from Richard Deistsch of Sports Illustrated,
THE PICK: Mike Emrick (NBC Sports)
Emrick has been praised often in this space over the years. The rare sports broadcaster exalted both by fans and critics, he had another exceptional year in 2014 including calling the Olympic hockey tournament and the Stanley Cup playoffs. The latter was exhausting: Emrick called one overtime game in the opening round (Game 4 between the Bruins and Red Wings), one overtime game in the second round (Game 1, Rangers-Penguins), two overtime games in the conference finals (Games 3 and 4 between the Rangers-Canadians) and two overtime games in Stanley Cup Finals (Games 2 and the clinching Game 5 between the Rangers-Kings).
What struck me most this year about Emrick during the playoffs was when he chose silence. He stopped talking for 1 minute and 50 seconds following his call of Alec Martinez's Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Kings. Viewers heard crowd horns blaring, Kings players' whooping it up on the ice, and the winning goal announcement from the public address announcer. What they did not hear was Emrick, which was perfect. During games, he is part wordsmith, part historian, but most of all, he is the consummate professional.
more on the numerous awards and nice to see Tim Thompson getting a mention too...
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