by Zachary Lane || AHL On The Beat Archive
Every hockey player knows that someday his professional on-ice career will come to an end. Many of today’s professional hockey players played college hockey and graduated with degrees that they can fall back on when their playing career ends. Manchester Monarchs center Gabe Gauthier is no exception.
He graduated from the University of Denver with a communications degree in May of 2006. What makes Gauthier an exception post-graduation is that he continues to build his resume toward a career in sports broadcasting or color commentary.
Gauthier interned with a local AM radio talk show, “The Fan,” while winning back-to-back national championships with the Pioneers in 2004 and 2005. It was in class and as an intern that he realized what his future could possibly hold.
In college, Gauthier had to learn to speak in front of other people. His communications classes taught him how to get out of his comfort zone and talk about almost anything. When you listen to Gauthier on the radio, it’s hard to believe he ever had a problem talking in front of people.
“With college you have a lot of interaction, hanging out in the dorms or outside of the classroom. College is a great experience because you are around people every day. You learn what they want to know about the game or what questions they may have.”
The sports talk show he was an intern for introduced the hockey star to a different side of the game. He had to learn how to listen to the fans about concerns and answer questions they had about the sport of hockey.
“I started off by answering phones and doing all the dirty work and eventually got on the air and started talking about (Colorado) Avalanche playoff hockey and Denver hockey,” Gauthier said.
The Monarchs star talks about his post-hockey playing career that he hopes becomes a reality.
“I want to give insight to fans that are new to hockey or want to learn more about it and give a more colorful insight to the game.”
Gauthier currently chats with Rock 101’s Greg and The Morning Buzz every Thursday morning about Monarchs hockey, and goes in-studio with Charlie Sherman on WGIR 610 AM every Friday morning. He brings a teammate along with him to the studio on Friday mornings and they talk to Charlie and fans for about 40 minutes with subjects like what to name the show, inside information about the Monarchs and personal stories from Gauthier and his fellow teammates.
Working with “The Fan” in Colorado and The Morning Buzz and Charlie Sherman here in Manchester have given Gauthier connections with people that will never be lost or forgotten.
“By knowing people that are successful and building relationships with people in the business that have made a name for themselves is huge for me,” Gauthier said. “You don’t want to lose contact with people that have helped you out.”
Gauthier has even taken into consideration the possibility of joining his father in the counseling field. Gerald Gauthier, Gabe’s father, is a marriage counselor in California. Sports counseling for parents with child athletes is another field the Denver graduate would like to enter, perhaps even on the radio.
“Some parents become too involved in their children playing sports and no longer let them be kids,” explained Gauthier. “They put too much pressure on their children. I want to help those families watch their children grow as both athletes and as kids.”
The combination of Gabe and his father having their own radio show has even crossed his mind.
“I thought eventually we could go into business together and do a combined radio counseling show. He could be counseling marriages and I would do the sports with parents that call and maybe help with relationships if need be,” Gauthier joked.
One day, Gabe Gauthier the hockey player could be Gabe Gauthier the color commentator of a hockey game or the family counselor with his father. For now, it’s best that we watch the budding radio personality tear up the ice and continue his point-scoring dominance with the Manchester Monarchs.
