The NHL And NBC Need To Bring In Gary Thorne To Replace Doc Emerick As Soon As Possible
Last night I was doing what I always do...watching random hockey games and while I was enjoying the game it wasn't the same. I am starting to realize how much I miss Doc Emerick on the call. I always knew how great he was, but maybe I didn't appreciate it as much as I should've because this is the first time in my life I think I have truly missed a broadcaster. He has been the background noise to the last 16 or so years of my life. It's not that Forslund is bad. It's just that he doesn't have one of those voices. You hear certain voices and you know it's a big game. Musberger, Summeral, Keith Jackson, Costas has it, Nantz has it too, Al Michaels obviously has it. The guys that have the voice that can elevate an already incredible moment. Doc Emerick was absolutely in that class. A Hall Of Fame voice for the NHL and there just isn't an heir apparent. Filling Doc's shoes is impossible. A new voice won't be the same. That's why the NHL needs to go back to an old voice. Enter:
The exact same tweet about two different guys almost 4 years apart. This is like the Big Cat joke with the McConaughey quote from Interstellar. Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards. Doc was the background noise to my life the last 16 years, but before that, when the NHL was on ESPN/ABC the man who helped me fall in love with hockey and the NHL was Gary Thorne. I have his voice burned into my brain. "He said we will win game 6, he has just picked up a hat trick", Gretzky scoring 802, Sakic passing the Cup to Bourque, Yzerman scoring to beat the Blues in Game 7 2OT. All of those moments from my childhood were made extra special by Gary Thorne. He's the only guy in American hockey broadcasting that can hold a candle to Doc and as luck would have it…those IDIOTS in Baltimore didn't renew his contract.
Gary Thorne is available. The NHL needs a premier voice now that Doc has retired. It seems like the perfect marriage(with the exception of the NHL's deal with NBC coming to an end soon). Sync up his contract with the end of the TV deal and make it happen. As much as I love Doc, I think with a gun to my head I like Gary Thorne more. That could be the nostalgia talking, but when I play videos like the one below my opinion on that only strengthens. Give me Thorne with Edzo and call it a day.