Sam Rosen to call Rangers vs. Lightning on ESPN New York Radio

“I’m in on the action,” Sam Rosen said on Tuesday. “That’s all that matters.”

This was the day after he was in Raleigh for Game 7 of the Rangers’ second-round series against the Hurricanes and the day before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning at Madison Square Garden.

And for Rosen, a colleague’s scheduling conflict had opened the door for him to call at least the first four games of the series on ESPN New York radio.

Kenny Albert, the Rangers’ usual play-by-play man, now is Turner’s lead announcer, and he has been assigned to the Western Conference Final between the Avalanche and Oilers that begins Tuesday night.

Trying to commute between Denver, New York, Edmonton and Tampa Bay was a logistical non-starter, so Rosen — MSG Networks’ longtime Rangers play-by-play man — was tabbed to back up Albert alongside analyst Dave Maloney.

Rosen has filled in sporadically before, including for Games 3 and 7 of the second round this season, but this will be his longest extended stretch spelling Albert.

That is no small thing, as local TV announcers — and fans who enjoy their work — often are frustrated when their teams make deep playoff runs and national outlets take over. (MSG carried the first round series against the Penguins, but then ceded exclusive coverage to ESPN.)

Rosen, 74, felt that acutely in 2014 and ’15, when the Rangers reached the Stanley Cup Final and then the Eastern Conference Final and he was limited to a small role on postgame shows. Now he is in the middle of it again.

“That was little stuff [in ’14 and ’15],” he said. “Being able to call the games, that's great. I mean, that's where the action is. That's where you feel like you're part of what’s happening, part of this entire run. You can sense the excitement. It just keeps building.”

Rosen felt so strongly about being as involved as possible that he had it written into his contract with MSG that when Albert needs a backup, he gets the call.

“With my long standing with the Garden and with the Rangers, I felt it wasn't wrong to ask that that be part of the deal,” he said.

Rosen is a popular figure among fans, and his call of the 1994 Cup-clinching is a part of franchise lore. (That was the last time a local TV channel was allowed to carry the Final.)

“The fans have been great,” he said. “They are so into it. And they're so positive, whether it’s coming out of the Garden or going in for a game, and even on the road.

“[Monday] night there were a lot of Ranger fans at the game [in Raleigh] and when you see them and they say hello and you hear the comments it’s, ‘We wish you were doing the games. We miss you and Joe [Micheletti] . . . It’s rewarding knowing that we have an impact on them and that they appreciate all that we do.”

If the Western final ends earlier than the East, Albert could return later in the series, so Rosen’s status for potential Games 5, 6 and 7 is undetermined. And if the Rangers advance to the Final, Albert will be back on the radio, because ABC will show the Final on TV. (Turner has it next year.)

Rosen would be fine with that. “For the Final,” he said, “I’ll beg for any role I can get.”

John Giannone and Steve Valiquette will be in the MSG studios for pregame and postgame coverage of every game of the series. Marty Biron will join them for Game 1. 

Henrik Lundqvist will be in-studio for MSG for Games 2 and 4.

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.