Mike "Doc" Emrick | |
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Born | La Fontaine, Indiana, U.S. | August 1, 1946
Alma mater | Manchester University Miami University Bowling Green State University |
Years active | 1973–2020 |
Sports commentary career | |
Genre | Play-by-play |
Sport(s) | Ice hockey, American football, baseball |
Michael "Doc" Emrick (born August 1, 1946) is an American former network television play-by-play sportscaster and commentator noted mostly for his work in ice hockey. He was the lead announcer for National Hockey League national telecasts on both NBC and NBCSN. Among the many awards Emrick has received is the NHL's Lester Patrick Award in 2004, making him the first of only six to have received the award for media work, and the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008. [1] He has also won nine national Emmy Awards for excellence in sports broadcasting, the only hockey broadcaster to be honored with even one. On December 12, 2011, Emrick became the first member of the media to be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. [2] In 2017, Sports Illustrated listed Emrick as the sportscaster of the year. [3]
Emrick had his sights set on being a baseball announcer before attending his first hockey game on December 10, 1960, at Fort Wayne's Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, when the Fort Wayne Komets hosted the Muskegon Zephyrs. He soon began to call Komets games into a tape recorder, and was mentored by longtime broadcaster Bob Chase. [4] Emrick graduated from Southwood Junior-Senior High School in Wabash, Indiana, in 1964. He earned a B.Sc. in speech from Manchester University in 1968 and a M.A. in radio/television from Miami University in 1969. He then received a Ph.D. in communications (radio/television/film) from Bowling Green State University in 1976, hence his nickname, "Doc".
Emrick taught speech and broadcasting at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1971 and got his first experience of the NHL covering the Pittsburgh Penguins as an unpaid correspondent for The Beaver County Times newspaper.
Emrick began sportscasting professionally in 1973 when he was hired by Port Huron Flags' GM Morris Snider to do play-by-play on WHLS radio and public relations for the IHL team. In 1977, he took on the same two roles with the first year AHL Maine Mariners for three seasons (broadcasting that club's Calder Cup championships in both 1978 and 1979). Emrick then served as the New Jersey Devils' first voice after moving to the state, arriving for the 1982–83 NHL season, and stayed there until 1986.
Emrick wore several hats in the 1980s working for the Philadelphia Flyers. He was a spot announcer for Flyers home broadcasts from 1983 to 1986, then was an in-studio analyst between 1986-88 when not covering national games. Emrick was promoted to the lead play-by-play slot for both local TV and cable for the team in 1988, remaining with the Flyers until the end of the 1992–93 season. He was paired with former NHLer and national hockey broadcaster Bill Clement for four years.
In 1993, he returned to the Devils to replace Gary Thorne and continued to be the Devils' voice until July 2011. [5] He announced the Devils' 1995 Stanley Cup victory alongside color commentator John Davidson for the national United States broadcast on Fox.
Emrick has also done play-by-play for CBS, NBC (and its cable network subsidiary NBC Sports Network, formerly OLN and Versus), ABC, TNT, ESPN, Fox, CSTV, SportsChannel America, SportsChannel Philadelphia, PRISM, Fox Sports Net, and others.
He was the lead play-by-play announcer for The NHL on ESPN from 1986 to 1988 alongside lead color commentator Bill Clement. [6] His first national over-the-air television work came in 1992 doing ice hockey at the XVI Winter Olympic Games at Albertville, France, for CBS. Emrick became the lead play-by-play announcer for the NHL on Fox , calling regular-season games and Stanley Cup Finals from 1995 to 1999. After Fox relinquished the NHL broadcast rights to ABC, he became a regional announcer for NHL on ABC from 2000 to 2004. He only called select playoff games at the time, but he did file reports for ABC Sports and ESPN's Stanley Cup Finals coverage.
Before the 2005–06 NHL season, he was named the lead play-by-play announcer for the NHL on Versus (previously The NHL on OLN) and the NHL on NBC , and since 2008, has served as an overall host of the telecast. He called the top Conference Final, and the entire Stanley Cup Finals for both networks. He has called games in 22 Stanley Cup Finals on TV (for NBC, ESPN, Fox, Versus and OLN), more than any other American broadcaster. [7] [8] He has also called 14 NHL All-Star Games for NBC, Fox, OLN, VERSUS, and ESPN. [8] Therefore, he is considered a hockey wizard. [9]
Emrick called the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for the Prime Network and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey for ESPN.
Emrick has worked five Olympic Games for NBC. He has also worked during the Olympics, twice for CBS and once for TNT. For NBC, he called water polo in the 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics, and men's and women's ice hockey at the 2006, 2010 and the 2014 Winter Olympics alongside Eddie Olczyk and "Inside-the-Glass" reporter Pierre McGuire. [10] [11]
With CBS, he called some National Football League and men's NCAA basketball tournament games. One notable assignment for Emrick was the first game for Brett Favre as a member of the Green Bay Packers, including the first pass Favre ever threw as a Packer, which ended up being to himself. Emrick also called the National Lacrosse League All-Star Game and Championship Game while at NBC.
On July 21, 2011, Emrick announced that he was leaving the New Jersey Devils to work exclusively for NBC Sports. [12] [13] Starting in the 2011–12 season, Steve Cangialosi replaced him for play-by-play duties for the Devils. [14]
On May 5, 2014, EA Sports announced that Emrick would provide play-by-play commentary for NHL 15 along color commentator Eddie Olczyk and "Inside-the-Glass" reporter Ray Ferraro. [15] [16] [17] The trio provided commentary for five years until James Cybulski replaced him in NHL 20 . [18] From 2018 to 2020, "Inside-the-Glass" reporter Brian Boucher joined the lead duo for national games. [19] [20]
On October 19, 2020, following a playoff run calling hockey games remotely from his home in Michigan due to restrictions imposed by the national outbreak of coronavirus disease, Emrick announced his retirement from broadcasting. [21] At the time of his retirement, Emrick released a video essay in which he declared:
Things change over 50 years, but much of what I love is unchanged from then to now and into the years ahead. I still get chills seeing the Stanley Cup. I especially love when the horn sounds, and one team has won and another team hasn't, all hostility can dissolve into the timeless great display of sportsmanship – the handshake line.... I leave you with sincere thanks. [21]
Kenny Albert succeeded Emrick for what would ultimately become NBC's final season broadcasting the NHL before the American national television rights moved over to ABC/ESPN and Turner Sports. [22] On February 21, NBC Sports presented a documentary about him. [23] [24] NBC's final NHL telecast was Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals on July 7. Following the end of the subsequent postgame coverage on NBCSN, the network aired a 13-minute video montage, narrated by Emrick (who had taken the role as a contributor in the final NHL on NBC season), discussing various innovations that NBC had brought to their NHL coverage over the past 15 seasons as well as highlights and human interest stories that had occurred along the way as well. At the end of the video, Emrick signed off for NBC's coverage with the following:
Handshake lines close off any Stanley Cup year. We have shown you 16 of these, and 16 teams clustered together for one last picture. Teams, exhausted but victorious. Teams. Perhaps in your own life you have been on a team of people for some time, and then seen it come to an end. If so, you will understand how it is with us as we close our time with the NHL on NBC . One of God's greatest gifts is that of memory. One of mankind's greatest gifts is video. As we have watched this last video with you and now carry away our own memories, we are sad for ourselves, but grateful for your loyalty to this wonderful sport. And also grateful as we say to for this final time – "thank you". Thank you for watching the Stanley Cup playoffs on NBC.
As previously mentioned, Emrick called a handful of NFL games for CBS in 1992 and 1993. Emrick was paired on commentary with Matt Millen in 1992 and Hank Stram in 1993 and Week 5 of the 1992 season. Notably, Emrick was the announcer for Brett Favre's first NFL start in 1992 (Packers/Buccaneers), wherein Favre's first completed pass was deflected to himself. [7] [25]
Year | Week | Teams |
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1992 | Week 1 | Vikings/Packers |
Week 2 | Packers/Buccaneers | |
Week 5 | Saints/Lions | |
Week 10 | Vikings/Buccaneers | |
1993 | Week 1 | Vikings/Raiders |
Week 2 | Saints/Falcons | |
Week 3 | Buccaneers/Packers |
The Devils' broadcasting pair of Emrick and color commentator Glenn "Chico" Resch were noted for their ability to break the tension of a hockey game through various types of humor, many times improvised and unintentional. For example, in a game during the 2008–09 NHL season, Resch was discussing a rebound that came off Devils netminder Scott Clemmensen:
Resch: "...and Scotty [Clemmensen] was tellin' me this morning that he likes his new pads like that...the puck should rebound almost like a quarter off a balloon, Doc.
Emrick: ...But you don't spend too much free time throwing quarters at balloons, Mr. Resch, do you?
Other recurring comedic bits arise during games. After Emrick or Resch analyzes the play of a goaltender, if Emrick feels that Resch is sympathizing towards the goalie due to his former play at the same position, Emrick will add a sarcastic comment which talks about the glory of goaltending and how they are "by far" the most important players in the game. Another comedic bit that is shared between Emrick and Resch is when Emrick will ask Resch where a particular town or city in Canada is located when they talk about a player's home town. In the event of an odd play or bounce of the puck, Emrick has cited "the unseen hand", as the culprit, which always gets a laugh from Resch. However, Emrick's most famous and unique saying is "my goodness" usually being said when there is a remarkable save by a goaltender or when there is a sequence of plays having high amounts of "energy" on the ice.
Emrick's knowledge of the game of hockey has been deemed "encyclopedic", [34] and he is known for his eloquent vocabulary. He employs an unusual vocabulary to describe play-by-play action, referring to a goaltender's equipment as "paraphernalia", for instance. Often, during line changes or zone clearings, Emrick will discuss interesting facts about a player's personal life, hockey records, or contributions to sports. In addition, sportswriter Peter King has praised Emrick by saying "Doc Emrick is one hell of a hockey announcer. If hockey were big in this country, he'd be what Jack Buck used to be."
Emrick is a founding member, and still president, of the NHL Pronunciation Guide, which is used as a guide for all NHL broadcasters for some of hockey's most difficult names. [35] [36] He is Vice President of the NHL Broadcaster's Association, and he is also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee. Emrick also hosted a weekly podcast on iTunes called "Emrick's Angle" which offers his current thoughts on the NHL.
Emrick is an avid Pittsburgh Pirates fan. [37] He grew up listening to Bob Prince on KDKA Radio. He attended a game in which Garrett Jones became the first Pirates player to hit a home run into the Allegheny River on the fly. [38] On June 11, 2014, he was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered by Melissa Block discussing his career and style. [39] In 2016, Emrick attended Pirates spring training in Bradenton, Florida and called a few innings of one game on television and radio with Pirates broadcasters Greg Brown and John Wehner. On July 8, 2016, Emrick called his first MLB regular-season game at PNC Park, when the Pirates hosted the Chicago Cubs for MLB Network. The Pirates won the game, 8–4, with Emrick calling some of the action with Bob Costas. [40]
When his NBC broadcast schedule permitted, Emrick travelled to Hershey, Pennsylvania, each year to announce the Hershey Bears' Hall of Fame inductees. [41] He has also voiced the narration for the American Hockey League Hall of Fame's induction videos, [42] and returned to Hershey in 2011 to serve as TV play-by-play voice for the AHL All-Star Game. [43]
Emrick's autobiography Off Mike: How a Kid from Basketball-Crazy Indiana Became America's NHL Voice was released the day after his retirement announcement in October 2020. [44]
Doc lives in St. Clair, Michigan with his wife Joyce. They have no children, but they spend time with their dogs and six horses. Emrick is a Christian. [45]
Emrick is a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991. [46] [47]
Edward Walter Olczyk Jr. is an American former center in the National Hockey League for 16 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won the Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1994. Olczyk was also the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from June 2003 to December 2005.
Kenneth Gary Albert is an American sportscaster, the son of NBA sportscaster Marv Albert and nephew of sportscasters Al Albert and Steve Albert. He is the only sportscaster who currently does play-by-play for all four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
William H. Clement is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who became an author, speaker, actor, entrepreneur, and hockey broadcaster.
Gary Francis Thorne is an American sportscaster. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for Baltimore Orioles games on MASN from 2007 to 2020. He has also worked for ESPN and ABC, including National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, college football, and the Frozen Four hockey tournament. He also works for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is the narrator for the WrestleMania Rewind program on its WWE Network streaming video service.
Glenn Allan "Chico" Resch is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey goaltender and television sportscaster. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1973 to 1987, and won a Stanley Cup with the New York Islanders in 1979–80. He has served as the color commentator for telecasts of New Jersey Devils games on MSG Network and MSG Plus.
John Arthur Davidson is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey executive and former player, who currently serves as a senior advisor and alternate governor for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a goaltender, he played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers, and helped the Rangers reach the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals. Davidson also briefly served as Columbus' interim general manager during the 2023–24 season.
Regis Pierre McGuire is an American-Canadian ice hockey executive who currently works for Sportsnet and last served as senior vice-president of player development for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously worked as a television analyst for NHL on NBC broadcasts in the United States and on The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada. McGuire has also been a player, coach and scout.
The NHL on NBC was an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by NBC Sports, and televised on NBC properties, including MSNBC, CNBC, Golf Channel, USA Network and NBCSN in the United States.
From 2006 to 2008, NBC's studio show was originally broadcast out of the rink at New York's Rockefeller Center, at the foot of NBC's offices during January and February. This allowed the on-air talent, including commentators for NHL on NBC, and their guests to demonstrate plays and hockey skills. From April onwards, and during inclement weather, the studio show moved to Studio 8G inside the GE Building, where NBC produces its Football Night in America program. For the Stanley Cup Finals, the show was usually broadcast on location.
Robert Ian "Chief" Taylor is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 45 games in the National Hockey League with the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins between 1972 and 1976. He was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers teams that won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975.
David Strader was an American sportscaster, primarily known for his play-by-play commentary of ice hockey. During his career, he worked on telecasts for the Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes and Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He also worked nationally in the United States for ESPN, ABC, Versus, NBC, and NBCSN.
Allison Jaime "A. J." Mleczko Griswold is an American ice hockey player and analyst. She won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Chris Cuthbert is a Canadian sportscaster. He currently serves as the lead play-by-play commentator with CBC Sports/Sportsnet for Hockey Night in Canada, and calls most national and regional games for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the network. Formerly, he worked for TSN, NBC, and CBC Sports in a multitude of roles. He and Glen Suitor were the lead broadcast team for the CFL on TSN from 2008 to 2019 before Cuthbert gave that lead play-by-play role to Rod Smith.
The National Hockey League has never fared as well on American television in comparison to the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, or the National Football League, although that has begun to change, with NBC's broadcasts of the final games of the 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013 Stanley Cup Finals scoring some of the best ratings ever enjoyed by the sport on American television.
Steven Donato Cangialosi is a television sports broadcaster who serves as play-by-play announcer for Major League Soccer matches on Apple TV+. He was previously the New York Red Bulls' announcer on the MSG Network, and also has announced for soccer matches for ESPN.
NBC Sports's deal with the National Hockey League for U.S. television rights ran through the 2020–21 season, and was replaced in 2021–22 by seven-year agreements with ESPN and TNT to split coverage.