Most people dream of retiring to a life of leisure, whiling away their days on cruise ships or in sunny villas. Al Shaver, on the other hand, was thinking last week about creating a TV program devoted to curling.
Less than one week after ending a 48-year broadcasting career, the longtime North Stars radio announcer dropped hints that maybe it isn't over after all. He and his wife, Shirley, have purchased a condo in British Columbia. They plan to travel.
But to Shaver, the word retirement sounds so final, so rigid, so . . . boring. A little TV show might be just the tonic.
'I still don't really want to retire,' said Shaver, who broadcast Stars games for 26 seasons and has called Gophers games for the last three years. 'I'd like to keep active as a broadcaster, but it got to a point where we felt like we had to get out of here in the winter. I never really had any hobbies, you know; something like fishing, where you sit for hours and dangle a worm in the water, doesn't appeal to me. And I hate the thought of totally doing nothing.'
As much as Shaver hates that idea, the thousands of Minnesotans who grew up listening to his voice hate it even more. Nearly 30 years ago, Shaver packed his family into a dilapidated Volkswagen Beetle and drove to the Twin Cities to start a career as an NHL broadcaster. He became one of the best-loved announcers in the game, yet he remained humble and kind.
Since Shaver announced his retirement at the last Gophers game on March 24, he and Shirley have received dozens of phone calls, cards and requests for interviews. If he does come back to the Twin Cities to do the curling show next fall, he could turn the sport into a ratings phenomenon all by himself.
'Listening to Al is like taking a warm bath,' said former radio partner Ralph Strangis, who learned the broadcasting business in three seasons of working Stars games with Shaver. 'There's something real comforting about it. Through good seasons, bad seasons, all the players, Al was the constant.
'When I put in a tape and listen to him, I feel connected to Minnesota, to my youth, to my family, to a great time in my life. To know he's not going to be calling games any more. . . . I think he means more to people than he knows. He's been a wonderful companion to people over the years. He's part of the fabric of the state.'
Broadcast beginnings
Like most Canadian boys, Shaver dreamed of playing hockey. But asthma - which has afflicted him throughout his life - prevented him from doing so. He began to think broadcasting might be a fun way to earn a living, and that feeling was reinforced when his father took him to see a game at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. There Shaver saw Canadian broadcasting idol Foster Hewitt calling the game from his famous gondola, and he decided any job that provided the best seat in the hockey rink was good enough for him.
Shaver completed a course at a Canadian broadcasting school owned by actor Lorne Greene in 1948 and got a job in Guelph, Ontario, where he broadcast games for a county league baseball team that featured a young pitcher named Glen Sonmor. Years later, the paths of the two men crossed again when Sonmor became coach of the North Stars - and later joined Shaver in the broadcast booth for Gophers hockey.
'I thought after 26 years in the NHL that he'd just go through the motions when he switched to the Gophers,' Sonmor said. 'It was a real eye-opener for me to see how much he prepared, how hard he worked and how good he was. I got to see it doesn't just roll off his tongue. Even now - with all due respect to the TV guys - when I watch a Gophers game, I turn down the sound and listen to Al.'
Shaver saw lots of bad hockey games in Minnesota, yet he neither sugarcoated the North Stars' play nor ignored their shortcomings. While he was honest, he also was fair, and former players such as Lou Nanne and Tom Reid remember that he never attacked players personally or took cheap shots. 'He was one of the few who really knew and understood the game,' Reid said. 'But he was also funny and friendly, the kind of guy the players wanted to be around.'
A style of his own
Those who listened to Shaver on the radio appreciated his enthusiasm and his ability to paint a precise picture of what he observed. Then there was the voice. Shaver's love for the game poured forth in every broadcast, and his lively play-by-play - punctuated by 'He shoots, HE SCORES!' - made listeners feel every drop of suspense and excitement.
Thousands of Minnesotans remember childhood evenings spent with a transistor radio tucked under the pillow, falling asleep to the sound of Shaver's voice. Pat Forciea was among them, and when the Stars hired him in 1991, Shaver was the first person he wanted to meet. Two years later, when the Stars moved to Dallas, Forciea took a job with the Gophers and immediately hired Shaver to do radio broadcasts.
'He still takes his job more seriously than anyone I know in the business,' Forciea said. 'I can count the number of practices he's missed on one hand. And he's everyone's favorite colleague because of the tremendous respect he has for people. He treats the parking lot attendant the same way he treats players or administrators. To me and my generation, he was the North Stars. The only person who will have a more dominant legacy in Minnesota hockey is John Mariucci.'
Shaver made an indelible impression on many broadcasters, especially those who worked with him. Reid remembers Shaver getting so excited during games that he routinely spilled glasses of water on his carefully prepared notes. Strangis, who grew up idolizing Shaver, broke into the business at his side and still finds touches of Shaver's style in his own delivery.
'I'll always consider working with Al to be one of the greatest times of my life,' said Strangis, now a color commentator for the Dallas Stars. 'So many times I say to myself, `What would Al say in this situation? How would he do this?' And I don't try to copy his sayings, but I'll say something during a broadcast and think to myself, `That's Al.' '
Retired . . . or not?
In the Shaver home stands a file cabinet stuffed to the limit with materials Al used in his broadcasts. Since he announced his retirement - and since the Shavers plan to move to their new condo sometime this summer - Shirley Shaver has suggested Al think about what to do with it.
There was a time when Shirley thought he would put off that thought forever. 'I was beginning to think he'd never retire,' said Shirley, who has been married to Al for 44 years. 'Right up to the last, he was still debating it. For him to do nothing for a while will be great; we won't have our winters tied up, and we can go when we feel like it. But I know he will get back into something.'
It certainly won't be fishing. It might be curling. And if there's a junior hockey team on Vancouver Island that needs a play-by-play man. . . .
'I won't know how I feel about [not calling hockey games] until next October,' Shaver said. 'The curling thing really appeals to me. I could come back and videotape a whole year's worth of shows. Then again, there might be some opportunities available on the island. You never know.'
