Derek:  You're a well known broadcaster throughout the entire NHL, and you have also coined perhaps one of the most famous catchphrases ever said.  What is the story behind "Holy Mackinaw"?

Joe:  Well, I used to sit on my dad's lap and we would watch the Friday Night Fights or the hockey game, and I was very young, probably seven or eight years old, and he would blurt it out every once in a while when something exciting would happen or somebody would get knocked out in a boxing match.  I never got the chance to ask him where he got it from, he passed away before I even thought of using it, but it may have been so he didn't swear in front of his seven or eight year old (laughs.) 

I didn't use it in junior hockey or the American Hockey League.  About five years into doing the Leafs games, we were in Chicago and I was calling the game with Bill Watters.  Something exciting happened, like a big save or something, and I just blurted it out.  I probably would have never used it again, but Bill just about fell off his chair laughing, so I thought if I can get that reaction from him, maybe I'll use it again. 

The thing I am most proud about the catchphrase is that I have been able to utilize it selling t-shirts and various other things in support of Leukemia research, which we have been doing for about the last fifteen years.  I try not to overuse it, and I don't plan on making sure I use it either.  I don't say I have to use one a night, or two a night.  Some nights I go without saying it at all.  It's an interesting little phrase, but I am ultimately very glad I have been able to use it in other areas.

Derek:  You have been calling Maple Leafs games for over 25 years.  In that time you've seen a lot of players come and go, both with Toronto and with the league in general.  You have gotten to see some real greats play, who has been the most exciting player you have ever gotten to see on the Maple Leafs, and in general?

Joe:  Well, NHL players you've got Gretzky, and Lemieux, Bourque and Sakic, Mats, all kinds of people like that.  The 1993 run here in Toronto that turned the team around was really built on one cornerstone and that was Cliff's trade with Calgary that brought Douggy Gilmour to the Leafs.  And although he didn't win the Hart, I don't think for two years there was a better player in the National Hockey League.  I loved watching Wendel Clark play a big man's game in a small man's body.  I also loved watching Rick Vaive score 50 goals on a team that should have been a lot better had it been handled better by management and coaching.

The greatest athletes in the world play in the NHL there is no question about that. 

Derek:  Your job is a lot of fun, but there is a lot of preparation that goes into your work, not only as it relates to the Maple Leafs but for the other twenty nine teams as well.  What is a typical game day like for you and how much work goes into getting ready to call an NHL game?

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