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Rozner: Ex-Blackhawk Patrick Sharp finds home in front of camera

Patrick Sharp didn't have a plan.

When you get to play the greatest game there is, and you happen to be one of the best playoff performers in Blackhawks history - winning three rings in the process - a second act is impossible.

There is no next. Nothing replaces the thrill of scoring goals and lifting the big silver prize.

So when Sharp retired on a Saturday in April 2018 and got a call the next day from NBC Sports about working in studio on the national broadcast, it didn't take him long to find the answer.

Seven days later, he was back at work.

"I always enjoyed watching Troy Murray and Eddie Olczyk over the years and thought that kind of job could be something I might be interested in somewhere down the road," Sharp said. "I never thought about a national broadcast. It wasn't on my radar, but I was thankful for the call and when you get that opportunity you have to say yes.

"I wasn't very good the first few times, but fortunately they asked me back and I was happy to keep doing it. We have a great team at NBC."

Typical hockey player. Never seek credit, always shovel it to a teammate.

The truth is Sharp was excellent from the start, able to dissect plays easily, explain what he saw, find the right and wrong and - most important - at a time when there is so little honesty in broadcasting, Sharp has been unafraid to tell the truth.

It doesn't mean he's ripping and slashing, but just as he was on the ice, Sharps plays an honest game, clean and fair.

"It's easy to tell the story of what happened when you're so closely removed the game," Sharp said, "but I also remember how hard it is, how fast it is and I remember I made a lot of mistakes on the ice.

"It's not fun to criticize, but our job as analysts is to tell the story of what we see, and if pointing out mistakes is the best way to tell that story, then you have to do that."

Sharp bounced back and forth between NBC national and NBC Sports Chicago last year, until accepting a full-time role as a national studio analyst in September.

He still works the occasional Hawks game at the UC, and after a particularly ugly game recently, Sharp was not pleased with what he saw.

"What's the identity of this year's team?" Sharp asked. "To me, the best three games I saw were (against) Edmonton, Washington and Vegas. The Vegas game, that was a hardworking, blue-collar effort. It was a low-scoring, low-chance game.

"Tonight (vs. Philadelphia), it looked like the Hawks wanted to stand around and make plays and score goals. Everyone wants to score a couple goals to feel better about themselves.

"I get it, but what I saw tonight didn't work. I'd like to see more of a similar effort from that Vegas game."

Not harsh, but true, and probably painful for Sharp. That's not easy with so many of his best friends still on the roster.

But when you protect players as a broadcaster, you don't fool the fans, and all that happens is you lose credibility.

So he obviously looks and plays the part, but Sharp said you can't just throw your stick on the ice - as it were - and expect to get away with it.

"I don't think when I took the job I understood the amount of prep work done away from camera," Sharp said. "Like anything, if you want to be good you have to prepare, and I find watching games to be the best prep.

"There were times last year when I went on and maybe not as prepared as I should have been, and maybe it doesn't come across that way, but I was sweating on inside. So, the more prep the better.

"The rule book is tough. I've gone back and looked at film of goalie interference, high sticks, pucks over the glass, offside plays.

"As a player, I thought I had it all figured out, but it's hard to stay on top of it.

"One time before a show I met with Mike Tirico - he's awesome, by the way - and he said, 'My advice is get the rule book and make sure you know these things because when you least expect it, they'll pop up on the air.'

"I was like, 'C'mon, I played 15 years in the NHL.'

"That day on the air, Zdeno Chara flipped a puck over the glass and I don't remember exactly where it cleared the glass and where it landed, but I would have assumed it was a penalty if I hadn't just looked it up.

"Great advice from a legend. Tirico says it, you do it."

Sharp has made the successful transition into retirement, at least more quickly than most, but that doesn't mean it's been easy to give up the ghost.

That only makes him the same as any professional athlete who goes into coaching, management or broadcasting. Ask any one of them and they'll tell you they'd rather be playing.

There is no substitute.

"It's funny you say that because I still think of myself as a player," Sharp admitted. "I miss playing. I still think about playing. I still dream of coming back, but I know that's not gonna happen.

"This helps fill the void. It's the closest thing I can find to playing, and when I hear, 'Ten seconds to air,' I love the feeling and the butterflies.

"It's kind of like getting on the ice as a player and hearing the anthem, or being on the bench waiting for that first shift so you can get your legs under you, and then you just relax and play and trust your teammates.

"It's similar in that way. My prep is like the morning skate. I get a workout in, have a meal and try to rest before heading to the studio.

"And my wife is happy," Sharp laughed, "because I'm gone a couple days a week, every other week. Not all the time like before, but I'm in the way for sure and she definitely likes that I have something to keep me busy."

So Sharp stays in shape, goes to work, talks about hockey and makes it look effortless, just like he did when he was busting down the left side, beating the defenseman with a drag to the backhand, leaning on his stick and snapping one high glove side before the goalie could blink.

"I may look comfortable, but it's smoke and mirrors," Sharp chuckled. "It's been a good transition. I still get to follow the league and keep in touch with guys.

"When the lights come on, I just try to be myself, say what I think. The more you try to be someone else, the tougher it is.

"So far, it's been good. Best job in the world next to playing."

Nothing will ever replicate lighting the lamp, but under the hot lights Patrick Sharp has found a second career.

From in front of the net to in front of the camera, it remains a red light that makes him tick.

Patrick Sharp on set with Liam McHugh during the Stanley Cup Final in Boston last June. Courtesy of NBC Sports
  Patrick Sharp retired from the Hawks in 2018, and has made a seamless transition to TV analyst. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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