It's the end of an era at MSG. Sam Rosen, the Rangers' longtime and Hall of Fame broadcaster, announced Tuesday that this season, his 40th, will be his last in the booth. Citing a desire to spend more time with his family and go out on top, Rosen made the mildly surprising announcement during a conference call with local media
“So it’s time to spend a little more time with my wife, with my family and to go out on top,” Rosen said. “Fans have been great and they’ve been so complimentary and they’ve inspired me. 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 because I think everyone is in agreement at the Garden and at the network that this will be a big finish and I’m hoping the Rangers will have a big year to cap it all off.”
Rosen has shown some signs of slippage the last few years but still has a pretty good fastball, despite the occasional gaffe or mistake. Having called more than 3,000 Rangers' games in his stellar career, Rosen also covered soccer for the Cosmos and football nationally. In 2016, Rosen was deservedly named the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winner, earning him a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame
After starting his broadcasting career at WINS radio while still in college, Rosen served as a sportscaster for UPI Audio and began at MSG Networks in 1977. Rosen became the Rangers studio host and part-time radio play-by-play announcer in 1982. Two years later, he replaced Jim Gordon as the Rangers’ lead TV voice, with his first game, a 4-4 tie against the Whalers on Oct. 11, 1984, at Madison Square Garden. After spending two seasons with Phil Esposito on color commentary, Rosen worked alongside John Davidson for 20 seasons and will be starting season 19 with Joe Micheletti in October. Rosen's name is synonymous with the Rangers.
Rosen's signature call, it's a power-play goal, started all the way back in 1987-88. His most famous expression was at the end of Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final, “The waiting is over! The New York Rangers are the Stanley Cup Champions! And this one will last a lifetime!” What's ironic is that this was his second call. His first came on the prior play when a clear down the ice was ruled an icing. That call did not include "And this one will last a lifetime," a statement that some say is why New York has yet to win a Cup since.
Kenny Albert, the Rangers’ radio play-by-play man on radio for the past 28 years and the pre-eminent national announcer for hockey, is the odds-on favorite to replace Rosen. While Albert is the Rangers voice, he is the lead TV voice for TNT Sports, which has the Stanley Cup Finals every other season. If Albert moves on from radio to TV full-time, current backups Don La Greca and Alex Faust would be top candidates to replace Albert on radio.
The Rangers better have a night for Rosen and should raise a microphone banner to the rafters in honor of him. Sending him off with a Cup win would be even better. Fare thee well on a great career which has one more season to go. Hopefully we hear many more, it's a power play goal this year.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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