Mike Emrick

Three New York Ranger moments make Mike Emrick’s top ten all-time calls

by
New York Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist

Mike “Doc” Emrick has been a part of the history of the New York Rangers, ranging from calling over 100 games for them on the radio to being part of some of the Blueshirts great moments as a broadcaster for NBC sports.

As most now know, Emrick announced his retirement last Monday, ending a career where he spent the past four decades as a beloved part of the hockey community. Emrick has been described as a rapid-fire storyteller known to viewers for his countless words to describe the puck moving around a rink and to friends and colleagues for his warmth and personal attention to the sport and the people in it.

Sportsnet of Canada recently released a video that ranks Emrick’s ten best calls of all-time. Three Rangers games made this list, but unfortunately, two of them are not exactly fond memories.

#10 Derek Stepan’s overtime winner

In one of the most memorable moments of recent Blueshirt history, Derek Stepan scored this winner 11:24 into overtime, a rebound from a Dan Girardi shot from the point. The goal sent MSG into pandamonium and the Rangers to their second conference final in as many years.

#9 – Henrique scores overtime winner against the Rangers

A great call by Emrick but a tough one to swallow as this loss came against their rivals, the New Jersey Devils. Adam Henrique sealed the game 6 overtime victory by putting in a loose puck that Ilya Kovalchuk jammed through Henrik Lundqvist and got away from Brad Richards. This allowed the Devils to proceed to the Stanley Cup finals.

#2 Martinez goal gives the L.A. Kings the Stanley Cup over the Rangers

It may have been ranked number two but maybe one of the more difficult ones for Rangers fans to watch.

Alec Martinez scored 14:43 into the second overtime, leading the Los Angeles Kings to the 2014 Stanley Cup for the second time in three years with a 3-2 victory over the Rangers in Game 5.

What truly makes this difficult, is seeing Blueshirt legendary goalie lying face down on the ice for a prolonged period of time. Although not many knew this at the time, this was the last best chance for the King to win a Stanley Cup as a member of the Ranger’s organization.

For many, this stings even more now that Henrik is a member of the Washington Capitals.

Regardless of some of the less than wonderful Rangers memories in his top ten calls, the gentleman referred to as “Doc” for his doctorate in communications, spent the past 15 years as the voice of the NHL for NBC Sports. The 74-year- old called 22 Stanley Cup Finals and six Olympics since working his way up from the minors in the 1970s.

His class was probably best summed up in an interview that appeared on Sportsnet in which he stated:

“As time passed, I became more comfortable with myself and the fact that I was flawed and there was no way I was ever going to do a perfect game, and probably the mistake was to try to do it that way,” Emrick said. “I just enjoyed the fact that I was given a free seat, a good seat, and I got to work with some of the best athletes in the world, and then twice a month I got something in the mail, and it was really good.”

 

Former New York Rangers’ radio voice, NHL announcing legend, “Doc” Emrick retires

by

Mike “Doc” Emrick is leaving the broadcast booth after a play-by-play career that dates back to 1973, Emrick and NBC Sports announced in a shared statement Monday. In addition to his many duties calling NHL teams for a variety of teams and networks, Emrick called more than 100 New York Rangers games on WNBC/WFAN Radio from 1983-88.

Emrick also served as the New Jersey Devils first voice, arriving for the 1982–83 NHL season, and stayed there until 1986. In 1993, he returned to the Devils to replace Gary Thorne and continued to be the Devils’ voice until July 2011.  He announced the Devils’ 1995 Stanley Cup victory alongside color commentator and current Ranger’s president John Davidson for the national United States broadcast on Fox.

“I hope I can handle retirement OK, especially since I’ve never done it before,” Emrick told the New York Post. “But I’ve just been extremely lucky for 50 years. And NBC has been so good to me, especially since the pandemic when I was allowed to work from home in a studio NBC created.

“Now, into my golden years, this just seemed to be the time that was right.”

Emrick joined NBC Sports on a full-time basis in 2011, after serving as the television voice of the New Jersey Devils for the previous 18 seasons (21 overall), and is the lead play-by-play voice for NBC Sports’ NHL coverage. Emrick joined NBC Sports’ NHL coverage in the 2005-06 season, is currently in his 47th year covering professional hockey, including nearly 40 in the NHL, and has called more than 3,750 hockey games in his broadcast career.

Emrick has called some of the most important and most-watched games in the modern era of hockey, including:

-the most-watched NHL game on record (Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final);
-the most-watched Stanley Cup Final on record (2013 Blackhawks-Bruins)
-the most-watched hockey game in the last 40 years (2010 Vancouver Olympics Men’s Gold Medal Final – the USA vs. Canada)
-the most-watched NHL regular-season game on record (2011 NHL Winter Classic)

On December 12, 2011, Emrick was one of five individuals, and the first-ever broadcaster, inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Emrick has also won a record eight Emmy Awards for “Outstanding Sports Personality, Play-by-Play,” including an unprecedented seven consecutive Emmys in the category from 2014-2020 and seven New York region Emmy Awards for “on-camera achievement.