(source of original picture: http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2010/10/christine_simpson_joins_devils.html )
MSG Network lost a legend today as long-time Devils announcer Mike “Doc” Emrick became a full-time play-by-play man with NBC and Versus. This creates a vacancy for the Devils and their play-by-play man. Luckily, I’ve done all the work already and obtained MSG’s list of potential candidates to find Emrick’s successor.
Steve Cangialosi (Last job: Devils pre-game TV host)
Why he deserves the job – He’s worked with the Devils for many years now, and hasn’t gotten the big promotion yet.
Why he should not get the job – The last time the Devils promoted a guy after that length of time resulted in his firing 33 games later.
Verdict – No way. His voice is more colorful than Don Cherry’s suits. Okay, well, most of Don Cherry’s suits…
Matt Loughlin (Last job: Devils radio announcer)
Why he deserves the job – Like Cangialosi, he has worked with the Devils for a long time on both the television and radio side.
Why he should not get the job – At times, he has a difficult time with name pronunciations. It’s not as if any former Devils broadcaster ever had that problem…
Verdict – His alumni status with MSG warrants further consideration.
Jim Hughson (Last job: CBC Hockey Night in Canada announcer)
Why he deserves the job – Many employees involving the Devils have come from Toronto and Montreal. Hughson would continue Devils' tradition.
Why he should not get the job – His voice is a constant wavelength of changes in the pitch of his voice. He is simply not consistent.
Verdict – Imagine Hughson with Craig Simpson. Now imagine Hughson with Chico Resch. Exactly…
Stan Fischler (Last job: MSG employee, or something like that)
Why he deserves the job – He’s witnessed every great moment in hockey history since the Original Six were once known as Toronto, Montreal, Montreal, some American city south of Toronto and Montreal and two other cities we can’t remember.
Why he should not get the job – He would compare every hockey game to either a playoff game from 1947 (supposedly his first season as a hockey fan) or an incident in the New York City subway system.
Verdict – Not a chance. Stan should stick to doing whatever he does now…whatever that may be.
Peter Loubardias (Last job: Calgary Flames announcer)
Why he deserves the job – Another former broadcaster of a Canadian hockey team, he has experience covering a team that throws around more No Trade Clauses than Toronto fans throw waffles.
Why he should not get the job – New Jersey is a big culture shock, and as a Calgary-born Devils alumni coach will tell you, people can get very homesick in New Jersey.
Verdict – There are certainly worse choices. Some of those people are the people listed above.
Steve Goldstein (Last job: Florida Panthers announcer)
Why he deserves the job – He’s one of the very few people who has actually seen Pete DeBoer coach in person.
Why he should not get the job – He is still under contract with the Panthers’ TV group and nobody associated with the Devils would ever try to do anything illegal with contracts.
Verdict – Let him stay with the Panthers. It’s a safer job than anything with the Devils anyway.
Glenn “Chico” Resch (Last job: Devils analyst)
Why he deserves the job – He talks more than most play-by-play announcers and analysts do combined.
Why he should not get the job – By the second period of opening night, that could become irritating.
Verdict – Have you ever sprayed gasoline to put out a fire? Well, I think you get my point.
Gary Thorne (Last job: Orioles baseball announcer)
Why he deserves the job – He worked for ESPN for many years, and became an expert with the Devils after they kept appearing in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Why he should not get the job – He works for ESPN, therefore there is a chance that he is influenced by Scott Burnside (which, in case you did not know, is a very bad thing).
Verdict – Sign him now, before another the league locks out again and Thorne is sent to the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate.
Jim Jackson (Last job: Flyers announcer)
Why he deserves the job – Jim previously worked for the Utica Devils back in the day before going to the dark side.
Why he should not get the job – If a television’s volume reaches any sort of volume that a human is capable of hearing, he will wake up any sleeping person within 50 miles during every net mouth scramble.
Verdict – Nobody in the New York area sleeps anyway. Let him keep Philadelphia awake.
Down Goes Spezza (Last job: independent hockey blogger)
Why he deserves the job – He nominated himself for the position (which automatically disqualifies him), and if you think about it, having a Flyers fan announce Devils games could work…barring you have earplugs on throughout each game.
Why he should not get the job – His favorite color is orange and his elbow has a Chris Pronger tattoo on it.*
Verdict – He knows what Corsi (advanced hockey statistic) is. If he mentioned that on air, listeners’ houses might explode in confusion.
* Not confirmed.
