MSG Network will honor Sam Rosen’s 30th year as “The Voice of the Rangers” with a special program next month.
Premiering Friday, Jan. 31 at 10:30 p.m. after MSGN’s coverage of the Rangers-New York Islander from Madison Square Garden, This One Will Last a Lifetime: 30 Years of Sam Rosen will count down Rosen’s greatest calls from the Broadway Blueshirts’ broadcast booth interspersed with special testimonials from his friends and colleagues in the industry, former and current Rangers players and New York sports luminaries.
The 30-minute program will be hosted by Rosen’s current Rangers broadcast partner Joe Micheletti and former partner John Davidson (J.D.), who shared the booth with Rosen from 1986 to 2006.
On June 14, 1994 Rosen’s exclamation of "This one will last a lifetime!" joined sports' pantheon of famous play-by-play calls, one that will be celebrated in perpetuity by the nearly 2 million Rangers fans that tuned in that evening to watch the Rangers clinch the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years.
“From ‘this one will last a lifetime’ to ‘it’s a power play goal,’ Sam Rosen’s calls of Rangers hockey games have become synonymous with the franchise and have captivated multiple generations of Rangers fans,” said Daniel Ronayne, executive vice president and general manager, MSG Networks. “We look forward to celebrating Sam’s exceptional career as the ‘Voice of the Rangers’ with this special program in January.”
Rosen, who also works as a play-by-play announcer for Fox's coverage of the NFL, as well as the Stanley Cup Finals, the Eastern Conference Finals and the NHL All-Star Game on the NHL Radio Network, joined MSGN in 1977 as a part-time broadcaster before being hired full-time in 1982 to work as the studio host for Rangers telecasts and as a back-up radio play-by-play announcer. Rosen succeeded Jim Gordon in 1984, joining former Rangers star Phil Esposito in the booth. After Esposito’s departure in 1986, Rosen was paired with Davidson for the next 20 years. When Davidson left in 2006 to pursue a management position with the St. Louis Blues, Micheletti joined Rosen on the telecasts.
