Eddie Olczyk will return to the broadcast booth Wednesday for the Chicago Blackhawks game against the St. Louis Blues on NBC Sports Network’s “Rivalry Night,” reports Kevin Allen of USA Today.
The news comes six weeks after the 50-year-old Olczyk began a 24-week chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer.
Olczyk will also call the Blackhawks’ home game Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers alongside his longtime broadcast partner Pat Foley. The game will be televised on WGN.
However, Olczyk won’t be returning to the broadcast booth full time due to his chemotherapy regimen.
“We have some dates that we have highlighted and hopefully I will be strong enough to do the job,” Olczyk told USA Today. “If I am not feeling good, I just have to be honest with everyone and tell them I can’t do it.”
During the Blackhawks’ second game of the season against Columbus, Olczyk was in attendance and joined Foley in the broadcast booth during an intermission. Olczyk was greeted with a standing ovation by the United Center crowd when shown on the video board.
Olczyk played 1,031 NHL games for six teams, including Chicago, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins, from 1984 to 2000. He scored 342 goals and 794 points.
After coaching the Penguins during the 2003-04 and 2005-06 seasons, Olczyk moved to the broadcast booth as an analyst for NBC Sports’ and also Blackhawks games on the previously named Comcast Sports Net Chicago.