Behind that insane Boston University college hockey goal call

The game between the women’s hockey teams from Minnesota and Boston University was in overtime, with the latter team cycling the puck in the attacking zone. A quick pass found Natalie Flynn in front of the goal. With a flick of the stick, the game was over.

The crowd went wild.

Max Wolpoff went insane.

“NATALIE FLYNN! NATALIE FLYNN! NATALIE FLYNN!!!” he bellowed on the BU radio call of the game.

“GOOD MORNING, GOOD AFTERNOON AND GOOD NIGHT, MINNESOTA!” he screeched, his voice reaching helium-fueled levels.

The goal call was discovered by Barstool Sports on Monday, and soon it went viral, with hockey fans marveling at this moment of pure enthusiasm.

For Wolpoff, it was just another night in the booth – sorta.

“So, yes, this is normal for my goal calls. I see the puck hit the twine and I just start screaming. If anyone went back and heard any of the other five BU goals, they’d hear the same primal scream for all of them,” he told Yahoo Sports on Monday.

“With all that, I did not expect this particular goal. Flynn had one goal in her career heading into that game (58-game drought), and had one earlier in the game. Her line with Natasza Tarnowski and Deziray De Sousa is a defense-based line. I was shocked they were put out for an offensive zone draw. And in overtime.”

He said he cut that particular goal for his clips page on Soundcloud because he had promised Flynn and her parents he’d do so. The team’s equipment manager, Dave Souza, also wanted it, as did his editor Dan Shulman. Little did he know he was about to be “discovered,” as it were.

“I had no clue this was coming, and I do not know how Barstool got a hold of it,” he said of the Instagram clip that’s pushing 600,000 views. “I was in journalism class taking an exam while all this happened. My phone was on silent. When I opened it, I had 16 Twitter notifications, seven texts, a missed call, and a few Facebook posts about it.”

If you listen closely, there are two rather distinct influences on Wolpoff evident from that clip. The first is a bit of wrestling announcer flourish, specifically a voice from the late great ECW. “I had a wrestling phase when I was younger and absolutely loved Joey Styles. The way he would compliment the extreme action with his extreme commentary just sounded right,” said Wolpoff.

Then there was the catchphrase. The ‘good morning, good afternoon, and good night Minnesota” is my nod to John Walton, the Washington Capitals radio voice. I asked him in a Reddit AMA last year if that was fine, and he said it was fine,” said Wolpoff, who is also a writer for Capitals Outsider.

Some play-by-play announcers opt for poetry in big moments. Others let the crowd do the heavy lifting. But sometimes, you just need that frothing, screaming human ball of emotions to perfectly capture one.

“Two days after the game, my throat still hurts,” said Wolpoff.

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.