As a boy growing up in Brooklyn, Sam Rosen spent his share of Sunday afternoons during hockey season standing outside Madison Square Garden waiting for the doors to open at 4:30. Once inside the world’s most famous arena, he would hustle up the stairs to snag a seat in one of the first two rows as close to center ice as possible to watch his beloved Rangers play.
“You wanted to be in the first two rows because if you sat beyond that, you missed part of the ice,” Rosen recalled.
Little did he know at the time but he would go on to spend more than 40 years watching NHL games from a perch high above the Garden’s ice as the voice of the Rangers.
“I grew up as a fan, and it then became a big part of my life as I became a broadcaster,” said Rosen, who announced that he would be stepping away from the microphone at the end of the season, ending one of the most storied careers in the history of broadcast journalism.
“To be able to do hockey games at Madison Square Garden was basically a surreal situation where here I was, a kid growing up in New York City and being a Rangers fan to now calling the games of the team. When you start out, you never know how long it’s going to last. For me, it’s lasted over 40 years, and it’s been a thrill.”
In honor of his impact on the game and his profession, the NHL presented Rosen with the Lester Patrick Award for his service to the growth of hockey in the United States. The award was presented during the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Pittsburgh on Dec. 4.
“When something like this comes along you realize that you’ve had the impact on people who love the game, on people who are fans of the game, that you’ve brought people into the game and people are saying they appreciate all that I’ve done,” he said. “My contribution is to bring enjoyment and to get people to feel the same things that I feel about the game.”
His passion for all things hockey became a year-round obsession during the summer months as he would sit in the bleachers at Borough Park watching spirited neighborhood clashes on the roller hockey rink.
“Those were fun games to watch and be around,” he recalled. “We played ball hockey in the school yard, but to watch those roller hockey games on Sunday afternoon it grew the appeal of hockey in the sport itself that there was hitting involved. It was a tough but fast-paced game, and it was part of the growth of liking the sport.”
His passion for playing various sports and cheering on the local teams followed the seasons; baseball and the Yankees held a special place in his heart. He played baseball at the City College of New York, and after graduating landed a job in the WINS newsroom. It was there that he met Jim Gordon, who spent his days as the station’s morning news anchor and his evenings at MSG calling Knicks’ basketball games before becoming the Rangers’ full-time play-by-play announcer.
Rosen would record practice tapes of himself calling games and send them to his friend and mentor to critique. He would eventually be tabbed to serve as the backup hockey announcer, filling in for the legendary Marv Albert on radio and Gordon on television. In 1979, he was in the right place at the right time to get in on the ground floor of a new all-sports television station called ESPN and was hired as a play-by-play announcer for Washington Capitals and Hartford Whalers games.
Over the next four decades Rosen would have a bird’s-eye view to some of the greatest moments in the game, including the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, which he covered for ESPN. The impact of the “miracle on ice” not only left a lasting impression on the veteran broadcaster but also set the wheels in motion for the growth of hockey in the United States.
“It created opportunities for better athletes to become hockey players, and I think we’re seeing that now,” he said. “The outgrowth of that is the game is better than ever, faster than ever, more skilled than ever. That’s because the game has been opened up so that you don’t have to be a big guy, but if you are, you still have to be able to skate. Now, skating and speed is so much a part of the game.”
As the game continues to expand and grow, Rosen is proud to see an influx in the number of fellow New Yorkers make their mark in the game, from long-time Rangers favorite Nick Fotiu, to current all-star defenders Adam Fox and Charlie McAvoy.
“Wherever we go around the country there are guys from California, Arizona and Texas who are able to play hockey because the sport has grown, the opportunities have grown, and therefore we’re getting great athletes. It’s exciting to see,” Rosen said.
With more than 40 years of broadcast experience under his belt, Rosen has a treasure trove of memories from his time calling games for both the Rangers and NHL Radio. And while he is quick to recount some of the biggest games he’s covered over the years, he said nothing compares to calling the Game 7 victory in the 1994 Stanley Cup finals that gave the Rangers and their fans their first title in 40 years.
“The waiting is over! The New York Rangers are the Stanley Cup champions! And this one will last a lifetime,” roared Rosen, whose legendary call has been woven into the fabric of the Original Six franchise and the NHL.
“It doesn’t get more thrilling than that. That’s the ultimate moment,” said the lifelong Rangers fan. “There have been great moments through the years and I’ve been very lucky to be part of them.”