Beneath the Surface is a weekly program aired on WTOP 10 and WNYO Fridays at 8 p.m. The WTOP 10 and WNYO interview was done by Michael Gross.

Since 2016, Dan Kapuscinski has been the electrifying voice behind every single goal scored by the Oswego State men’s hockey team. This upcoming season was going to be Kapuscinski’s fifth season as public address announcer for the team. With the cancellation of the season, he will now have to wait until 2021 to announce another penalty or ignite the student section with another Laker goal announcement. 

Kapuscinski is no stranger to Oswego State hockey, having graduated from Oswego High School. He was a member of OHS’s broadcasting club, WBUC. This club granted him his first licks of announcing, as he announced high school hockey games. His fandom for Oswego State hockey started around then as well. 

“I always was going to Oswego State, my uncle Joe and father Mike had been attending Oswego State games since the 1970s,” Kapuscinski said. “So, it’s something that has always kind of been in our blood.” 

His fond memories of attending games with his family soon expanded to memories of following the team extensively with his friends from 2001 to 2004 because of the team’s success. 2004, right before he was to depart to St. John Fisher College. These years marked a memorable time in Oswego State hockey, as his group of friends witnessed the team finish as runner-ups in the 2003 Div. III NCAA tournament. He also took in almost every game of head coach Ed Gosek’s first season in charge of the program.

The 2003 team charged by 15 wins in front of the home faithful in Romney Field House captured the eye of Kapuscinski, so much so that he and friends followed the team to Norwich, Vermont for the NCAA Frozen Four. A heartbreaking 2-1 defeat occurred to Norwich University, but a trip of a lifetime is remembered. 

“We loaded up a Monte Carlo, me and my buddies,” Kapuscinski said. “It’s one of those things where you are a senior in high school or some of my buddies were freshmen in college. Our parents were trusting us to go out on these trips on our own. We managed to survive and not cause too much trouble. We went out to the games and had a great time.” 

After graduating from St. John Fisher College in 2007 with a degree in communications, Kapuscinski went on to work for the World Racing Group, an organizer of races around the country based in Concord, North Carolina. He handled public relations and digital media until 2012 when he moved back to Oswego. His first job back was as Public Relations Director at Oswego Speedway. 

Kapuscinski has close ties with Oswego Speedway. His parents owned race cars before he was even born, and the first time he went to the track he was only three months old.His career at Oswego Speedway may have started when he was 16 years old, but his racing career started at the age of five, racing go-karts and smaller model cars growing up. He feels hockey and racing in the small city of Oswego go hand-in-hand. 

“In Oswego, the ties between hockey and auto racing are through and through,” Kapuscinski said. “Obviously Ed [Gosek’s] brother Joe competed in the Indy 500 as a champion right here at Oswego Speedway. Also, people who sit in the seats at Oswego State hockey games are race fans as well. I’ve said this before, there are two seasons in this town, racing and hockey, and I’ve had the privilege of being a part of both of them.” 

Bill Foley held the same microphone position sitting above Oswego State men’s hockey games for 19 years before Kapuscinski took the position. Kapuscinski learned a lot from Foley and the longtime public address announcer even hand picked him as his replacement. 

“My days as a public address announcer in hockey are deeply rooted in that of Bill Foley, I listened to him for a lot of years,” Kapuscinski said.

He added that Foley taught him a lot about pacing and phrasing, when to say something or not. The two voices have rattled over Oswego State hockey for a combined 24 years. The magic behind their voices, according to Kapuscinski, came from their fandom of the team. 

“Being as lively and energetic as you can be and doing that obviously comes back to being a fan,” Kapuscinski said. “When I’m in that booth watching Oswego State hockey play, I’m right there with everybody else in the grandstands, and when I turn that microphone on, I’m excited as everybody else nine times out of 10.”

Kapuscinski has found happiness in the life he has carved out for himself in the city of Oswego. He holds other positions outside of Oswego State hockey, each of which allows him to take advantage of his learned expertise in sports, communication and marketing. 

“A lot of people along the way when I told them I wanted to be in journalism, said, ‘Well you aren’t going to make a whole lot of money doing that,’” Kapuscinski said. “Well, I don’t need to make a whole lot of money to be a happy person. I enjoy what I do, I enjoy talking sports, I enjoy marketing and I’m 35 years old now and I can’t wait for the next game.”

Graphic by Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian