Who are your favorite announcers, analysts and hockey writers?

Question

Gotta admit that at 1st I thought Mike Emrich was a dork but he's grown on me. He's like a throwback to old Radio announcers like Foster Hewitt in hockey and Red Barber in the NHL[who?:)]. The game just goes through his eyes and instantly comes flowing right back out through his voice. I miss Gary Thorn, as well.

John Davidson was a pretty good analyst and Pierre McGuire is basically the hockey version of Dick Vitale but I'd like to see Denis Potvin get some national airtime. He calls it like he sees it, especially the "skinny"(his word) calls on incidental contact. Panger and Chicken Parm are good, too.

As a writer, John Buccigross is getting a little tooo sappy for me. Hockey doesn't need all the pop metaphors to matter. It has it's own culture, thank you kindly. I used to love reading "Ugly" George Johnson's columns on TSN but he is only on ESPN"S page once in a while, now, and, since I live nowhere near Calgary, I can't catch his local stuff.

Don't know why I said in the NHL for Red Barber when I meant MLB

Answer 1

I'm biased, but Mike Lange of the Penguins is the best i have heard.

buy sam a drink and get his dog one too!
oh, he beat him like a rented mule!
lets go hunt moose on a harley
he smoked him like a bad cigar
hes throwing out checks like its the first of the month

to clarify, its:
scratch my back with a hacksaw
and
shave my face with a rusty razor

Emerick is OK, Davidson is good, Pang gets on my nerves (oh boy)
Don cherry is a clown, but hes animated
Melrose has all the insight youd expect from a mullett wearer.

Answer 2

This is a good topic that raises an issue the NHL has in this age of satellite coverage. The league seems to be suffering from a regional mindset and lacking talent pool with the tv presentation of its product.

On air 'talent' that used to be passable for the home fans watching on regional cable are now being exposed to a national audience and they are simply not up to the task. Outside of quirky tandems that make it work (buffalo and dallas, for example) there is a tremendous dirth of talent in the broadcast booth. Furthermore, these announcing teams are painful to the point of influencing my viewing habits as much as the athletes do and that can't be a good thing.

I can't watch a Caps game because of Craig Laughlin. The same was true about the Sharks until McSorley came in as the color commentator this year. Fox in LA, Hayward in Anaheim, frick and frack on the Island and whatever 5 man group the Bruins throw at me is flat out UNBEARABLE. Resch in NJ is a joke and McNab in Colorado has so much Nyquil in his voice that he can make the mighty Avalanche (of years past) sound boring.

On a positive note, I was fortunate enough to grow up with Mike Emrick's unique style. I think he does the game justice and is worthy of a national platform. Gary Thorne was a bit too much of a screamer for me.

John Davidson and Bill Clement were heads and shoulders above their competition. JD has moved on to a corner office and Clement has stepped into the studio leaving a vacuum in the US national coverage of the sport.

Pierre McGuire is too smug and self important to step into the role (his Olympic work being proof of that) and Ray Ferraro is still a little raw at this point. Darren Pang might be the only one that can fill that void, but 'holy jumpin' has got a good gig in Phoenix.

Where does that leave us? Wishing that ESPN would get the band back together, I guess.

I think I need to catch my breath and weep for the game, so I'll have to get back to you on the choice hockey writers.

Answer 3

Jim Jackson

Keith Jones

Steve Coates

Answer 4

In Finland we have this famous announcer Antero Mertaranta. I like him a lot. He really gets into the game and is very energetic with announcing. If you want an example of him, go to youtube.com and search for Ihanaa Leijonat. Even if you don't understand him I am sure you can tell from his voice how into the games he gets. The song is from a game in the IIHF games.

Answer 5

Well I'm from Detroit so Mickey Redmond has to be my favorite announcer. He is old-fashioned hockey all the way. He doesn't try to be politically correct, and will openly say what most of us are thinking at home. I am also a fan of Don Cherry. He is very outspoken but I almost always agree with what he has to say.

Answer 6

Announcer- Jim Hughson
Analyst- Don Cherry
Writer- Stan Fischler (retired I think)

Answer 7

I love Mike Lang, now the radio voice of the Pens. I can't really listen to him because of the delay between tv and radio. He was the tv play by play until last year when FSN let him go for Paul Stagerwald who nobody can stand.

"ohh scratch my back with a rusty razor"

Don't really know anyone else hockeywise.

Answer 8

Calgary does have a dedicated sports station.

CFAC 960 AM
The Fan - Calgary radio Sports

Here are most of the stations in Calgary.

http://www.calgary-city-maps.com/Calgary-radio-station-guide.html

Try a few of them to find the best sports coverage for you.

Answer 9

since I have NHL Center Ice, I think the best announcer is the guy who calls the Toronto games for TSN (I don't know his name, however).

Best analyst is Don Cherry for CBC, because he doesn't hold anything back when talking and actually knows about the sport.

Answer 10

its easy its Doc Emirck and Chico Resch from the New Jersey Devils. They act like brothers there a funny duo, you lose a lot of the charm of Doc Emirck when he does verses with out good 'ol Chico.