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NBCSN’s broadcasts of hockey games next season will have a decidedly different sound without Doc Emrick. He’s been a fixture on NBC Sports’ broadcasts for fifteen years, and fixture on New Jersey Devils broadcasts for years before that.
According to the NHL’s press release on Doc’s retirement, Emrick has called around 3750 hockey games, 22 Stanley Cup Finals, 45 playoff game sevens, 14 All-Star games, and 19 outdoor games. He’s also won eight Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Personality.
Doc, of course, called the Blues’ game seven Stanley Cup Final clincher last year.
Doc's call of Blues' Cup:
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 19, 2020
"And the Blues at the bench are realizing that they are going to be champions! Ten seconds to go! The longest wait for a first title any team in this league has had! For the first time in their history, the St. Louis Blues are the Stanley Cup champions!"
More notable than that call, though, is the affection Doc had for one member of the Blues in particular:
Doc’s a noted animal lover, who has even called play-by-play for his dogs. While there’s no hall of fame for pet broadcasting, Doc’s in the US Hockey Hall of Fame, among others, and will more than likely be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame before all is said and done.
It’d be a fitting end for the man Sports Illustrated named the greatest broadcaster of all time.