Rangers celebrate Sam Rosen’s retirement with special pregame ceremony

NEW YORK -- Sam Rosen placed his gold microphone on the table next to him and flanked by his wife and the only three broadcast partners he has had in 40 years, he approached the podium to address the crowd at Madison Square Garden.

As he did, the fans here cheered loudly, forcing Rosen to take a step back and tap on his chest and wave to them. They started chanting his name as they've done for legendary players here.

"I'm the little kid from Brooklyn and here I am being honored by you and by Madison Square Garden and by the New York Rangers," Rosen said after finally stepping up to the podium to speak. "I have truly lived the dream."

Rosen is retiring effective the end of this season, ending a 40-year run as the full-time television voice of the Rangers on MSG Network. The Rangers celebrated their legendary broadcaster prior to playing the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

He was joined on the blue carpet by his wife, Jill, along with Phil Esposito, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti, his three broadcast partners.

Micheletti presented Rosen with a home Rangers jersey with the No. 40 and ROSEN emblazoned on it signed by the entire team. He also presented him with the gold microphone in honor of his 40 years.

The Rangers played videos of former players talking about Rosen throughout the game. They also played many of his legendary calls

"I'm a little nervous about it to be the center of attention here in this building, a building that I've been coming to since it opened in '68 when we had the gondola as our broadcast location," Rosen said before the ceremony.

Prior to the game, Rosen told stories of his first years working for MSG Network. His first game was a radio broadcast of a New York Knicks game in 1977.

He signed his first full-time contract with MSG Network in 1982 and accepted the position as the Rangers full-time broadcaster in 1984, taking over for his mentor Jim Gordon.

"Jim had done everything to help me get to where I was, to help me get an entrée to Madison Square Garden, and they asked him to take over for him and that was very, very difficult," Rosen said. "But they said, 'We're going to make a change and if it's not you it'll be someone else.' I made the decision to take the job and I'm still here and I hope Jim appreciates. He did a lot for me and I value that to this day."

Rosen first worked alongside Esposito for two seasons before he took the job as the Rangers general manager in 1986.

Davidson became his broadcast partner for the next 20 years before leaving to become the president of the St. Louis Blues in 2006.

Micheletti has been Rosen's broadcast partner since the start of the 2006-07 season.

"This last road trip I sat and I thought about every city in the league and realized that in every city I have people that I know very well, care about and care about me," Rosen said. "I realized that I have made a lot of friendships and got to know some really wonderful people at all levels, and the fans certainly have been great coming up.

"Just to know the people in different cities, announcers, players, players who played here, players who knew me from doing national games, it was really good to get that feeling that you've built up great relationships throughout the years. Very special."

Rosen said he knew the timing was right for this to be his last season after he got sick during the playoffs last year and had to miss a few games in May.

"I missed a couple playoff games on the radio and I think that hits you and you think about what if you were on the road and you got sick. How would that feel? What would that mean?" Rosen said. "That's when I started to think about it seriously and talk about it with my wife and my family. This is the right time. I've always said to my family if my level of performance falls off at all you have to tell me because I don't want to be hanging around. When I go out this year, I want to have people look at me and say what they're saying, 'We're going to miss you. We really love what you're doing. You're still at the top of your game.' That's the way I want to go out."

But now that he's down to 12 games remaining, five at the Garden, including Saturday, Rosen said the finality of it all is close to hitting him.

However, he's hoping Game 82 this season won't be the end.

"I'm trying to drag this team into the playoffs with me," Rosen said. "I walk around the locker room at practice giving them encouragement, 'Come on, guys, you can do it.' They're not listening to me, but hopefully that'll change in the next couple of weeks."