Michael "Doc" Emrick (born August 1, 1946) is an American network television play-by-play sportscaster and commentator noted mostly for his work in ice hockey. Emrick is currently the lead announcer for NHL national telecasts on both NBC and NBCSN. Among the many awards he has received is the NHL's Lester Patrick Award in 2004, making him the first of only five to have received the award for media work, and the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008. He has also won six 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.[1]
Emrick has been sportscasting professionally since 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 AHLMaine 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 1983–86, 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.
In 1993, he returned to the Devils to replace Gary Thorne and continued to be the Devils' voice until July 2011.[3] He announced the Devils' 1995 Stanley Cup victory alongside color commentatorJohn Davidson for the national United States broadcast on Fox.
He 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 1999 for FOX. After FOX relinquished the NHL broadcast rights to ABC, he became a regional announcer for NHL on ABC from 2000–2004. He could only call select playoff games at the time, but did file reports for ABC Sports and ESPN's Stanley Cup Finals coverage.
Since the 2005–06 NHL season, he has been the lead play-by-play announcer for the NHL on Versus (formerly The NHL on OLN) and the 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 18 Stanley Cup Finals on TV (for NBC, ESPN, Fox, Versus and OLN). He has also called 13 NHL All-Star Games for NBC, Fox, OLN, VERSUS and ESPN. He called the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for the Prime Network and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey for ESPN.
On July 21, 2011, Emrick announced that he was leaving the New Jersey Devils to work exclusively for NBC Sports.[3] In the beginning of the 2011-12 season, Steve Cangialosi replaced Emrick for play-by-play duties for the Devils.
On May 5, 2014, EA Sports announced that Emrick will provide play-by-play commentary for NHL 15 along color commentator Eddie Olczyk and ice level analyst Ray Ferraro.[6] The trio have provided commentary for every EA Sports NHL game since (through NHL 19). Since 2018–19 NHL season, the duo (Mike "Doc" Emrick and Eddie Olczyk) will call the Wednesday Night Hockey early game since 2018 and the Eastern Conference Final with "Inside-the-Glass" reporter Brian Boucher.
National Football League
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.
Emrick won the 1997 National CableACE Award for best play-by-play announcer.[7] In 2004, he was one of three winners of the Lester Patrick Trophy presented annually by the NHL for "outstanding service to hockey in the United States".[7] This was followed four years later when the Hockey Hall of Fame awarded him the 2008 Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to hockey broadcasting, and on January 30, 2009, Emrick was honored for winning the Hewitt Award by the New Jersey Devils with "Mike 'Doc' Emrick Night" before a game at the Prudential Center.[8][9]
After being previously nominated in both 2008 and 2009, in 2011 Emrick became the first hockey announcer to win a national Sports Emmy Award for "Outstanding Sports Personality - Play by Play" for his work on the 'NHL on NBC the previous year. Emrick won the national Sports Emmy in the same category again in both 2014 and 2015.[7][7][10][11][12] He had previously won five New York Regional Emmy Awards for his play-by-play work of New Jersey Devils telecasts on the MSG Network.[13] On February 24, 2012, Emrick was again honored by the New Jersey Devils in a pre-game ceremony for his 21 seasons doing play-by-play for Devils' games.[14]
Emrick won the NSSA Sportscaster of the Year award for 2013. The award is given out by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Emrick received the award in a ceremony on January 9, 2014.[15] On December 20, 2014 Sports Illustrated named Emrick as its 2014 sports media "Person of the Year".[16]
Style
"Doc" and "Chico"
The Devils' broadcasting pair of Emrick and color commentatorGlenn "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 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 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. 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",[17] 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."[18]
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.[19][20] 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.
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