Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s (I am 41 years old), I had two voices that narrated the hockey that I watched.
Those voices belonged to Sam Rosen and John Davidson. They partnered to broadcast New York Rangers games from 1986-2006 helping to form one of the best hockey broadcasting tandems in the industry.
Together, they taught the viewer about the Rangers and hockey in general. They made the games fun and exciting to watch and even in those lean years when the Blueshirts did not make the playoffs from the 1997-98 season through the 2003-04 season, they were still a broadcasting pair that delivered the best commentary night in and night out.
When the Rangers won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years in 1994, it felt like both Rosen and Davidson had won it too. They both poured their hearts and souls into that team that season and they ended up getting a police escort to the parade at New York’s City Hall.
It was a sad day for both hockey fans and Rangers fans when Davidson announced that he would be leaving the broadcasting booth to become the St. Louis Blues’ team President. The Rangers and their fans were in love with the duo of Rosen and Davidson, while hockey fans in general loved being able to watch Davidson call games nationally for the likes of Fox, NBC, ABC, CBC, Hockey Night in Canada, SportsChannel, and others.
This is not to say that Davidson’s replacement, Joe Micheletti, has been bad or anything like that. In my opinion, Micheletti is one of the best hockey analysts out there and I believe he has done an absolutely terrific job working with Rosen.
In fact, Rosen and Micheletti have been together for close to 20 seasons. In that time, they have formed an incredible partnership and have done an outstanding job of calling games together.
With Sam Rosen announcing in August that this would be retiring at the end of this season, I have an idea that I would like to present to the Rangers. It is one that they should seriously consider and one that they should easily accept.
For one game, I think Sam and Davidson should be reunited and call a game together. There are several reasons why I think this is a great idea.
For starters, it would be nostalgic. Sam and Davidson were partners for 20 years and would probably be able to pick up right where they left off.
Speaking of being able to pick up where they left off, they are both still terrific broadcasters. Davidson has filled in twice for Columbus Blue Jackets color analyst Jody Shelley this season and as expected, he was outstanding.
Lastly, it would be one great way for Rosen to close the door on his Rangers broadcasting career. When one thinks of the Rangers and broadcasting, they more than likely always think about Rosen and Davidson in the booth.
This is just an idea. With that said, the Rangers would be smart to try and make this happen not only because of how they unceremoniously let go of Davidson after the 2020-21 season, but also because it would probably bring a huge smile to Rosen’s face.
Let’s make this happen, folks!
