NHL action will sound very different in 2021 with Doc Emrick stepping into retirement.
The game of hockey bid a fond farewell to the voice that carried it into the new millennium, this Monday. Mike “Doc” Emrick — the voice of hockey on NBC — officially hung up his headset following a career that spanned four decades.
Skates slicing up fresh ice, boards rumbling after two players collide and 20,000 fans erupting in unison when their team guides the puck to the back of the net. These are the sounds of hockey.
Separately, these elements are just pieces — by-products even — of the sport. They’re the after-effects of each and every decision that players make on the ice. Without context, they bleed together into a cacophony of “sports sounds.” The whole operation is missing a conductor.
Mike “Doc” Emrick is hockey’s maestro. He is the overarching force that blends the caterwaul of players, sticks and pucks together and elevates it to symphonic levels.
From teaching fans the intricacies of hockey’s (often vexing) rulebook, to creating his own curious descriptions of plays such as “skittering,” to calling some of the most iconic moments in modern hockey history, Doc is as much a part of the game as the players themselves.
So, as we thank him for an outstanding career and wish him well in all future endeavors, we’re also going to take a moment to bask in some of his greatest moments as a broadcaster.
These are Doc Emerick’s five greatest goal calls of all time.
5. Doc’s first Cup
The 1987 Stanley Cup Final between the Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers was the first Final to go to seven games since 1971. A heavyweight bout, Ron Hextall and the Flyers pushed Gretzky’s Oilers to the brink. But ultimately, the Great One was able to overcome, expanding the Oilers dynasty.
1987 was also the first time Doc called the Stanley Cup Finals. A watershed moment in his career, Doc’s stamp on the series came in game six of the series. With the Flyers trailing 3-2 in the series and having overcome a 2-0 deficit in the third, the team desperately needed another goal to extend their Cup hopes.
Late in the third, rookie defenseman J.J. Daigneault collected an errant clearing attempt from the far point and ripped a slapshot past goaltender Grant Fuhr, giving the Flyers a 3-2 lead and an eventual victory.
Though the Flyers would lose the series in seven, this goal still encapsulates the building blocks of what would make Doc a legend.
From the anticipation he builds as the Flyers enter the zone on a 3-on-2, to the trademark “SCAAAR!” as Daigneault’s shot finds twine, to the intelligence he shows to let the crowd noise carry the call for the next few seconds. This goal is a masterclass in the nature of play-by-play and storytelling.
The first of 22 Stanley Cup Finals Doc would call over “the course of his illustrious career, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this moment finds itself on this list.