Sam Rosen's New York Rangers Broadcast Reflects on Award-Winning career heading into final season

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Joshua Deeds
September 7, 2024 (9:00 PM)

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What does it take to become a great broadcaster in the NHL?

Would you consider knowledge of the game? Or would it be the personality behind the broadcast, or their ability to change the game into a larger-than-lifeWill experience?

Sam Rosen, who has been broadcasting for the New York Rangers could check all of those boxes. He has been the voice of the New York Rangers since 1984, bringing an energy that has infected fans for decades.

The 2024-2025 season, will be the 40th behind the mic for Sam Rosen for the Rangers, and it will be his last.

The 77-year-old broadcaster said he'd be retiring following the conclusion of this NHL season.

While he may be healthy, he wants to hang up the mic before it becomes too late.

«You kind of reach a point where you look at it, and this is probably the best time for everyone concerned,» Rosen said. «For me, for my family, for MSG Network, for the RangersIt's been a wonderful ride.»

The German-born immigrant took what tennis star Andy Murray said when he announced his retirement at Wimbledon earlier this year.

«�My heart says I want to do this forever, but my head says I can't.' That's really what it gets down toYou never want to just hang on and have people say, �I remember when Sam was much better,' or �His game has fallen off a little bit.'»

Rosen's been around a lot of greatness during his tenure with the Rangers witnessing such greats as Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Henrik Lundqvist, and Brian Leetch, and gave one of the best calls during the Rangers Cup win in 1994.

Rosen's unique ability is to make any game feel important, whether it's an important Game 7, or a regular season game on Tuesday in December.

«That's the way I've treated it in my broadcasting career. Every game is specialthe fans that tune in, it means something to them,» Rosen said. «They're loyal, they're hardcoreThe fanbase follows the team. We go to Raleigh and play the New York Rangers, and you see the Ranger fans, sometimes 40-50 percent of the fans in the arena. The fans are always there.»

Rosen's voice has been infectious and has resulted in him connecting with fans all over the country, especially when they were broadcast on a superstation. He credits the passion of the fans for continued inspiration.

«They're watching and it's meaningful to them. You want to let them know that it's meaningful to me and to them. That's the responsibility as a broadcaster that you want to bring across to the fans.»

While he's seen all arenas in the United States, he considers the rinks in Canada to be some of the best to visit.

«The Canadian rinks are wonderful. You always get the feeling in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, [Winnipeg] and Ottawa how much the game means to the people. That's their pride and joy, and you can feel it when you walk into those arenas.»

His favorite arena to call in? The Bell Center in Montreal.

«It's the best,» Rosen said. «They have a gondola where you take the elevator up to the press level. You walk down the lovely walkaround and into the booth, and you're in this great working area, spacious, but you're close to the ice, and you can feel the game.»

Rosen's been blessed with skillful commentators, as when he started he had Phil Esposito starting his career, and would later be paired with John Davidson. The two would become synonymous with Rangers hockey as a pair for 20 years until Davidson left to join the St. Louis Blues organization.

In 2006, Rosen would be paired with Joe Michelletti who worked with him during the NHL's tenure on Fox.

«Very, very important to be comfortable with the guy you're working next to,» he added. «That's one of the things that have made my job more pleasurable, that I've been so fortunate. John and I knew each other when he was a player, and we became very close friends. I've been very lucky for 40 years with the Rangers to have just three outstanding broadcast partners.»

Rosen may be known for his work in Hockey, but before he was known as the voice of Rangers hockey, he called several other sports and filled in for Marv Albert calling the NBA's New York Knicks games.

He's also called the NFL on Fox for many years as well, his favorite sport outside of hockey.

«Football was always that one game every Sunday,» he said. «That was the special game that everybody looked forward to sitting down forthe realization that wherever you were doing a game, we were the one game that everyone was watching.»

He dabbled in the NASL as the public announcer for the New York Cosmos which gave him an opportunity to watch Pele near the end of his career. It was something special for Rosen to watch.

«Because of the legendary person that he was, and the influence he had around the world in his sport, I got to give an edge to Pele. He had that magic persona, that great smile and the love for the game came through everything he did on the field.»

It was actually during his tenure with the Cosmos that spawned one of Rosen's trademark calls.

«It's a power-play goal!»

Rosen would use this phrase during the late 1980's, especially the 1987-1988 season, the year the Rangers missed the playoffs finishing fifth in the Patrick Division. Even then, they had the fourth-best power-play percentage in the NHL with 22.6%

«That team scored over 100 power-play goals, and that team wasn't a playoff team,» Rosen said. «It seemed like every other goal they scored was a power play goal. So, it became so significantit kind of gathered momentum, and it's continued. Fans like it, and it's just part of what I do.»

Rosen's trademark call was originally a product of his time in the NASL calling Cosmos games in the 70's and 80's.

«In the NASL in the late '70s and early '80s, we'd get so-so crowds. So, they wanted some excitement and enthusiasm, and part of that came from the public address announcerWhen the Cosmos would score, I would belt out, �That's a Cosmos goal.'»

He has called games for 39 years in the NHL, and has called over 3,000 games, and is one of the NHL's greatest broadcasters. He became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016 and won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.

Source: Daily Face Off
New York Rangers broadcaster Sam Rosen reflects on stellar career heading into final season