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Evan Hawkins

Professor Micciche

ENGL 3076

10 April 2018

Hall of Fame Hockey Harangue

Recent years have placed Mike “Doc” Emrick at the pinnacle of hockey reporting.

Emrick, the first media member to be inducted into the US Hockey Hall of fame on December

12th, 2011, has been calling games for over 40 years, and was never a hockey player. He has

been with the New Jersey Devils organization from 1993-2011 and has recently been calling

games for NHL games on NBC (Mike Emrick) and even has a PhD in sports broadcasting,

something rare in the sports communication world. (Deitsch). Emrick, “one of the most

recognizable voices in sports,” has been calling the Stanley Cup series for 13 years. He’s called

23 game sevens in the NHL playoffs, which are extremely important since they are broadcast on

NBC every other night for about a week (MIKE "DOC" EMRICK). In case one is unfamiliar

with the Stanley Cup finals, the viewership in 2017 was on average 4.762 million viewers during

the whole six-game final series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators

(2017 STANLEY CUP FINAL IS MOST-WATCHED FINAL ON RECORD WITHOUT AN

ORIGINAL SIX TEAM). With 23 Stanley Cup finals in his back pocket, along with 40 years of

hockey announcing experience, his expertise and play-by-play experience do not just stay within

the bounds of an ice rink. Emrick has done water polo play-by-play in the 2004 and 2012

Olympics, as well as doing the play-by-play on the EA Sports NHL games and in addition, “His

other sports broadcasting credits include covering the NFL, NCAA men’s basketball, track and
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luge” (Mike Emrick). In his entire career, he has done the play-by-plays for over 3000 games

(NBCS Press Box) and thousands more games if you include video games. His voice and his

anecdotes have become the voice of hockey and NBC announcing and go far beyond the skills of

many sports broadcasters, knowing that he has won five Emmy Awards for “best sports play-by-

play personality.” (Mike Emrick). The background that Emrick has is fascinating and taking an

in-depth look into his style and voice will help to further establish his credibility and his

uniqueness within the sports realm.

Emrick’s credentials are impressive and his skills are interesting to note. For example, he

has been known to use high numbers of verbs in his play-by-plays, including a time when he

used 153 verbs to

describe puck

movement during the

USA-Canada gold

medal game in the 2014

Winter Olympics. NPR

writer Frank Deford,

writes, “hockey is
Picture from Stephen Douglas on Biglead.com
surely as fast a game as

any — but somehow, even during line changes, or the chaos of a scramble for a puck behind the

cage, Doc is able to speak in coherent sentences, complete with subordinate clauses, even turning

a clever phrase as the puck clears, and he is able to catch his mind.” Compared to soccer and

baseball, which are slower games, Doc can not only use and think of various verbs to describe

the thrashing, slashing (a penalty of a pun) and mashing of a hockey game, but also keep up with
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the plays. “Emrick is loquacious. Hockey is a fast sport where the players are in near-constant

motion, lending itself to wordiness” (Sandomir) With comparison to baseball for example, which

is a player-centric game in the play-by-play world, Doc focuses more on the plays than the

athletes skating on the ice. The highlights of game seven of the 2017 World Series are far more

concerned about the players and what they are doing rather than the scene being set by Doc when

he announces hockey in the 2017 Stanley Cup game seven highlights.

When listening to Doc do play-by-play in the video linked above, he starts off the

highlights saying, “delved back along to the pitch back… they flicked across straight on by

Fisher, given across to Wilson and shot!” The verbiage used by Doc is fascinating. He uses

direction (saying “across straight”) and speed (“flicked”) in the words he chooses to describe the

way the puck is moving on the ice. In comparison the first line from the World Series highlight,

linked above as well, which begins with a player, and not an action. “Springer homers for the

fourth straight game.” There is no sense of direction, speed, or action. While some may argue

that the videos show it all and there is no need for description of the plays, Doc goes above and

beyond and still describes what happens in full detail.

To look at some examples of Doc’s calls, a good place to start is the Winter Classic, a

famous outdoor hockey game played on the 1st of the year. A well-documented Winter Classic

between the Red Wings of Detroit and the Toronto Maple Leafs (both Original Six Teams), has

some clippings of his descriptive and witty play-by-play. For context the game was played at The

Big House (University of Michigan Ann Arbor’s football stadium) with a crowd of 105,491.

"Gliding out to the 50! To the 40! Zetterberg to the 30,” said Emrick, who uses football lingo to

describe the movement made by Henrik Zetterberg of the Red Wings. Doc chose the word

“gliding” to describe the movement of Zetterberg’s skates and the numbers to indicate the
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breakaway that is happening. Not only is it humorous to use the football vernacular to describe

the game of hockey, but it also describes the scene. Doc intimately describes the picture and so

that one that was not watching television in that exact moment but could listen to it, they would

know exactly what was happening. Emrick also said, “Stymied was Cleary. He goes to the front

of the net; that's where trouble sometimes comes. He is minus 10 teeth that he had a week ago...

He was more concerned about the exposed nerve in the cold in Ann Arbor, moreso than he was

about the pain of all the lost teeth and the stitches. They are tough in Newfoundland, are they

not?” He describes the effect of a play on former Red Wing, Daniel Cleary, using the word

“stymied” to describe the scene in front of the net, which could indicate that Cleary was either hit

or had the puck stolen from him. He then goes into commentary on the player’s life and the

picture of pain that Cleary is going through to convey a description that paints a picture of

brutality and violence. Doc’s artistry is making a scene unfold before the listener’s ears and he

accomplishes such a feat by using his words and descriptions carefully and thoughtfully.

During the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers’ Stanley Cup series in 2010,

Doc was in action giving play-by-play on every goal. Doc had said this when describing

Chicago’s first goal in game one: “back in the white jersey, this is laid back in. Hossa trying to

pull free from Brian Boucher and does… Marian Hossa gives it. DRIVE, SCORE ( with a voice

crack)! Brouwer!” Doc uses the term “white jersey” to describe the Flyers player and it is an

informal way to do so. He could have said the player’s name or the “Flyers player,” but he

chooses not to. This helps to give his style one that is playful and informal, with Doc playing

around with his word choice. He uses the words “pull free” to describe Hossa’s position from

Boucher, as if he was captured. Hossa gives “it,” with “it” referring to the puck. Emrick’s use of

“it” is customary for him to use when describing the puck. For example: “Arvidsen trying to play
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it to the Preds. Domoulin is down there. Forced back off the boards and Subban can’t catch up to

it. Along comes Hagelin, moving on edge, and he scores!” In this example, Doc refers the puck

as “it,” being economical in his word choice, and uses the vague phrase, “down there,” to

describe the position of the puck behind the Penguins net. While the viewers understand where

the puck is, the listeners may have a hard time with this, but if one is familiar with a rink, one

could infer that Doc is talking about the area behind the net.

When it comes to power words, Doc’s signature word of power is “SCORE(S),” which is

an important part of the games action. Not only does he use the word “score(s)” but he uses his

annunciation of nouns to draw power into his sentences. “Brodeur now heads to the bench; six

attackers. McHammond on the outside, gets it back from Kovalchuck. Across, drive, SCORE!”

Notice the emphasis drawn on the nouns and the actions. Doc, while similarly to baseball

announcers, does use the names of the players, but only to describe where the puck is. He uses

the names and nouns, such as “bench,” “attackers” and “it” to get a rhythm and pace set for his

announcing. The intonation in his voice and when he decides to be louder is important and Doc

does a great job in using the volume to make power words more explosive. The words he

explodes in, from the last example, are “across, drives, scores!” He starts off softer in the first

word and by the time the goal is scored, the crowd is in their feet and Doc shouts the word

“score.” “They are Emrick’s arias: dramatic tales of passes, shots, checks, crashes into boards,

saves, interceptions, goals and line changes accentuated by the sound — ‘OhhhhHHHHHHH!’

— of his internal thermostat rapidly heating up, as if close to exploding. He hits his highest note

with variations on a single word: ‘SCORES!’” (Sandomir) Like Sandomir’s description, the last

video example starts off at a leisurely pace and ends abruptly at a climax when Travis Zajac

scores. As a way to show the manner in which Emrick does his intonations, it would look
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somewhat like this: ___/----/^^^^. He starts off in a lull and then works his way up to a peak the

sometimes clips the microphone. Doc regularly does this and any video example will show that.

Doc also has a way of being humorous in the way he talks and adds in personal anecdotes

in his play-by-play to lighten the atmosphere and to make the experience of watching the game

on your couch one that is social. As example, Doc said "Carried up by Paul Ranger, and the tiger

face guy is able to trickle one into the corner…It was Paul Ranger who, in his schoolboy days,

had a snowball fight that I guess involved the cafeteria employee or something. Got in a little bit

of trouble for that, but who doesn't when they're younger?" (Treadway). Doc’s background

knowledge and humor makes the experience of listening to his play-by-play as if one is chatting

with an old friend. It is fun, interactive, and humorous the things that come out of Doc’s mouth.

Calling Paul Ranger, “the tiger face guy” evokes a response and it is one that will be either a

laugh or a chuckle. While the action is on the ice, Doc takes time, especially in down time, to

bring in anecdotes. These moments help to concrete Doc Emrick as the not only one of the most

recognizable voices in sports, but also one of the friendliest. With that in mind, he talks with

much humor and does not celebrate any team over the other, only celebrating good hockey.

With Doc’s expertise in the field of play-by-play, he sets a higher bar for the rest of the

NBCSN staff and other hockey announcers out in the world. He matters because his style is one

that draws the listener in and it helps create a social experience between the listener and speaker.

Doc’s intonation, informality, and rhythm is something that sets him apart from many other

broadcasters in the sports realm. Listening to Doc yell, “score,” paint a picture, or use an

assortment of verbs is an incredible experience. It simulates talking to an old friend, with his

personal anecdotes, and that friend never tells the wrong statistics or facts either. In fact, Emrick
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has a “color-coded, handwritten cheat sheet” and he has facts such as birthdays and other facts

and “it has the scores of the games, the home and road records, overtime records, who’s leading

the league” (Fox) as well. However, Emrick’s voice and style go past a simple cheat sheet and

what he has done for the sport is important. Since in the last Stanley Cup there were, on average,

4.762 million viewers, it means his voice has been heard by many and his style and voice has

impacted their experience, growing their own love for the sport and for great play-by-play.

Emrick’s hall of fame personality as well as his play-by-play has launched him in to the realm of

great sportscasters and he will continue to be helping other fall in love with the sport he loves so

dearly as well. Doc creates a community in his play-by-play and he makes sure to include

everyone in it.
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Works Cited

Deford, Frank. “Hockey's Doc Emrick And His 153 Verbs.” NPR, 31 December 2014.

Deitsch, Richard. “Love of hockey took Mike Emrick from Fort Wayne to NHL” Sports

Illustrated, 1 June 2011, https://www.si.com/nhl/2011/06/01/nhl-nbc-broadcaster-mike-

doc-emrick-career-path-fort-wayne..

Douglas, Stephen. “153 Verbs Picture” Big Lead, 21 February 2014,

https://thebiglead.com/2014/02/21/doc-emrick-used-153-words-to-describe-puck-

movement-in-the-usa-canada-game/. .

Fox, Luke. “Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick explains his play-by-play cheat sheet.” Sports Net, 13 June

2015, https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/mike-doc-emrick-nbc-sports-play-by-play-

cheat-sheet-hockey-nhl-commentator-tampa-bay-lightning-blackhawks/.

NBC Sports Group. “2017 STANLEY CUP FINAL IS MOST-WATCHED FINAL ON

RECORD WITHOUT AN ORIGINAL SIX TEAM”. NBS Sports Press Group, 12 June

2017, http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2017/06/12/2017-stanley-cup-final-is-most-

watched-final-on-record-without-an-original-six-team/.

NBC Sports Group. “MIKE EMRICK.” NBC Sports Press Group, 2018,

http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/bio/mike-emrick/.

Sandomir, Richard. “Hockey’s Highs and Lows From a Maestro of the Mic.” New York Times,

31 May 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/sports/hockey/mike-emrick-is-

hockeys-maestro-of-the-microphone.html.
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Treadway, Dan. “‘Zetterberg to the 30!’: Here Are the Best Doc Emrick Musings From the

Winter Classic.” Sports Illustrated, 2 January 2014, https://www.si.com/extra-m

ustard/2014/01/02/doc-emerick-winter-classic.

USA Hockey Hall of Fame. “Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick.” 2018,

https://www.ushockeyhalloffame.com/page/show/833583-mike-doc-emrick.