The memories are flushing back now, aren’t they? Visceral, physical, tingling everywhere.

Here’s the thing about both those play-by-play calls, the first one by John Shorthouse, the latter by Jim Robson: Both were called on the radio.

And both were called from the very building they were played in, a first-draft of history account, delivered by two true masters of the art form.

Shorthouse’s call was underlined by the energy of the Rogers Arena crowd.

Robson’s, though, wasn’t. He was calling the game at the Saddledome in Calgary. It’s Tom Larscheid’s interjected “YES!” that gave Robson an underline, the iconic duo delivering an energy and excitement about the moment to fans thousands of kilometres away, who would have been hooting and hollering on their own, but let a sense of unity by the call.

But if there’s going to be a dramatic moment in a road game during these coming playoffs, it’s not going to quite be the same for those listening to the radio call.

That’s not because Brendan Batchelor is dour or morose — Batchelor is just the opposite, just look at why his TikTok clips have proven so popular. It’s because he’s going to be calling all the action off a monitor at a studio in Mount Pleasant, not in person.

And that’s a decision that Rogers Sports + Media is sticking to. The Sportsnet 650 radio call hasn’t been at a road game since before the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020.

Just about every broadcast was parked at home then. Four years later, most crews are back travelling. In these current playoffs, every crew is travelling, except one: the Canucks team.

Robson calls the situation a real shame.

“I think it’s so unfair. There are things that happen in the game that you don’t see on screen, like a fight developing in the corner or what have you,” Robson said Thursday. “It’s unfair to Brendan. He does a very good job.”

Being there in person means you are automatically raising the quality of your call because of that ability to see what’s going on outside the confines of the TV picture that you’re looking at when you’re calling from a studio.

Robson, who called Canucks games on radio and TV from 1970 until 1999, was well known for greeting fans during every game, especially the fans who were blind, who were stuck at home, who couldn’t afford to get to games. He knew the radio caller’s job was especially important: The listener needed a vibrant picture.