How a former Peoria Rivermen broadcaster ended up in the Blackhawks radio booth

PEORIA — Alan Fuehring got a Chicago Blackhawks jersey from his grandparents for Christmas when he 7.

The Morton native wore that jersey then. And on Saturday, he wore his life-long love for the Blackhawks on his sleeve when he was called-up by the NHL team to serve as play-by-play voice on its WGN-AM 720 radio broadcast.

Fuehring called the Blackhawks 1-0 loss at St. Louis.

"It was close all the way, the goal came in the third period, so there was a lot of energy in the game, a good game to call," Fuehring said. "I grew up a Chicago Blackhawks fan as a kid. It's a thrill to be in that chair.

"Pat Foley is a Hall of Famer and he kept me glued to the TV for three hours on game night as a kid. He gave me a nice endorsement going into this game and it means the world to me."

How he ended up in the booth

Foley is retiring as the television play-by-play voice of the Blackhawks at the end of the season. The team is rotating in several broadcasters, both TV and radio, over the course of the season.

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John Wiedeman, the radio voice of the Blackhawks, is among those in the rotation for the TV side. So for games in which he is handling TV, his radio seat in turn is filled by several talents called-up by the team, including Fuehring.

Who knows, if Wiedeman wins the TV job after this season, then one of those fill-ins could take over his radio gig.

"I felt really good about the call, and got a lot of positive comments on social media about it," Fuehring said. "You don't always get that.

"It doesn't matter if you are a coach or a player or a broadcaster, whatever your role is, you want to reach the highest level of the game and perform. I have that confidence, I feel I can be a full-time voice in the NHL and I'm ready for it."

It started with the Rivermen

Fuehring's path to the NHL started with the Peoria Rivermen.

He worked as the broadcasting/media relations assistant for the Rivermen from 2009-10 through 2011-12, under now New York Islanders play-by-play voice Brendan Burke.

Fuehring became the first play-by-play voice of the Rivermen in their SPHL era during the 2013-14 season, and went on to make the calls for ECHL Greenville and now AHL Bridgeport and the NHL with the Islanders.

He's in his sixth season at Bridgeport. Last April, he made his NHL debut when the Islanders called him up to do two broadcasts.

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He was there in May during the playoffs, sitting behind former NHLer and longtime broadcaster Eddie Olczyk and Kenny Albert as they worked games for TNT.

Saturday, Olczyk was in St. Louis working the Blackhawks game.

"Last May I sat behind him, watching and listening, taking in everything he did," Fuehring said. "He's an amazing analyst. I can't describe what it was like to be in St. Louis on Saturday, and he was 15 feet to my right, calling the same game I was."

Fuehring worked the game with Paul Caponigri, of the Big Ten Network, as analyst. That chair would normally be filled by former Blackhawks player and longtime radio broadcast analyst Troy Murray, who has missed this season while battling cancer.

"I wanted to make sure Troy knew we were supporting him and thinking about him," Fuehring said. "Wayne Gretzky once said he was one of the toughest man he ever played against. He'll battle."

Fuehring is headed back to Bridgeport now to resume his role as radio voice for the AHL team. It's possible the Blackhawks will bring him in for another game later.

"The Islanders have been very supportive and patient with all of this," Fuehring said. "They understand, and I can't thank them enough."

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Former Rivermen broadcaster ends up at Blackhawks radio booth