Ken Daniels

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ken Daniels is the current play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL on FSN Detroit. This is his tenth season as the voice of the Red Wings.

1 Finding his "wings"
2 Personal life
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Finding his "wings"

Daniels grew up influencing the game of hockey, not just calling it. He was an official on the ice from the age of 11 until the end of his college career. He was involved with the Metropolitan Toronto Hockey League, and put himself through college doing up to four games a night. After graduating from York University in Toronto, Daniels received a job commentating for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1988 on CJCL Radio, where he would remain for two seasons. In 1990, Daniels was offered a role with CBC as the host of Hockey Night in Canada. Daniels became a full-time television play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994. While working for CBC, Daniels' diverse sports experience included hosting stints for CBC Sports Weekend and the Indy-Car World Series, as well as Formula One Grand Prix coverage and Toronto Blue Jays baseball. Daniels' broadcast resume also includes the Olympics. He covered both the 1996 games in Atlanta and 1988 games in Seoul, where he could be heard during cycling, baseball, canoeing, kayaking, tennis and judo.

Daniels' Olympic experience landed him a role as the "Olympic host" in the NBC Movie of the Week: On Thin Ice - The Tai Babilonia Story. He also appeared in a film with Tony Danza and was a regular play-by-play voice for the CBS/CTV television program Due South.

For the 1996-97 season, Daniels was lured away from CBC to take over play-by-play for the Detroit Red Wings and on Sept 6, 1997 he broadcasted his first game. He was and still is teamed up with color commentator Mickey Redmond except when the Red Wings are playing on the west coast during the regular season. Larry Murphy then steps in to provide color commentary.

On December 12, 2006, Daniels broadcasted a game between the Red Wings and the Ottawa Senators from ice-level between the benches, while color commentator Redmond remained in the booth. This was the first time a local station had attempted this type of broadcast.^[1]