I did my Chicago Tribune column on Blackhawks play-by-play voice John Wiedeman trying to lay low Thursday after calling back-to-back marathons. Please access via my Twitter feed.

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From the post:

Wiedeman’s vocal cords have gotten an extraordinary workout in recent days. Wednesday on WGN-AM 720, he and analyst Troy Murray called more than 51/2 periods in the Hawks’ 4-3 victory over the Bruins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. That came on the heels of the Hawks’ clincher over the Kings in double overtime Saturday in the Western Conference finals.

All told, Wiedeman had a two-game span in which he described action for more than 10 periods of hockey. It’s an unprecedented stretch for a Hawks announcer, especially given the magnitude of these games.

“If I got paid by the word, I wouldn’t have to buy a lottery ticket,” Wiedeman joked.

Seriously, Wiedeman insists he wasn’t fazed by the long nights behind the microphone.

“I go into every game thinking of scenarios where it could end up this way (multiple overtimes),” he said. “You have to prepare for that even though it won’t happen 95 percent of the time. However, for that 5 percent, you have to be ready to go.”