Mike Emrick

Mike Emrick
Mike 'Doc' Emrick
Born August 1, 1946 (1946-08-01) (age 65)
La Fontaine, Indiana
Occupation Sports commentator

Michael "Doc" Emrick, (born August 1, 1946) is an American sports commentator noted mostly for his work in ice hockey. Emrick is currently the lead announcer for NHL national telecasts on both NBC and Versus. Among the many awards he has received is the NHL's Lester Patrick Award in 2004, making him the first of three people to receive the award for media work, and the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008.

Contents

Biography

Background

Emrick earned a B.Sc. in speech from Manchester College in 1968, a M.A. in radio/television from Miami University (Ohio) in 1969. He then received a Ph.D. in Communications (radio/television/film) from Bowling Green State University in 1976, where he got his nickname "Doc".[1]

Emrick taught speech and broadcasting at Geneva College in the Pittsburgh suburb of Beaver Falls from 1969-71 and got his first experience of the NHL covering the Pittsburgh Penguins as an unpaid correspondent for the Beaver County Times newspaper.

Broadcasting career

Emrick has been sportscasting professionally since 1973 when he was hired by Port Huron Flags' GM Morris Snider to do play-by-play 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) before moving up to the parent NHL Philadelphia Flyers. Emrick served as the Devils first voice in New Jersey, arriving for the 1982–83 NHL season. He returned to the team to replace Gary Thorne, who left after doing play-by-play for the 1993 Stanley Cup Playoffs and has been the team's voice ever since. He announced the team's 1995 Stanley Cup victory, alongside color commentator John Davidson in a national United States broadcast on Fox.

Emrick has also done play-for-play for CBS, NBC, ABC, Versus, TNT, ESPN, Fox, CSTV, SportsChannel Philadelphia, PRISM, Fox Sports Net, and others.

Emrick was the lead play-by-play announcer for The NHL on ESPN from 1986–1988. 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 Game of the Week, calling regular-season games and Stanley Cup Finals from 1995 to 2000. After Fox relinquished the NHL broadcast rights to ABC, he became a regional announcer for The NHL on ABC from 2000–2004. He would only call select playoff games at this time, but did file reports for ABC Sports and ESPN's Stanley Cup Finals coverage.

Emrick wore several hats in the 1980s working for the Philadelphia Flyers while their voice from 1988 to 1993. He was a spot announcer for Flyers home broadcasts from 1983-86, 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. For four of those years, Emrick was paired with former NHLer and national hockey broadcaster Bill Clement.

Since the 2005–06 NHL season, Emrick has been the lead play-by-play announcer for the NHL on Versus (formerly The NHL on OLN) and NHL on NBC, and since 2008, has served as an overall host of the telecast. He calls the top Conference Final and the entire Stanley Cup Finals for both networks. He has called games in 11 Stanley Cup Finals on TV (for ESPN, Fox, Versus/OLN, and NBC). He has also called eight NHL All-Star Games for Fox, Versus and ESPN. He called the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for the Prime Network and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey for ESPN.

Emrick is currently working his third 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 Summer Olympics, men's and women's ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics and men's and women's ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

He also called some National Football League and men's NCAA basketball tournament games while at CBS, and 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.[2]

Honors

Emrick won the 1997 National CableACE Award for best play-by-play announcer.

Emrick received the 2004 Lester Patrick Trophy, presented annually for "outstanding service to hockey in the United States". In that same year, he won a New York Emmy Award for his work on New Jersey Devils' telecasts. He was one of the five nominees for the 2009 national Emmy Award for the category of "Outstanding Sports Personality - Play by Play" for his work on the "NHL on NBC" with NBC Sports. He was also nominated for the award in 2008.

In 2008, the Hockey Hall of Fame awarded him the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, for outstanding contributions to hockey broadcasting.

On January 30, 2009, Emrick was honored at the Prudential Center during Mike "Doc" Emrick night to celebrate Emrick's broadcasting career of over two decades.

In 2011, "Doc" won the Emmy Award for "Outstanding Sports Personality - Play by Play."

Style

"Doc" and "Chico"

The Devils' broadcasting pair of Emrick and color commentator Chico Resch, or "Doc and Chico" to Devils fans, is 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 of Devils netminder Scott Clemmensen:

Chico 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 of 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 the Doc and Chico is when Doc will ask Chico where a particular town or city in Canada is located when they talk about a particular player's home town.

In the event of an odd play or bounce of the puck, Doc has cited "the unseen hand," as the culprit, which always gets a laugh from Chico.

Emrick's knowledge of the game of hockey has been deemed "encyclopedic"[3] and he is known for his eloquent vocabulary, using words in his broadcasts that are not commonly used in sports play-by-play (such as referring to a goaltender's equipment as "paraphernalia"). 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."[4]

Memorable games called

1980s

  • May 31, 1987: Game 7, Stanley Cup Finals, Flyers vs Oilers. The Oilers win their third Cup in four years. (ESPN)
  • February 9, 1988: All-Star Game. Mario Lemieux caps a three-goal, six-point night with an overtime goal. (ESPN)
  • May 24, 1988: Game 4, Stanley Cup Finals, Oilers vs Bruins. A second-period power outage at Boston Garden causes the game to be suspended and re-played in Edmonton two nights later. (ESPN)
  • April 11, 1989: Game 5, Patrick Division semifinals, Flyers vs. Capitals. Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall becomes first netminder to score a goal in the playoffs - a shorthanded tally in Philadelphia's 8-5 win. (WGBS-Philadelphia Channel 57)
  • April 26, 1989: Game 5, Patrick Division semifinals, Flyers vs. Penguins. Mario Lemieux scored a record-tying five goals and three assists in the Penguins' 10-7 win. (WGBS)
  • April 30, 1989: Game 7, Patrick Division finals, Flyers vs. Penguins. Flyers backup goaltender Ken Wregget makes 40 saves in a 4-1 victory, earning the Flyers a berth in the Wales Conference Finals. (WGBS)

1990s

2000s

  • February 20, 2006: Winter Olympics. Sweden defeats Finland for the Gold Medal in Turin, Italy. (NBC)
  • June 19, 2006: Game 7, Stanley Cup Finals, Oilers vs. Hurricanes. Hurricanes win their first Stanley Cup. (NBC)
  • June 6, 2007: Game 5, Stanley Cup Finals, Senators vs. Ducks. Ducks win their first Stanley Cup. (NBC)
  • January 1, 2008: Winter Classic, Penguins vs. Sabres. The league's first outdoor game in the United States, from Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. (NBC)
  • June 4, 2008: Game 6, Stanley Cup Finals, Red Wings vs. Penguins. The Red Wings win their 11th Stanley Cup Championship (NBC).
  • March 17, 2009: 2008–09 NHL season, Blackhawks vs. Devils. Martin Brodeur surpasses Patrick Roy's all-time win record with the 552nd win of his career on St. Patrick's Day. (MSG+)
  • June 12, 2009: Game 7, Stanley Cup Finals, Penguins vs. Red Wings. Pittsburgh wins 2-1 to win their first Stanley Cup title in 17 years. (NBC)
  • December 21, 2009: 2009–10 NHL season, Penguins vs. Devils. Martin Brodeur eclipses Terry Sawchuk's all-time shutout record with the 104th shutout of his career. (MSG+)

2010s

  • January 1, 2010: Winter Classic, Flyers vs. Bruins. The league's fourth outdoor game and third in the United States, from Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (NBC)
  • February 16, 2010 to February 28, 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Ice Hockey. Broadcasts most Olympic hockey games, both men's and women's.
  • February 28, 2010: Vancouver Winter Olympics Men's Ice Hockey USA vs CAN Gold Medal Game. (NBC) (With a peak audience of 34.8 million viewers, this broadcast attracted the largest US audience for a hockey telecast since those of the US victories over Russia and Finland in the 1980 Olympics.[5][6])
  • March 22, 2010: Dr. Emrick's 3,000th hockey broadcast, a national telecast from Joe Louis Arena in Detroit of the Pittsburgh Penguins vs Detroit Red Wings on Versus won by Detroit, 3-1.[7]
  • April 24, 2010: Game 5, Western Conference quarterfinals, Predators vs. Blackhawks. After committing a five-minute major near the end of regulation, which is subsequently killed off by the Blackhawks, Marian Hossa scores the game winning goal four minutes into overtime. (NBC)
  • June 9, 2010: Game 6, Stanley Cup Finals, Blackhawks vs. Flyers, Patrick Kane's goal 4:06 in overtime gives the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers and delivers Chicago its first Stanley Cup in 49 years. (NBC)
  • January 1, 2011: Winter Classic, Capitals vs. Penguins. The league's fifth outdoor game and fourth in the United States, from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (NBC)
  • January 30, 2011: 2011 NHL All Star Game, Team Staal vs Team Lidstrom, the 58th NHL All Star Game, from the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Versus)
  • June 15, 2011: Game 7, Stanley Cup Finals, Bruins vs. Canucks, Bruins win sixth Stanley Cup and first in 39 years. (NBC)

Miscellaneous

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. 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 hosts a weekly podcast on iTunes called "Emrick's Angle" which offers his current thoughts on the NHL.

Notes

External links


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