Golden Knights radio voice Dan D’Uva gets the call-up

Readers of this space by now might have noticed an occasional reference to “those punks from Syracuse,” especially when the topic is ice hockey, or a dreaded ice hockey opponent.

I swear I wasn’t referring to Dan D’Uva, who has been named radio play-by-play voice by the Golden Knights.

The 32-year-old has spent the past five years shoveling snow as play-by-play voice of the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch. He has never met Ogie Ogilthorpe, who skated for the Syracuse Bulldogs (those aforementioned punks) in the movie “Slapshot.” His influences include Emmy Award-winning hockey broadcaster Mike “Doc” Emrick and the great Marty Glickman, who broadcast everything back in the day.

D’Uva isn’t a punk from Syracuse, according to a guy in Las Vegas who should know.

Kirk McKnight has written interview-based books on various subjects, one of which is ice hockey. “The Voices of Hockey: Broadcasters Reflect on the Fastest Game on Earth” came out in 2016. McKnight speaks highly of Dan D’Uva, and also of Knights TV broadcaster Dave Goucher.

Goucher was hired away from the Boston Bruins. D’Uva was hired out of Onondaga County War Memorial Arena, which was what the Syracuse hockey building was called when ground was broken in 1949.

For the radio gig, “I earnestly hoped we would get someone from the minor leagues,” McKnight said. “Someone hungry and ready to put the initial footprints in the broadcast sand. I’m excited to hear Dan D’Uva do just that, especially for all those road games I won’t be attending.”

McKnight also spoke kindly of Goucher. But when youngsters fall asleep on a school night listening to a hockey game, it’s usually a radio that is under the pillow, as it was for me when Lloyd Pettit was calling shots and goals for the old Chicago Blackhawks.

A colleague found a clip on the internet of Dan D’Uva calling shots and goals during the recent Calder Cup finals, Syracuse vs. the Grand Rapids Griffins. It was of a hockey voice that will sound great under one’s pillow on a school night.

The ol’ switcheroo

— Until Wednesday, when Mets manager Terry Collins rotated second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera and third baseman Travis d’Arnaud 22 times to disguise the latter is normally a catcher and Collins didn’t want him fielding grounders, this was my favorite line from a baseball box score:

G’w’z 4-1-1-1.

G’w’z is how the surname of Dodgers infielder Billy Grabarkewitz often was abbreviated in the box scores of my youth because of space restrictions and flunking phonics.

This is how Cabrera and d’Arnaud appeared in Wednesday’s Mets-Yankees box score:

Cabrera, A, 2B, 3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B, 4-0-1-0.

d’Arnaud, T, 3B, 2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B, 3-0-0-1.

Did it work? Pretty much. It wasn’t until the ninth inning the baseball found d’Arnaud at second base, when the former and many time Las Vegas 51 caught a pop-up without incident, save for a silly grin.

Who is Kris Bryant?

Forget Rookie of the Year, MVP, a World Series ring. You really haven’t made it until your name becomes a question on “Jeopardy,” as Kris Bryant’s was on Thursday’s repeat telecast.

The answer was: “This young Cubs third baseman capped off a 2016 MVP season with two World Series home runs.” None of the college kids knew the question.

“It’s the only one I got right,” wrote former Las Vegas high school basketball coaching icon Al La Rocque in a text message.

McGregor’s fighting chance

Conor McGregor probably has about as much of a chance to defeat Floyd Mayweather as one of those five tomato cans had of beating George Foreman at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1975, when Big George beat five guys on one night in a similar publicity charade arranged by Don King.

But I am hedging my bet (a little) after a California woman hit a $1.6 million jackpot playing slots at McCarran International Airport on Tuesday.

A McCarran slot machine paying off $1.6 million? On a $5 bet?

Now I truly believe that anything is possible.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.