Jack Edwards, the longtime Boston Bruins play-by-play announcer for the last 19 seasons, announced on Tuesday that he will retire after the 2023-24 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The legendary commentator has represented the team for NESN since 2005 and his legacy with the Bruins will always be remembered.
In the Boston sports era, fans have seen famous announcers come and go, but none quite like Edwards. Mike Gorman spent 43 seasons with the Boston Celtics as their play-by-play broadcaster, John Sterling spent 35 seasons with the New York Yankees and Verne Lundquist covered 40 Masters tournaments, all before officially calling it quits. These legendary figures of their industry spent most of their lives in the booth calling games and now it’s time to find the next great announcers.
On WCVB 5 Boston, Edwards was confronted by reporters about the move to retire and you can hear in his voice how much pain he’s in. “I leave with a smile, 45 years in [the] industry, the last 19 years has been a joyride.” Before Edwards was the Bruins’ announcer, he worked for local affiliate stations in Rhode Island and ESPN.
The Illinois native developed a passion for announcing early in his college days at the University of New Hampshire and began announcing for the UNH hockey team, while working for WGIR Radio and WMUR-TV in play-by-play and sports anchoring. Additionally, he worked as a reporter for ABC’s Wide World of Sports and covered the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Throughout the past two seasons, the 67-year-old struggled with his speech patterns on-air. His voice slowed down and doctors haven’t diagnosed the problem. Edwards started in 2005-06 calling away games for the Bruins, and once the 2007-08 season hit, he took over calling all games.
If you tuned in to most of Boston’s matchups, Edwards had a way of hyping up home viewers, bringing the environment directly to fans across the globe. A great example would be when Bruins forward David Pastrnak received a curl and drag assist from teammate Brad Marchand against the Ottawa Senators, with Edwards remarking, “Pastrnak scores, in your face!”
Edwards will not only be remembered as the announcer of the Boston Bruins, but fans will also remember his iconic lines such as, “High above the ice,” “tumbling muffin” or “in your face.”