Voice of the Saskatoon Blades Les Lazaruk reflects on his career at 2,000 game milestone

After more than 27 years in the booth, the voice of the Saskatoon Blades Western Hockey League team called his 2,000th game on Wednesday night — but even after all that time he still remembers his first appearance.

Les Lazaruk, 62, called his milestone game between the Blades and the Regina Pats at the Brandt Centre on Feb. 2, the same arena where he called his first game.

Mr. 2000. Have a night, Les Lazaruk.<br><br>GAME PREVIEW | <a href="https://t.co/xqSlszrAoE">https://t.co/xqSlszrAoE</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZDu9waBdVx">pic.twitter.com/ZDu9waBdVx</a>

Back in 1994, the 35-year-old Lazaruk had already been on the air for more than 15 years, long enough to temper his nerves on the night of his first game, but everything else went wrong.

"The radio equipment that we had inherited at CJWW from old CFQC radio here in Saskatoon decided to not work on that particular night!" he told Leisha Grebinski, host of CBC's Saskatoon Morning. 

Lazaruk missed the pregame show, the first period and only entered the airwaves midway through the second period.

His favourite memory behind the mic, he says, was calling the 5-2 Blades victory over the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, led by now NHL star Nathan MacKinnon.

The Mooseheads would go on to win the Memorial Cup, held in Saskatoon that year, but that didn't sour Lazaruk's memory of the Blades toppling a powerhouse Atlantic team.

"That's the greatest Blades victory I've ever had the opportunity to call," he said.

Darren Dupont has been calling home games alongside Lazaruk for nearing a decade. Dupont doesn't join Lazaruk on the road to call away games. 

"A lot of broadcasters, at times, might be territorial or they might be, kind of, not that open," he said.  "[Lazaruk] just gave me room