Rangers broadcaster Sam Rosen to retire after this upcoming season

Sam Rosen will retire as the Rangers’ lead play-by-play voice after the 2024-25 season, his 40th on the job, MSG Networks announced on Tuesday.

Rosen, who turned 77 on Monday, has held the job since the 1984-85 season when he succeeded Jim Gordon after previously serving as a studio host.

No successor was named, but the prohibitive favorite is Kenny Albert, the team’s longtime radio play-by-play man.

Rosen said he began considering retirement when his wife threw a surprise party for his 75h birthday.

“Suddenly with friends around, you start thinking about, 'OK, how do you want to wind this up?' ” Rosen said Tuesday on a call with a small group of reporters. “I kind of said, 'It's getting to that stage where you want to wind up and go out on top.'

“My feeling is that my performances have been good, and I've loved every minute of it. It’s a time where, as you get a little older, you miss some time with your family.”

Rosen has two grandsons who live in the New York area and two granddaughters in Phoenix.

“Fans have been great, and they've been so complimentary,” he said. “They've inspired me, and I realize that I've touched a lot of people, and it's now time to say thank you very much, and put a big, big bow on it.”

Rosen said he wanted to make the announcement well in advance of his last season “to give everyone a heads-up.”

“The network certainly wants to make this just a nice finish to what has been a magical time for me and a wonderful time virtually every year that I've done this,” he said.

Rosen is a longtime fan favorite whose signature phrase is an emphasized “It’s a power-play goal!” whenever the Rangers score with the man advantage.

His most famous line came when the Rangers secured the 1994 Stanley Cup with a Game 7 victory over the Canucks — their only Cup since 1940.

“The waiting is over!” he said on MSG. “The New York Rangers are the Stanley Cup champions . . . and this one will last a lifetime!”

Rosen began as MSG’s full-time Rangers announcer with a 4-4 tie against the Whalers on Oct. 11, 1984, at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers’ last scheduled regular-season game for ’24-25 is April 17 against the Lightning at the Garden. 

MSG Networks president Andrea Greenberg said the network will celebrate Rosen throughout the coming season. "Sam’s love of hockey and for the New York Rangers, together with his distinctive voice, enthusiasm and impeccable sense of timing, have been a unique gift to hockey fans throughout his amazing Hall of Fame career,” she said.

He received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016.

“Sam will forever be connected with New York Rangers hockey and Sam and his family will always be a part of our Rangers family,” team president Chris Drury said in a news release.

Said Rosen’s longtime analyst, Joe Micheletti: “You’ve made all of those that work with you better people and you’ve helped us all reach heights that would not have been achievable without your support.

“You have included all of us on your crowded list of friends. For all these reasons and many more, your legacy will last a lifetime.”

Rosen said he would not have believed it had someone told him in 1984 that he still would be at it in 2024.

“It’s been a total enjoyment and a wonderful ride,” he said. “To be involved in sports the way I have been has been just a thrill of a lifetime.”

Rosen said his “this one will last a lifetime” line was meant to convey that no matter how many more Cups the Rangers won, the thrill of 1994 would last forever.

Thirty years later, he would like one more for the road. “I'm certainly hoping,” he said, “that maybe we'll go out with another one for this season.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.