This is Part III of three-part coverage of Dave Molinari, whose career covering the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League has been both lengthy and outstanding.
Molinari has covered the Penguins for two daily newspapers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, starting with the now-defunct Pittburgh Press prior to the 1983-84 season. He moved to his current employer — the Pittburgh Post-Gazette – in January 1993.
Molinari is a journalist member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was honored by his peers in the Professional Hockey Writers Association as the 2009 recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award.
This — Part III — is a Q&A conducted with Molinai via E-mail after it was publicly announced that he had been named the 2009 Ferguson recipient. The announcement was made in June 2009 during the Stanley Cup Final in which the Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wing in a THRILLING seven games.
This Q&A is what I initially set out to produce for Associated Content (now associated content from YAHOO!). But the idea to simply produce a Q&A expanded.
Part I is the introduction to the coverage, how I became aware of Molinari and why I initially decided to publish a Q&A with him on Associated Content (now associated content from YAHOO!). The link to the article is http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8313945/my_discovery_of_dave_molinaris_outstanding.html?cat=14.
And Part II is an article that delves into topics including Molinari’s career, the Ferguson Award and the Pittsburgh newspaper strike of 1992. The link to the article is http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8314093/dave_molinari_got_his_start_covering.html?cat=14.
I am sincerely grateful to Molinari for helping to produce this Q&A by providing answers to my questions. I utilized some of the information Molinari provided in writing Parts I and II of the coverage.
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JC: Dave, congratulations on winning the Ferguson Award! I am sure that winning the award had to make you feel great. Can you share some thoughts on what it means to you to win the award, to know that your peers in the hockey writing community hold you in such high regard?
DM: It’s a wonderful honor for someone in my line of work be deemed worthy of receiving an honor that previously went to people who work made such an impression on me when I was younger – the likes of Red Fisher and Scott Young and Frank Orr – and colleagues such as Kevin Dupont, Michael Farber and Eric Duhatschek, among many others, for whose work I have such great respect.
(All six men mentioned by Molinari in the previous answer are prior Ferguson recipients – Fisher of the Montreal Star/Gazette in 1985, Young of the Toronto Globe and Mail/Telegram in 1988, Orr of the Toronto Star in 1989, Dupont of the Boston Globe in 2002, Farber of Sports Illustrated in 2003 and Duhatschek of the Calgary Herald in 2001.)
JC: Who votes on the Ferguson Award?
DM: The Ferguson recipient is selected by a panel consisting of officers of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and previous Ferguson recipients.
JC: How did you find out that you had won? Phone call? E-mail? Or did someone let the cat out of the bag, such as (the late) Pat Burns hinting to his friend Claude Julien that he had won the (2009 Jack) Adams Trophy (for Coach of the Year)?
DM: I learned that I was the 2009 Ferguson recipient via a phone call from Kevin Allen (of USA Today and) president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association while I was in the Pittsburgh International Airport in early April, waiting to fly to Montreal for the final game of Pittsburgh’s regular season.
(The following is the quote from Allen that was included in the press release distributed on June 2, 2009 by the Hockey Hall of Fame, which publicly named Molinari the Ferguson recipient and John Davidson as the Hewitt recipient:
“Since 1983, Dave Molinari has been telling the Pittsburgh Penguins story with the perfect blend of insightful analysis and entertaining prose. The fans of Pittsburgh have been fortunate to have highly skilled players such as Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. And they have been equally fortunate to have a highly skilled writer such as Dave to chronicle their successes. With his dry wit, Dave is also the leading press box humorist in the hockey writing community. He is one of the most respected hockey writers in the game today.”)
JC: Can you share with me your first thoughts that raced through your mind upon learning that you won the award?
DM: I was caught completely by surprise, since I wasn’t aware of when the decision on the Ferguson recipient is made. But my reaction then is pretty much the same as it is now, months after the fact. It’s very humbling to be deemed worthy of mention alongside hockey writers that I mentioned earlier and so many more.
JC: Were you at some point notified by the Professional Hockey Writers Association that you were under consideration for the award? If yes, when were you notified? Are there a handful of finalists for the award like the NHL awards presented to players and Coach of the Year?
DM: The panel that selected the Ferguson recipient does not notify candidates when they are under consideration. I learned that I was being considered for it only when I received the phone call that I had been chosen to receive it.
Since I at the time was not an officer of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, I was not involved in the voting process. But I will be able to vote on future Ferguson winner as a past recipient.
JC: Had you been nominated in the past for the Ferguson Award, but did not end up the winner? If yes, what year(s)? In what place did you finish in the voting?
DM: I was told informally that I had been under consideration for several years, but never heard the details on how close I came to being selected previously.
JC: What is needed to be eligible to win the Ferguson Award, be a beat reporter covering a NHL team?
DM: I don’t know what the precise criteria are. But all of the recipients have been a beat reporter at some point, although some subsequently moved into other positions, such as columnist. The Ferguson Award honors a journalist for achievement over the course of a career.
JC: When will you officially receive the Ferguson Award? If yes, will you be asked to make a speech? If yes, can you share a little of what you plan to say to those assembled?
DM: The Ferguson, as well as the Hewitt, will be presented at a luncheon in Toronto on November 9, hours before the induction of the Hall of Fame Class of 2009. I will be delivering a speech, but haven’t started working on it yet. I’m guessing it will consist primarily of “thank yous” because a lot of people made it possible for me to receive this recognition.
The Ferguson is presented to only one person, but it is does not reflect only individual accomplishments. An awful lot of people, from readers to family members to co-workers, play important roles.
JC: Does each recipient of the Ferguson Award have a plaque honoring him/her in the Hockey Hall of Fame? In the only trip I’ve ever made to Toronto, the closest I got to the HHOF was having dinner in the food court near the front door. I did not have time to check out the museum.
DM: My understanding is that each Ferguson recipient does have an individual plaque in the Hall of Fame, much as inducted players and builders do. And the same I true of the broadcasters who receive the (Foster) Hewitt (Memorial) Award.
JC: Can you provide some background on the man for whom the award is named?
DM: Elmer Ferguson was a Canadian sportswriter for much of the 20th century, with a career that took him from Moncton, New Brunswick to Montreal . His involvement with the NHL also included several stints as a color commentator on Montreal Maroons and Canadiens (radio) broadcasts. He was in the first class of journalist inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984.
JC: Dave, let’s delve a little into your past. Did you earn a journalism degree in college?
DM: Yes. I graduated from Penn State in 1977.
JC: How many years have you been a reporter for newspapers?
DM: I began as a part-time employee in the Sports Department at a newspaper in suburban Pittsburgh in the fall of 1977. I moved into a full-time position covering police activity, local government and school boards about a year later.
I accepted a position as a sports copy editor at the Pittsburgh Press in the first week of 1980 and moved onto the hockey beat in the summer of 1983. I moved to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the first week of 1993 after a labor dispute led to the demise of the Pittsburgh Press.
JC: Can you provide the range of responsibilities you have in covering the Penguins?
DM: I am the reporter with primary responsibility for covering the Penguins during the pre-season and season. I also cover the draft and any other breaking news related to the Penguins during the off-season.
JC: I am sure travel is a grueling part of covering the Penguins. Do you periodically get a break from road games during the regular season?
DM: Yes, a co-worker generally handles about 10 road games per season.
JC: Dave, thank you for taking the time to provide answers to my questions. To reiterate, congratulations on winning the Ferguson Award! And I look forward to reading your latest work each time I visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Website (www.post-gazette.com).
DM: You’re welcome, John.
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To read Part I, how I became aware of Molinari and why I initially decided to publish a Q&A with him on Associated Content (now associated content from YAHOO!), please click on the following link: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8313945/my_discovery_of_dave_molinaris_outstanding.html?cat=14.
To read Part II — an article that delves into topics including Molinari’s career, the Ferguson Award and the Pittsburgh newspaper strike of 1992 — please click on the following link: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8314093/halloffame_sportswriter_dave_molinari.html?cat=14.