Longtime NHL announcer Mike “Doc” Emrick is retiring as a broadcaster Monday.
“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, 74, has been the preeminent voice for NHL games on NBC and NBC Sports since moving to the network in a full-time role in 2011. Prior to that, he served as the play-by-play announcer for the New Jersey Devils for 21 seasons.
Emrick’s résumé includes calling 22 Stanley Cup Finals. He had stints at ESPN and ABC as well as Fox and CBS and at six Olympic Winter Games.
In 2008, Emrick was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame, which awarded him the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to hockey broadcasting.