Broadcast Team
Jason Shaver - Play-by-Play Announcer
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Jason Shaver enters his second season as the voice of the Wolves after being named the team's play-by-play announcer in August, 2008. The 35-year-old Shaver also served as the director of broadcasting for the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros during the 2007-08 season and worked as the director of corporate sales and broadcasting for the AHL's Iowa Stars during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, which includes calling the 2007 West Division Final series between the Wolves and Stars.
The Apple Valley. Minn., native, is the third generation of hockey broadcasters in the Shaver family: father Wally Shaver is the current voice of the University of Minnesota hockey team, while his grandfather, Al Shaver, a 1993 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, was the radio voice of the Minnesota North Stars for 26 seasons. Prior to his AHL career, Shaver spent two seasons as the play-by-play announcer for the ECHL's Texas Wildcatters. The former college hockey player began his broadcasting career with stints as the radio announcer for the United States Hockey League's Waterloo Black Hawks and Northwoods Baseball League’s Waterloo Bucks.
Shaver and his wife Karin are in the process of relocating to Chicago. |
Billy Gardner - Color Analyst
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Bill Gardner begins his sixth year as the Wolves color analyst this season.
Gardner spent six years as a color analyst in the National Hockey League, including four years alongside Pat Foley with the Chicago Blackhawks from 1998 to 2002. The Toronto native returned to the Blackhawks, where he played parts of eight seasons, after a two-year stint as the TV color analyst with the Carolina Hurricanes (1997-98) and the Hartford Whalers (1996-97).
Gardner began his broadcasting career as a studio analyst for the Blackhawks on SportsChannel Chicago from 1993-1996. A nine-year NHL veteran, Gardner was drafted 49th overall by the Blackhawks in 1979. The former center notched 70 goals and 175 points in six seasons with the Blackhawks - which includes an NHL-career-high 51 points in 1984-85 - before being traded to Hartford in 1985-86. The Blackhawks re-signed Gardner as a free agent in 1987, and he played in Chicago's organization for the next two seasons before retiring in 1989. Overall, he registered 73 goals and 188 points in 380 NHL games. Gardner also played two seasons in the American Hockey League with the New Brunswick Hawks (1980-81) and Binghamton Whalers (1986-87), posting 36 goals and 109 points in 98 games.
The 47-year-old Gardner resides in the Western Suburbs with his wife Kathy, daughters Paige and Kayleigh, and son Liam. |
