By Andrew Marchand and Peter Baugh
Aug 13, 2024
After four decades as the Hall of Fame voice of the New York Rangers, MSG Network TV play-by-player Sam Rosen will retire following the end of the 2024-25 season.
Rosen, who called national games for Fox Sports and ESPN during his career, is most associated with the Rangers, where he was on the local call when New York broke its 54-year-old curse and won the Stanley Cup in 1994 and where his simple signature, “It’s a power play goal!” became a part of the tri-state lexicon.
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Growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950s and 1960s, he was a fan of what he termed the big four, the Yankees, Knicks, Giants and Rangers, freely taking the subway to games. He dreamed of calling his teams’ games and broke into the big time as Marv Albert’s backup on the Knicks in the late 1970s before becoming synonymous with the Rangers when he earned the full-time No. 1 job in 1984.
In 2016, he was named the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winner, earning him a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“I’d probably say, ‘Are you kidding me?’” Rosen, 77, said when asked if he was told about his career path as a child.
Rosen has teamed with analyst Phil Esposito, John Davidson and, most recently, Joe Micheletti.
“It’s been a total enjoyment,” Rosen, whose endearing passion for the game matched the team’s fans, said.
Kenny Albert, the longtime radio voice of the Rangers, is a prime candidate to succeed Rosen. While Albert is the Rangers voice, he is the lead TV voice for TNT Sports, which has the Stanley Cup Finals every other season.
Albert’s schedule is very full with TNT and his Fox Sports duties on the NFL and MLB. He also calls the Olympics for NBC, most recently water polo, to go along with his main assignment doing hockey during the Winter Games.
If Albert moves on from radio to TV full-time, current backups Don La Greca and Alex Faust would be top candidates to replace Albert on radio.
Rosen had the privilege of calling the Rangers’ Stanley Cup clincher in 1994. It was the final year that regional sports networks, like MSG, were allowed to carry the Finals, along with the then-lead partner ESPN.
On June 14 of that year, the Rangers ended their championship drought with their Game 7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.
“The waiting is over!” Rosen bellowed. “The New York Rangers are the Stanley Cup champions. And this one will last a lifetime!”
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That call is indelibly marked in the team’s history.
“For me, it was more of a personal call than anything else,” Rosen said. “It would last my lifetime. No matter what happened, if they won three more, no more, five more.
“I didn’t want it to say, ‘It would last my lifetime,’ but that was really the meaning, ‘It would last a lifetime’ for me and I’m certainly hoping that maybe we’ll go out with another one for this season.”
Rosen and his family, along with MSG Network executives, thought it was best for planning purposes to call one final season, which will surely allow the fans an opportunity to show their appreciation for how he has been a part of their lives.
“For years, I’ve never talked about age,” Rosen said. “When people would say, ‘Whatever, happy, 70th or 71st.’ A couple of years ago, when my wife had a surprise party for me for my 75th and suddenly, with friends around, you start thinking about, ‘OK, how do you want to wind this up?’ At that point, it’s getting to where you want to wind up and go out on top. My feeling is: My performance has been good. I’ve loved every minute of it.”
Rosen’s legacy among fans
As the longtime voice of the Rangers, Rosen was beloved among the fan base. He’s been around for the biggest moments in recent Rangers history, most notably the team’s Stanley Cup win in 1994, its only championship since 1940. Many Rangers fans grew up with him as the voice they associate with their favorite team. Perhaps his best-known type of call comes when New York scores on the man advantage and he declares, “it’s a power play goal!” — Peter Baugh, Rangers writer
Required reading
- Which NHL broadcasts are the best? 2024 broadcast rankings, rated by fans
(Photo: Steven Ryan / Getty Images)
