

Full disclosure, I've considered Mike a friend going back to his 99.9/620 The Buzz days (RIP The Morning Show) and I've taken great pleasure watching him go from getting shafted by Capitol Broadcasting (I'm still pissed at that) to eventually turning that into the Canes TV Host gig and, well, look at him now. I'm incredibly proud to see him where he is now, and I will continue to wish him great success.

Cheers, Mike.

Now, back to the ranting and panic.