The End Of An Era: Thank You, Doc

In life, there are times that, no matter how disheartened you are to hear something, the only way to go about it is to reflect.  Today is one of those days; Mike “Doc” Emrick’s 21-year-run as the play-by-play voice of the Devils comes to an end (you can read Doc’s full statement here).  While we will still be able to hear him in the booth for Versus and NBC telecasts, I am sure us Devils fans are in agreement that nothing was greater than tuning into his telecasts alongside Glen “Chico” Resch, and watching our favorite team play to Doc’s seemingly impeccable broadcasts.

Every time we would tune into one of Doc’s calls, we could expect a number of occurences; to be able to laugh at his hilarious anecdotes, a good number of which teased his former goaltending partner in the booth; to be able to marvel at his impressive ability to invent a new word on the spot (a “Salvadorian” hip check, for example); to be able to flinch in our seats at some of his “close calls”, including a favorite of many, “hit the post with the shot!”; and, perhaps more importantly than the preceding items, to be able to learn more about the game we all cherish and follow wholeheartedly than we ever knew existed.  Doc was seemingly always there for us fans, and proved that he shared our passion for the sport of hockey (as well as the Devils franchise) through each of his calls.

Perhaps the most “impressive” trait regarding Mr. Emrick’s play-by-play talent is his incredible ability to keep up with what is perhaps the fastest sport around.  Even if you are not a huge hockey fan, it would be impossible not to marvel at Doc’s amazingly quick calls, never falling behind the action in front of him or failing to inform the viewer of what is occuring on the ice.  This was the result of Doc’s endless studying of the game he so admired; it seemed as though you could ask him anything about the sport of hockey and he would be able to give you more than the answer you were looking for.

With Doc on the call, one could relax when watching a Devils broadcast; instead of having to fret regarding a potential lineup change, player injury, milestone chase, or anything else they might be unaware of that could be involved in any hockey game, they could be confident that Emrick would be there to inform them of anything and everything that was going on; and he always, and I mean always, came through for every viewer.  There was never a Devils game where I was incognizant of anything of importance occuring in front of me, and for that, I can not thank Doc enough.

Throughout the years, tuning into Devils games and hearing Emrick’s voice was not only a consistently priceless treat, but was also soothing to a large degree; it became more than just another enjoyable day or night watching a Devils game, but a chance to hear one of the best men in the history of sports broadcasting share his wisdom with us fans, and his call was one I always felt comfortable by and pleased to hear.  Although I have not even been alive for his entire tenure with my favorite team, I came to appreciate early in my life how fortunate I was that he, of all announcers, was calling my favorite team’s games.

As a child who grew up aspiring to become a play-by-play announcer, Mike Emrick has always been an idol of mine; to reach his talent and success in the broadcast booth would be to achieve seemingly absolute perfection as a sports announcer, with a complete and outstanding knowledge of any sport you might be covering as well as an endless passion for that sport.  I will always remember bumping into Doc at the Continential Airlines Arena and Prudential Center, the most recent one at the latter stadium, during which I shared in his excitement that a new season was finally about to begin.  When I heard the news this afternoon that his days as Devils’ announcer were over, my heart sunk.  I was completely devastated.  But then I thought back towards all the great moments.  The three Stanley Cups (well, the one I was old enough never to forget, at least), Marshall’s goal (my favorite moment as a fan), Brodeur achieving 552 (and also his 104th shutout, a “Brodeurian” masterpiece in Doc’s home city of Pittsburgh), and many of the memorable games of the last few seasons as well (I would always go back to hear his call of an amazing goal, save, or win in general).  I am getting goosebumps just thinking of all these.

Most importantly, however, Doc was always there for us, through every win and loss, every feel-good triumph and gut-wrenching defeat, and every shift of every period of every game he called.  It made a rush of excitement feel even better, and a sudden devastation (oh, Eric Staal) be calmed after a while, when his voice told me that he was along for the same ride that us fans were.  There is simply no better play-by-play man in the sport, and as special as being a Devils fan can feel at times, Mike Emrick made it even better.

I would hope that, sometime this upcoming season, the Devils find a way to thank and honor Doc for everything he has done for the franchise.  They did so to celebrate his four decades in the broadcast booth back in January 2009, and I really hope they will do so again.  Maybe, as a few teams have done, his number could be retired.  This would certainly be an interesting debate.  While I would love for this to occur, I would understand an opinion against it; be sure to voice your thoughts in the comments about this, or any other way the team could honor Doc.

From all Devils fans, thank you Doc, for years of excellence and devotion towards the team we love so dearly.

-Drew

P.S.- Frank Rekas, a Panthers blogger and the head of Fansided’s NHL Blog Network, has been nice enough to offer to answer some questions about our new head coach (and former Panthers’ head coach), Peter DeBoer.  Hopefully, this post will be up no later than tomorrow (I am still working on these questions myself); if you have any specific questions about DeBoer and what to expect from him, leave them in the comments box, and I will consider using them as part of that post.