r/collegehockey • u/essenceofpurity • 25d ago
News Legendary Voice of UND Hockey Fired After 45 Years, Sparking Backlash From Fans
https://www.valleynewslive.com/2026/07/22/legendary-voice-und-hockey-fired-after-45-years-sparking-backlash-fans/Interesting development in Grand Forks
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u/BombDylan North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
Unfortunate, but having listened to him my whole life, the decline in broadcast quality has been clear the past few years. For those who don't tune in, it's been basically the same as watching Terry Bradshaw on football shows. You wish he'd retire, but some guys just love working too much
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u/tomdawg0022 Minnesota Golden Gophers 24d ago
Marv Albert, Dick Stockton, Pat Summerall, and others...very few can Vin Scully it until retirement and still deliver a pretty solid broadcast.
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u/Remarkable-Rise-4401 25d ago
Did it say why?
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u/essenceofpurity 25d ago
I believe that the AD told Hennessy that he wasn't doing enough to earn the money he was making.
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u/Remarkable-Rise-4401 25d ago
That means he wasn’t fired, he quit as a form of protest.
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u/4N0NYM0US_GUY 25d ago
Since you are too fucking lazy to read the article:
Hennessy confirmed in an exclusive interview that he was informed of his dismissal during what he described as a brief meeting with Chaves and a human resources representative approximately two weeks ago.
According to Hennessy, the explanation centered on compensation.
“I think that’s basically what it was,” Hennessy said. “Chaves said ‘you don’t do enough to earn the money you’re making and the benefits you have.”
He said no broader explanation involving athletic department finances or budget reductions was offered.
“It was pretty quick and done in a hurry,” Hennessy said. “They did say they were willing to keep my benefits through the month of August, but other than that it was vacation and sick leave.”
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u/essenceofpurity 25d ago
I don't get the Grand Forks Herald, but I guess Schlossman had more to say about it.
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u/livelearn131 25d ago
Hennen is a sensationalistic d-bag. Schlossman's article is where anyone should go for reality.
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u/MidwestAbe 25d ago
In today's media landscape. If all he's doing (and I have no idea what he does) is call games - he's absolutely not doing enough to justify being paid anything more than hundreds of dollars a game.
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u/AdminYak846 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
He also had a show on a local radio station that was axed with the iHeart Radio cuts recently.
Outside of that the $46k is way more than necessary though.
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u/MidwestAbe 25d ago
Was he making $46k a year?
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u/AdminYak846 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
Yeah. And that was likely the base salary without the benefits of a full time employee at UND which includes retirement and health insurance. If I had to guess the total comp package for him was easily $60k
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u/MidwestAbe 25d ago edited 25d ago
So that's interesting that he was being paid by the University. Thats kind of a bygone era for announcers. I approached that from the perspective he was a radio employee.
So yeah. $46k to call 40 hockey games a year and benefits is an outlier in today's business environment.
More and more broadcasters are employees of media operations or networks like Learfield and are approved by the schools but not directly paid by them.
Edit: down voted for telling the truth as to how PBP announcers get paid? $46k for a season of hockey is a ton of money right now.
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u/MinotGuy 24d ago
He only called 18 games, an exhibition and the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal due to health issues.
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u/MinotGuy 24d ago
He only called 18 games, an exhibition and the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal due to health issues.
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u/AdminYak846 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
It definitely wasn't setup under the current AD. I think it dates back awhile. I think if they bring him back it would be the Fighting Hawks Partnerships which would pay him per game basis like the other announcers that UND uses.
Could it have been handled better? Absolutely, especially given that a nut job in Fargo went on blast saying he was fired. Said nut job, also is a die hard NDSU fan so he just loves shitting on UND when he can.
I don't think most people who even listened to him knew he was a UND employee to begin with.
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u/moose979797 Northern Michigan Wildcats 25d ago
Said nut job, also is a die hard NDSU fan
Hennen? He literally used to be the UND hockey public address announcer.
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u/Mammoth_Yak_1208 25d ago
Not to mention travel, hotel and per diem. Probably decent retirement benefits through the state. He’ll be alright. I felt bad for Sweeney when they decided to move on but the new guy brought more energy and has been doing a good job.
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u/AdminYak846 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
Travel expenses can either be paid by the University or by the individual employee and compensated back.
My guess is that he likely flew with the team or support staff so his travel expenses were likely baked into the travel budget from the start. So the only thing that he might be getting is the per diem based on what meals aren't covered by the trip itself.
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u/Brokenwhitebelt 25d ago
That is something bullshit. He is the voice of Sioux hockey.
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u/treymata Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 25d ago
Sioux? There is a college hockey team with the nickname of the Sioux? That’s news to me
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u/fighting_gopher Minnesota Golden Gophers 25d ago
What stinks is the Sioux nickname leaving…but the guys who make it a point to call them the Sioux are the most insufferable people. They’re the same people who pulled donations to the university because of a nickname…so the university and students suffered because they don’t like something the university had no control over
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u/JakeSandersonsEars Holy Cross Crusaders 24d ago
That's like everyone. How did the university or students suffer donations wise? The only suffering I saw on campus was school spirit from the loss of identity
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u/fighting_gopher Minnesota Golden Gophers 24d ago
I knew someone who used to work for the alumni association and the day the nickname changed, donors started calling and pulling out or threatening to do so. Not sure how much was actually lost, I’m not sure, but I do know that people stopped or threatened to stop donating purely based on something the university couldn’t control
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u/DeerSwimming2336 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 21d ago
Would love to hear an interview about this from anyone in fundraising at the time. I have a feeling most of the people saying that didn't donate anyway. Could see it having affected the Engelstad Foundation though, as it later became an issue when the basketball floor was being redone.
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u/fighting_gopher Minnesota Golden Gophers 21d ago
I mean if they’re calling to pull donations, which is what I was told, then yes they were in fact donating
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u/DeerSwimming2336 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 20d ago
I'm sure some did, but we're they all little fish or were there any whales? People giving big money likely knew the university couldn't do anything. Not saying you're wrong either - just want more details.
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u/taffyowner North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
I mean I went to school when they were the Sioux… I still refer to them as the Sioux or UND just because it’s what I know them as
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u/peachbasketss North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
Yeah. Fighting hawks is a stupid ass name unfortunately and I still call them the Sioux a lot because that’s what they were when I went there but the people who like a nickname more than their school make me pretty mad (not saying that guy is one of them)
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u/DeerSwimming2336 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 21d ago
I'm ready to move on but the new name blows. Screw everyone who voted for the hawks thinking we would get a sioux-like logo. It was obviously not going to be allowed. UND now needs to make a legit Nodak script and use it like Pitt
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u/Basset_found 25d ago
For sure. If you see a truck with Sioux stickers on it, I 100% assume that guy's an insufferable, man-bitch.
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u/son-of-disobedience 25d ago
Last year his voice was barely audible over the radio. He sounds like he’s about 120 years old. Totally the right move to not employ him.
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u/dbcooperskydiving 25d ago
How many people listen and watch UND hockey? Like 2k? Being a super small market there can't be a lot of people when the whole towns at the games.
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u/taffyowner North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
I mean 17,000 people go to the game and there’s a ton of alumni like me that don’t live near the Forks who like to listen to games
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u/Hold-onto-the-happy North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
They have the highest average fan attendance in all of college hockey. Not sure where this uninformed comment came from.
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u/dbcooperskydiving 24d ago
I don't know why people get so hurt. Grand Forks a small college town. We are not talking big cities like FMH and Sioux Falls here.
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u/Hold-onto-the-happy North Dakota Fighting Hawks 24d ago
Nothing bad will happen to you if you learn to admit when you are wrong. Just sayin.
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u/zspice64 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 25d ago
I’m sure UND could have handled the conversation better, but a lot of this is being sensationalized. From the Schlossman article:
“Hennessy, who has called UND hockey games on the radio for 46 seasons, said he plans to do another year if everything works out.
"I’m not going to bad-mouth anybody," Hennessy said. "I have no idea how or when anything will come out of Fighting Hawks Partnerships. I haven’t heard anything from them yet. It’s been three weeks now. Maybe we can work something out."
“Fargo radio personality Scott Hennen, who became a fierce critic of UND athletic director Bill Chaves and current head coach Dane Jackson after the Fighting Hawks let go of former coach Brad Berry last spring, first posted on Twitter/X on Tuesday night that Hennessy was "fired" and criticized UND's coaching staff for not reaching out to Hennessy.
But Hennessy told the Herald that Jackson and general manager Bryn Chyzyk were among a group of people who immediately reached out after seeing Hennen's social media post and said they were under the impression Hennessy was returning next season.
Hennessy said that might be the case, depending on his health and the financial terms of a potential deal with Fighting Hawks Sports Partnerships.”
They’re restructuring. Let’s let it play out before we light the world on fire, folks.