Owen Newkirk is out as Phantoms broadcaster

Color me mystified. The Phantoms will not be bringing back last year's radio voice, Owen Newkirk.

I just saw that news in this article on the Post-Star.

First of all, I can't for the life of me imagine why they'd want to replace a person who is that good at what he does. Second, why did they wait until approximately three seconds before the AHL schedule would be released? Why didn't they do this early enough in the offseason to allow for a proper search, for both the organization and for him, to take place before the first puck is dropped?

I was hoping that once a smaller concern than Comcast owned and operated the team, that they'd put more of a focus on the Phantoms as a centerpiece of their organization. Hence, decisionmaking like this is as surprising as it is disappointing.