The New York hockey broadcasting world received big news on Tuesday, as Rangers broadcaster Sam Rosen announced his retirement following the 2024-25 season.
Following his departure after 40 years of broadcasts, he will leave an undeniable mark on New York hockey alongside New York Islanders voice Jiggs McDonald.
McDonald doesn’t quite have the longevity with the Islanders that Rosen does with the Rangers, spending 15 seasons as the full-time voice as the club. However, both voices are each well deserving of flowers for what they did on the microphone.
Across those 15 years, McDonald became synonymous with the Islanders’ dynasty. He was not on the microphone for the first of four Stanley Cup victories, but he was there for the last three championship wins, as well as their fifth-straight finals appearance in 1984.
Along the way, he was there for John Tonnelli’s heroics against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1982, Ken Morrow’s overtime goal against the Rangers in ’84 and the team’s deep playoff run in 1993.
His run as Islanders’ play-by-play man came to a close in 1996, when he made the move to call games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, but the team reconnected with McDonald in 2006.
Across the next 10 years, he appeared whenever then-broadcaster Howie Rose was away or calling games for the New York Mets. Ultimately, he made it an even 50 years of broadcasts in 2017.
Despite 2017 seemingly being his final call, he remained in the Islanders’ family and ultimately got two more chances to don the headset. In 2022, he called the team’s games with the Seattle Kraken and Columbus Blue Jackets, the latter being a 6-0 win where Anders Lee notched his first NHL hat trick.
Going across town, Rosen also made a similar mark on the Rangers. He stuck with the team through 40 years.
Both also had their moments working national broadcasts or for other teams.
McDonald filled in for New Jersey Devils games in the ‘80s along with his work in Toronto and Florida. Rosen also has work with NHL Radio and Westwood One, where he was ironically there for Jordan Eberle’s double-overtime goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Rosen will most certainly get his flowers throughout the season for what he did with the Rangers, but the Islanders also have a chance to honor their voice of the dynasty.
Whether it’s in the Islanders Hall of Fame or naming the team’s broadcast booth in his honor, it will certainly be a worthy recognition.
As a result, while McDonald may not have the same longevity Rosen has, he is an icon when it comes to the New York Islanders.
As his Rangers counterpart goes off into the sunset, it will mark the end of an era for New York hockey broadcasts.
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