Kings are practicing today

Sadly, I am at work. But THANK YOU 2 for always being there for us Kings fans! Happy New Year!!!

Okay for those transplants who watch the Kings on satellite or Center Ice this New Years day-off seems like a good time to make my list of best and worst NHL announcers...

And of course Bob & Jimbo are excluded because the more I listen to other announcers on Center Ice the more I really appreciate more than usual how good they are

Good
1)San Jose - Randy Hanh & color guy: As much as I hate the Sharks these guys are very amusing to listen to, pretty funny, and most importantly unbiased. You can tell they're pro-Sharks but they're willing to say the team looks bad or that the other team is playing well (a good trait that Bob Miller, Jimbo, and Nick Nickson have always done well)

2) Devils - Mike Emrick & Chico Resch - They get so genuinely excited during a game it's just awesome, also they're smart and Chico is a great color man

3) Bruins: Jack Edward & Andy Brickley - I love Jack from the ESPN days and anyone who describes a bouncing puck as "That thing jumped around like a Mexican jumping bean on speed" rocks in my books

4) honorable mention: Jim Hughson of the CBC, c'mon he's the voice of the EASports games too!

Bad
1) The Mighty Shmucks: Brian Hayward & the other guy - I'm not just saying it because I'm pro-King, it's funny the number of newsgroups that have said the same thing. It's also astonishing how much these two homers can speak without saying anything.

2) Sabres: Rick Jeanneret makes you feel like drinking a bottle of Vodka, finding a mirror, placing it on the ground, looking over it, and then vomiting all over the image of yourself. If you ever had the desire to visit Buffalo he helps sober you up to that stupid stupid idea.

3)Blue Jackets: These announcers are like Hillbillies on ice. Not only are they stupid they can't pronounce Kopitar's name right. I'm sorry but there are only two things I hate, the Dutch and people who can't say "Anze"

For more...
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/worst-announcers-of-the-nhl/4159702850

That's an interesting topic Shakes.

I actually emailed the head of Tampa Bay Lightning TV programming the other day after I listened to 1 period of their color guy in a game against the Flyers.

This guy was complaining about almost every whistle and every call the refs made, even the ones that went against Philly.

As I stated in my email to the Lightning, it was so bad I considered tuning away instead of listening to any more of this guy.

I have to agree with Shakes, Brian Hayward is the worst color man in the game, in the last 40 years I have watched Hockey. Sean Avery was right about that A-hole. When the King's aren't playing I am always tempted to watch the Ducks. Usually about ten minutes of watching and hearing that voice, the comments, I have to turn it off. Too bad, the Ducks play a great physical game.

You are right about Bob Miller & Foxy. I haven't heard such great play by play since growing up in Toronto listening to Foster Hewitt. No wonder Miller is in the Hockey Hall of Fame!!

Matt could you please try to find out what teams Rob Blake would consider to be the right teams or anything about that situation would be awesome

and to elaborate on bad #1, They love to praise the hell out of Gigure and Hiller and act like gigure falling to his knees not seeing a puck and having it hit the post is an awesome bit of goaltending work by either goalie, but then an incredible save on the other end is just ya know, a save. but to be fair i have noticed they have been calling games a little better lately...but of course they still can hardly watch a hockey game and call it at the same time without getting distracted for their love of any and all duck players.

I completely agree with the Sharks and Ducks announcers... Bob Miller and Jim Fox as well as Randy & his color guy as you put it makes the rivalries more interesting because they are unbiased, even though you know what they they are sided with, they still tell you when their own team is playing poorly and call the play how it is.

Also whenever the other team scores they still call the game with enthusiasm and promote the play the other team made unlike the Ducks announcers who only herald Ducks' goals and won't shutup about nonsense.

You are also right about the Blue Jacket's guys... It irritates me so much when they pronounce Anze's name incorrectly... It reminds me of the guys that did the voiceover's for NHL 08.. Everytime I here they call out to "COP-IT-ER" I cringe.

How anyone could like the Devils crew is beyond me. Emrick is fine but Chico Resch makes the game near unwatchable. Excitement is fine, but Chico is frequently so confused at what's going on on the ice that it bewilders me that he's a former player. I also don't like his voice.

i agree with the rest though. i'm also guessing that you, along with me, watched the Bruins/Thrashers game earlier. I like Edwards quite a bit, even if he comes across as a little nerdy and weird (same goes for Joe Beninati with Washington/Versus).

I'll also add that the Stars guys are pretty good. The Pacific division is a mixed bag. You have LA, SJ, and Dallas with good crews, and then Phoenix and Anaheim's crews are downright terrible.

I would have to say the best announcers outside of Bob and Jim are the Red Wings announcers.

Most teams have bad announcers though so for me it's almost a tie between all of the U.S.-based teams. But yes Ana-slime and Buffalo have the worst. But don't forget Nashville. Terry Crisp could not be much more annoying. And Darryl Reaugh out in Dallas is pretty damn terrible too.

At least with ESPN not showing hockey anymore we don't have to listen to Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Steve Levy anymore. If only the Coyotes had not hired Darren Pang.

When I was in DC from 2000-2003 the Caps had an awful play by play guy who used players' nicknames way too frequently. Don't remember his name, but it was painful to listen to him. Anyone know if he's still there? If so, I'm surprised that he didn't make Shakes' bad list (although perhaps nobody watches the Caps' feed very often anyway).

@Paul, great point about the Lightning announcer. He should announce a rodeo instead of a hockey game.

I also forgot to mention Darren Panger as the color man for the Coyotes. Phoenix is the one team in the league that makes me lose all enthusiasm for watching a game. I have no idea why, but Panger is a good listen.

@Maverick, very funny becasuse I totally thought I was the only one annoyed by NHL '08. It's painful that way they butcher Anze's name

I think one category I forgot to include was Maverick's point about announcers who are genuinely enthusiastic (within reason) when either team scores. In that way LA fans have been in heaven with Bob Miller, Chick Hearn, and Vin Sculley...

If I can add one more thing , I hate when color commentators talk too much during the action. I mean I know my TV has speakers but I don't need you to test them out during every second (if anyone watched the Pats/Giants game on Saturday you could tell that Cris Collinsworth did not receive a muzzle for Christmas)

Bob is the best because he calls a game on TV the same way he used to call it on the radio - as if you can't see anything. He never says "puck into the corner, Kings center it and a shot on goal," he describes every move and who made it, every time. That's an area where Hahn in San Jose doesn't even come close (I've watched them alot. They are funny, but they miss important calls).

I will cry when Bob hangs em up. Best we could hope for is Nick switches over to TV.

@Shakes

Exactly. Because they show enthusiasm for either side it proves that they not only love the team, but also the sport. They genuinely respect other teams, players, coaches, and overall organizations enough to give them their due in an exciting manner. That, I think, is the key to LA's success with commentators... They all love their sport almost as much as their team.