Mike Emrick
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Mike "Doc" Emrick (born August 1, 1946 in La Fontaine, Indiana) is an American sportscaster.
Emrick has been sportscasting since 1973, when he did play-by-play for the IHL Port Huron Flags. In 1977 he became the voice of the AHL Maine Mariners for three seasons before moving up to the parent NHL Philadelphia Flyers. For the last 21 years he has been calling NHL hockey games, and has been the play-by-play announcer for the New Jersey Devils since 1993. Previously, he was the voice of the Philadelphia Flyers, from 1988 to 1993. He has done play-by-play also for CBS, NBC, TNT, ESPN, Fox, ABC, CSTV, SportsChannel Philadelphia, and PRISM.
He received the 1997 National CableACE Award for best play-by-play and New York Emmy Award for his work with the Devils. He is also a member of the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee. Emrick has earned a Bachelor's degree in speech from Manchester College in 1964, a Master's degree in radio/television from Miami University (Ohio) in 1969, and a Doctorate in radio/television/film from Bowling Green State University in 1976 (a degree from which he gets his nickname, "Doc"). He received the 2004 Lester Patrick Trophy and worked at the Summer Olympics, calling the men's and women's water polo competition. He also was the lead play-by-play man for the 2006 Winter Olympics for men and women's hockey action.
He was the lead play-by-play announcer for The NHL on ESPN from 1986-1988. He first came to national television doing regional games for The NHL on ABC from 1993-1994. In 1995, Emrick became the play-by-play man of The NHL on FOX game of the week, which was also known (during the glow puck era) as the Fox Trax Game of the Week from 1995-99, calling games of the Stanley Cup Finals that weren't on ESPN. After FOX gave the NHL rights over to ABC, he became a regional announcer for The NHL on ABC, in the same backup game role he had at ABC in the early 90s, from 2000-2004. He would only call select playoff games at this time.
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 The NHL on NBC, calling the Eastern Conference and Stanley Cup Finals for both networks. He has called games in nine Stanley Cup Finals on TV (For ESPN, FOX, OLN, and NBC), and will add a 10th next year. He has also called five NHL All-Star Games on TV for FOX, and is expected to call the 2007 game in Dallas on Versus. He called the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for the Prime Network and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey for ESPN. He has done three Olympic Games for NBC.
Emrick is known as one of the great wordsmiths in hockey, known for numerous little catch-phrases and pet words instead of having one big one. He 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.
[edit] Memorable Calls and Catchphrases
-"The Championship to New Jersey, the Devils win the Stanley Cup!" after the Devils' 1995 Stanley Cup Championship win.
-"Here comes Nolan for the hat again, he points...SCORE!" during Owen Nolan's "called shot" goal against Dominik Hasek in the 1997 All-Star Game, which gave him a hat trick in front of his hometown San Jose fans.
-"Meanwhile, back at the ranch". Something said when he and the analysts he's working with get a little sidetracked from the game.
-"My goodness Murphy! What's going on here" during crazier moments during the game.
-"Hit the iron/post with the shot!" when a shooter hits the post.
-"The puck gets caught in the goaltender's paraphernalia" when a goalie stops a shot and it sticks in his pads.
-"He finesses the puck" when a player makes a good stick-handling move.
-"And play continues....." after a non-call of an apparent penalty.
Categories: 1946 births | National Hockey League broadcasters | Lester Patrick Trophy recipients | Living people | Bowling Green State University alumni | American sports announcers | New Jersey Devils | Philadelphia Flyers | CBS Sports | The NHL on NBC | NBC Sports | The NHL on ABC | The NFL on CBS | The NHL on FOX | People from Indiana | The NHL on ESPN | The NHL on Versus
