In an article on the “Inside the Devils Blog” on the team’s app, Amanda Stein wrote that Mike “Doc” Emrick will be retiring from broadcasting as of today.
Doc spent 47 years in broadcasting most notably for the Devils, Fox Sports and NBC Sports. He also spent time as the play-by-play man for the Philadelphia Flyers between his stints working for MSG Network in the early-80s – 1982 to 1986 according to Stein in her article – calling the Devils right after they had moved over from Denver. He came back to the Devils and SportsChannel in 1993 and ended up remaining with the Devils for the next 18 years. He announced his retirement from the Devils on July 21, 2011 according to Stein. He spent a total of 22 years, combined, calling Devils games.
As a member of the Fox broadcasting crew in 1995, he got to call the Devils’ first Stanley Cup and his call of “the championship to New Jersey, the Devils win the Stanley Cup!” will live on forever in anyone who heard it. The next two, coincidentally, in 2000 and 2003, were broadcast on ESPN/ABC and were called by another former Devils play-by-play man: Gary Thorne.
Doc’s accolades are many. He was the 2008 winner “of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to hockey broadcasting.” He was also “inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011, the first broadcaster to enter the US Hall” according to Stein. She also mentioned that he was “the first hockey broadcaster to win a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality – Play-by-Play.” She continued that “not only was he the first, but he’s also won the award an astounding eight times.”
He is also a member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame – Class of 2019 and the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, also 2019.
Stein also gave us some of his stats: more than 3,700 games called, 22 Stanley Cup Finals with games called, an astonishing 45 Stanley Cup games sevens, 14 NHL All-Star Games, 19 Winter Classics and Stadium Series games and six Winter Olympic hockey tournaments.
In fact, Stein noted that the gold medal game of the 2010 Torino Olympics between the United States and Canada “was the most-watched hockey game in 40 years with 27.6 million viewers” in the US.
Stein noted that Doc “was the voice of nine Atlantic Division champions and four Eastern Conference titles.” But he also made one of the most important calls in Devils history as a member of NBC Sports’ team.
May 25, 2012, Game six of the 2012 Eastern Conference Final. Devils versus Rangers, overtime. A scramble in front of the Henrik Lundqvist’s crease. A rookie named Adam Henrique pokes the puck home and the Prudential Center erupts into a roar. Behind the mic, Emrick shouts “Henrique, it’s over!” to the home audience.
One of the most memorable nights in Devils history punctuated by a man Devils fans had claimed as their own.
Thanks for an awesome career, Doc. Although your final game called was the Tampa Bay Lightning defeating the Dallas Stars for the 2020 Stanley Cup, you will always be associated with the Devils and some of our greatest moments.