NEW YORK -- Sam Rosen developed his love for hockey as a kid in Brooklyn who took the subway with friends to the old Madison Square Garden every Sunday, handing over 50 cents so he could watch the New York Rangers.
"The admiration I had for those players and what they could do is at the height of anything I could think of," Rosen said.
Rosen, an athlete himself in his formative years, a baseball player at Stuyvesant High School and the City College of New York, was transfixed because hockey incorporated something he couldn't do.
"I never was able to skate," he said. "It wasn't something that was available easily to us as kids growing up in Brooklyn."
He instead made a career out of watching other athletes skate, becoming a legend in his own city, a Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster who is now being recognized as a national treasure in the game.
Rosen will receive the prestigious Lester Patrick Trophy presented annually to a recipient for outstanding service to hockey in the United States when he is honored at the United States Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
The 77-year-old Rosen, in his 40th and final season as the television play-by-play voice of the Rangers on MSG Networks, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016 as the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.
"It's really an awesome thing," Rosen said of the Lester Patrick Trophy. "When something like this comes along you realize that you've had the impact on people who love the game, on people who are fans of the game, that you've brought people into the game and people are saying they appreciate all that I've done. My contribution is to bring enjoyment and to get people to feel the same things that I feel about the game.
“I love the game. I love the sport. I love the athletes. And if I can transmit some of that to the viewers, the listeners, then I've done the job that I've wanted to do and I'm very proud of that. I'm humbled by getting an award like this where the hockey community is saying we recognize that you've contributed to our sport in some fashion."
Rosen has been the television voice of the Rangers on a full-time basis since the 1984-85 season and part-time from 1977-84.
He was a national voice for hockey on NHL Radio, calling the Stanley Cup Final for 13 years from 1996-2008, as well as national games on ESPN and the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. He covered the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics as a reporter for United Press International.
Rosen called NFL games for FOX from 1997-2019 and boxing on MSG Networks from 1982-93.
"Sam is, in my opinion, one of the best to ever call hockey play-by-play," said Kenny Albert, who is the Rangers radio play-by-play broadcaster along with his national role as the lead play-by-play voice for TNT. "He has been the soundtrack of Rangers hockey for generations of fans. Sam is so passionate about the sport of hockey and his craft. He has attended thousands of practices and morning skates through the years to pick up anecdotes and tidbits to weave into the broadcasts. I am proud to say we have been colleagues at MSG Networks for three decades, and Fox Sports as well. Countless team charter flights sitting next to each other talking sports."
Albert is one of the many broadcasters Rosen has influenced during his long career.
Rosen hears from them regularly on the NHL circuit, especially this season as he is going through it for the final time.
John Kelly, the longtime television voice of the St. Louis Blues, recalled traveling and working with Rosen during the 1988-89 season as the Rangers part-time radio play-by-play broadcaster.
"I think aside from him being an excellent broadcaster, he's a nice man," Kelly said. "I think that's the big reason why so many people that know him personally admire him because he has time for everybody and he's just a nice person. It goes a long way and that's why he's been around for so long and why he has been with one team for so long. Everyone likes the guy."
Eddie Olczyk talks about how prideful he is that he used to call games with Rosen on NHL Radio.
"It's his longevity and the standard and energy with which he calls every game," Olczyk said. "He has legendary status."
Joe Micheletti, who has been next to Rosen in the MSG Networks broadcast booth for Rangers games since 2005, still marvels at his partner's passion and preparedness.
"His absolute love of the sport and his feelings for the sport come through on every broadcast," Micheletti said. "Despite his love for the team that he has covered for 40 years, his approach to broadcasting and selling the sport has always been broad, worldwide.
“He never forgets that there are two teams playing and that the other teams feature great players with wonderful life stories. Because of his passion and his work ethic he has earned the respect of fans, players, coaches, GMs and owners."
To hear all of that makes Rosen swell with pride.
"It means they look at me and respect what I do, appreciate what I do, and feel that they're encouraged by what I've done in my career to do similar things, to achieve things, to promote the sport, to be involved," Rosen said. "If I've done that, if I've encouraged people to go on and further their careers, then that to me is really great satisfaction."
Part of what they've learned from Rosen is what Albert talked about, his desire to learn about the players he talks about on the broadcast.
Rosen calls it his favorite part of the job.
"They all have stories," he said. "Whether it's the kid from Finland or Sweden or Slovenia or Russia or Germany or California or some little town in Canada, wherever they came from they all have a story of how they achieved this success to play at the top of their profession. I really love being around the players and watching them work."
It's Rosen's work that has taken him to the top of his profession in a sport he loves.
"First the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2016 and now the Lester Patrick Trophy, both very well deserved," Albert said. "The memories of his calls will last a lifetime."
