Up Close with PSR:
Bob Errey

A first-round 1983 draft pick of the Penguins out of the famed Peterborough Petes junior team, Bob Errey later was a member of Pittsburgh's 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup championship teams. A left winger who finished plays around the net and added a solid checking and defensive presence while playing with Mario Lemieux, Errey also played for Buffalo, San Jose, Detroit, Dallas and the New York Rangers in an NHL career that lasted 895 games.

After retirement, Errey became the Penguins' radio color analyst alongside Paul Steigerwald and then the TV analyst for the team beside Mike Lange. This season he and Steigerwald have been reunited on the TV side, and Errey has continued his no-holds-barred analysis while building on his reputation for noticing the little things in a game that slip past most viewers.

Errey recently took time out from his busy schedule to talk to PSR's Bob Grove about the Penguins, the NHL game and the future.

PSR: What's surprised you this season about the Penguins?

Errey: What's been surprising to me is how Marc-Andre Fleury has improved over the first quarter of the season or so, allowing the Penguins to compete to the end of games, limiting the bad goals, giving Pittsburgh a chance every game. With Malkin coming over, it was a surprise how he could jump out of the gate like he did. Even though he was playing at a high level before, the NHL is a different level. For him to play like that early really gives Pittsburgh a one-two punch.

And Sidney Crosby hasn't surprised you?

He hasn't. I thought he was one of the top five players in the game last year. Nothing surprises me with him because of the strong mental game and strong work ethic. I think he is the best player in the league.

Can this team reach the playoffs?

It can. To get to another level beyond that, I think there have to be a couple of moves made. But I think they can squeeze in.

Who's surprised you, in a good way or a bad way, this season in the Eastern Conference?

Montreal's surprised me a little bit, but they've got a strong defense, as strong as any defense in the East. Ottawa has surprised me a little bit on the flip side of that - I thought they'd be fairly strong. They were hurt not having Martin Gerber early, and they also lost Zdeno Chara and haven't had Wade Redden healthy. . . but I still think they're one of the premier teams in the East.

It's been a tumultuous time off the ice for the Penguins. Are you optimistic about the team's future here?

It's just all part of a process, part of a negotiation, not only with someone who might buy the club but between the city, the state and the hockey team. I'm not turned off by it. I'm trying to iron out the highs and the lows, and I still believe it's better than 50-50 that we'll be playing hockey here in the future.

You started out doing color on the radio and now have been on the TV side for a few seasons. What's that transition been like?

It was not a big adjustment. On TV you're dealing with more people, you've got a whole crew now, and you're not always able to say what you want at any time because you've got advertisements, promotions to get in. . . but it's good. I look at it as a challenge - to get your point across in a condensed period of time, and you don't know exactly when that time is, as you did in radio. But I love doing it.

Has working in the media been a difficult transition from playing?

Going into the media side, people said, 'I'm not sure if you're going to find that passion you had when you were playing the game. How are you going to find the passion?' But I love doing it, and I really get into the games, and I hope my passion comes across on the screen. I love working with the people I work with, and I really enjoy going to the rink every day.

How do you feel about the concept of changing the schedule and perhaps altering the makeup of divisions to get fewer divisional games and more games against teams in the other conference?

Anything we can do to give fans a look at all the stars in our league would be great. Nothing against the New Jersey Devils, but if you're playing against some teams eight times a year it isn't energizing the rivalry at all. I don't see going to six games as a negative. Sometimes you're playing a team too many times and you're losing that spark. I could see the effect earlier this year when we went out to play in Anaheim and San Jose, how much having some of our young stars meant as far as attention to hockey in those markets. For Sidney Crosby not to have been through Western Canada - it's a travesty to me. I don't know any other way to say it. It's very bad PR.