The following are the broadcasters on TV and radio who have worked for the New York Rangers.
Television
edit2020s
edit2010s
edit2000s
editFor the first two games of the 2008–09 season, in Prague, WEPN carried a simulcast of MSG audio with Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti in Prague, and Don La Greca and Pete Stemkowski in the New York studio for intermissions.
1990s
edit| Year | Channel | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Studio host |
| 1999–2000 | MSG Network | Sam Rosen | John Davidson (primary) Sal Messina (during Davidson's NHL on ABC assignments) |
Al Trautwig |
| 1998–99 | MSG Network | Sam Rosen | John Davidson (primary) Sal Messina (during Davidson's NHL on Fox assignments) |
Al Trautwig |
| 1997–98 | MSG Network | Sam Rosen | John Davidson (primary) Sal Messina (during Davidson's NHL on Fox assignments) |
Al Trautwig |
| 1996–97 | MSG Network | Sam Rosen | John Davidson (primary) Sal Messina (during Davidson's NHL on Fox assignments) |
Al Trautwig |
| 1995–96 | MSG Network | Sam Rosen | John Davidson | Al Trautwig |
| 1995 | MSG Network | Sam Rosen | John Davidson | Al Trautwig |
| 1993–94 | MSG Network (main) | Sam Rosen | John Davidson | Al Trautwig |
| MSG II (alternate) | ||||
| 1992–93 | MSG Network | Sam Rosen | John Davidson | Al Trautwig |
| 1991–92 | MSG Network | Sam Rosen | John Davidson | Bruce Beck |
| 1990–91 | MSG Network | Sam Rosen | John Davidson | Bruce Beck |
1980s
edit1970s
editHBO's first sports broadcast was of a New York Rangers-Vancouver Canucks NHL game, transmitted to a Service Electric cable system in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on November 8, 1972. From 1972 to 1974, HBO used only one announcer on Rangers games so Marty Glickman, who was in charge of HBO Sports, hired other announcers to replace him when he was unavailable, generally owing to his radio commitments to Giants football.
1960s
editWin Eliot called the Rangers games on WPIX-11 as part of The Saturday Night Sports Special. In the early 1960s, the Rangers played Saturday afternoon games, which were tape delayed[1] for evening re-broadcast on Channel 11. The Saturday night[2] hockey games were almost always shown at 9 p.m. Road games were usually aired live if the Rangers were at Chicago, where the game was at 8:30 p.m., and after expansion, in St. Louis or Minnesota, where 9 p.m. would be the actual start time. In the 1964–65 season, Win Elliott did all the Saturday night games until March 20, which was the first Saturday of the racing season at Aqueduct, where Elliott hosted a Saturday afternoon series. Jim Gordon therefore, did the last two Saturday nights of the season. When the Rangers weren't scheduled on Saturday nights, Channel 11 would run events such as track and field and ECAC Basketball. This occurred from 1962 to 1965, before the Knicks and Rangers moved to Channel 9. They even showed a different NHL game on occasion, which was the case on March 27, 1965, when Jim Gordon went to Toronto to do a Detroit-Toronto game for WPIX.
1950s
edit1940s
editThe Rangers' home game against the Montreal Canadiens on February 25, 1940, was the first National Hockey League game to ever be broadcast on television.
Radio
edit2020s
edit| Year | Channel | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Studio host |
| 2023–24 | WEPN | Kenny Albert (primary) Don La Greca (select games during Albert's NFL on Fox, TNT, Knicks on MSG TV assignments) Ed Cohen (select games during Albert's NFL on Fox, TNT, Knicks on MSG TV assignments) Sam Rosen (during select national broadcasts) Alex Faust (select games) |
Dave Maloney (primary) Pete Stemkowski (during Maloney's absences) |
Don La Greca or Pat O'Keefe |
| 2022–23 | WEPN | Kenny Albert (primary) Don La Greca (select games during Albert's NFL on Fox, TNT, Knicks on MSG TV assignments) Ed Cohen (select games during Albert's NFL on Fox, TNT, Knicks on MSG TV assignments) Sam Rosen (during select national broadcasts) |
Dave Maloney (primary) Pete Stemkowski (during Maloney's absences) |
Don La Greca or Pat O'Keefe |
| 2021–22 | WEPN | Kenny Albert (primary) Don La Greca (select games during Albert's NFL on Fox, TNT, Knicks on MSG TV assignments) Ed Cohen (select games during Albert's NFL on Fox, TNT, Knicks on MSG TV assignments) Sam Rosen (during select national broadcasts) |
Dave Maloney (primary) Pete Stemkowski (during Maloney's absences) |
Don La Greca or Pat O'Keefe |
| 2021 | WEPN | Kenny Albert (primary) Don La Greca (select games during Albert's NFL on Fox, TNT, Knicks on MSG TV assignments) Ed Cohen (select games during Albert's NFL on Fox, TNT, Knicks on MSG TV assignments) Sam Rosen (during select national broadcasts) |
Dave Maloney (primary) Pete Stemkowski(during Maloney's absences) |
Don La Greca or Pat O'Keefe |
2010s
edit2000s
edit1990s
edit| Year | Channel | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Studio host |
| 1999–2000 | WFAN | Kenny Albert | Sal Messina | |
| 1998–99 | WFAN | Kenny Albert | Sal Messina | |
| 1997–98 | WFAN | Kenny Albert | Sal Messina | |
| 1996–97 | WFAN | Kenny Albert | Sal Messina | |
| 1995–96 | WFAN | Kenny Albert | Sal Messina | |
| 1994–95 | WFAN | Marv Albert | Sal Messina | |
| 1993–94 | WFAN–AM 660 (main) WEVD–AM 1050 (alternate) |
Marv Albert (main) Howie Rose (alternate) |
Sal Messina | Howie Rose (main) Steve Somers (alternate) |
| 1992–93 | WFAN | Marv Albert | Sal Messina | |
| 1991–92 | WFAN | Marv Albert | Sal Messina | |
| 1990–91 | WFAN | Marv Albert | Sal Messina |
1980s
edit1970s
editNotes
editFor many years when he was the radio voice of the Rangers, Marv Albert missed more games than he called. Marv had multiple commitments that forced him to miss games. The alternate radio play-by-play announcers from 1985–1987 actually did more games than Marv Albert. In his 19-year career as the color commentator, Sal Messina worked with 18 different play-by-play partners, even though nominally his only partners were Marv or Kenny Albert. Messina also did play-by-play on several games. Sal Messina also sometimes did TV, filling in for Bill Chadwick, Phil Esposito, and later John Davidson. So there were some additional radio analysts at times. Pete Stemkowski, Dave Maloney, Ron Greschner, Pierre Larouche, Emile Francis, Chris Nilan, and Ulf Nilsson filled in for Messina. During the years when only the non-televised road games were broadcast, at times the TV crew, Sal Marchiano/Bill Chadwick (in 1972–73), Jim Gordon/Chadwick, and Gordon/Phil Esposito later did the games on radio, especially on lengthy road trips.
1960s
edit1950s
edit1940s
edit1930s
edit| Year | Channel | Play-by-play |
| 1939–40 | WHN | Bert Lee |
| 1931–32 | WMCA | Jack Filman |
| 1930–31 | WMCA | Jack Filman |
1920s
edit| Year | Channel | Play-by-play | Studio host |
| 1928–29 | WMSG | Jack Filman[3] | |
| 1927–28 | WMSG | Jack Filman | Horace Beaver[4] |
It was not until the 1987–88 season that all Rangers' games was broadcast locally on radio in New York; for many years prior to that, only home games and (after the late 1940s) a handful of away games were heard. Regular-season away games heard on radio after the early 1960s were generally not broadcast locally on television.
Former affiliates (16 stations)
edit- WPTR/1540: Albany
- WCSS/1490: Amsterdam
- WGBB/1240: Freeport (1984-1985)
- WHUC/1230: Hudson
- WIZR/930: Johnstown
- WMCA/570: New York City (1930-1932)
- WFAN/660: New York City (1971-1974), (1986-2004)
- WCBS/880: New York City (1962-1965)
- WPAT/930: Paterson (1984-1985)
- WINS/1010: New York City (1955-1962), (1958-1960), (1961-1962)
- WEPN/1050: New York City (1939-1955), (1965-1971), (1993-1994), (2005-2012)
- WNEW/1130: New York City (1974-1984)
- WMSG/1410: New York City (1927-1929)
- WEPN-FM/98.7: New York City (2012-2024)
- WVKZ/1240: Schenectady
- WFAS/1230: White Plains (1984-1985)
Alternate announcers
editTelevision
editPlay-by-play
edit- Bruce Beck: 1982–1984
- Mike Crispino: 2005–2007
- John Giannone: 2005–present
- Kenny Albert: 2020–present
- Bob Wischusen: 2006–2007
Color commentator
edit- Sal Messina: 1972–2004
- Dave Maloney: 2005–present
Studio host
edit- John Giannone: 2005–present
- Bill Pidto: 2009–present
Radio
editPlay-by-play
edit- Bob Wolff: 1970–1980
- Tim Ryan: 1971–1972
- Spencer Ross: 1973–2007
- John Sterling: 1973–1974
- Jim Gordon: 1973–1984
- Sal Messina: 1975–1982
- Barry Landers: 1976–1977, 1999–2000
- Sam Rosen: 1977–1989
- Al Albert: 1982–1983
- Mike Emrick: 1983–1988
- John Kelly: 1988–1989
- Howie Rose: 1985–1995
- Kenny Albert: 1995–1997
- Al Trautwig: 1995–1997
- Gary Cohen: 1995–1997
- Chris Moore: 1995–1996
- Joe Beninati: 1996–1997
- Steve Albert: 1996–1997
- Bob Wischusen: 2000–2007
- Joe Tolleson: 2002–present
- Mike Crispino: 2005–2007
- John Giannone: 2006–2008
- Don La Greca: 2008–present
Color commentator
edit- Pete Stemkowski: 2005–Present
Studio host
edit- Steve Somers: 1990s
References
edit- ^ Grimm, George (5 September 2017). We Did Everything But Win: Former New York Rangers Remember the Emile ... Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781510722316.
- ^ Grimm, George (January 2, 2012). "RETRO RANGERS: WIN ELLIOT". Retro Rangers.
- ^ "CAPACITY CROWD LOOMS.; Interest Keen in Tonight's Hockey Game--To Honor Thursday Tickets". The New York Times. 1929-03-29. p. S31. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ "THE MICROPHONE WILL PRESENT--; Charles D. Hilles and Franklin D. Roosevelt on Voters' Service Program--Kochanski In Violin Recital". The New York Times. 1928-01-15. p. 138. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-04.