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Ken Daniels | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1959-03-18)March 18, 1959 (age 66) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Education | York University |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Notable credit | Detroit Red Wings television announcer |
Ken Daniels (born March 18, 1959)[1] is aCanadiansportscaster. Born inToronto, he is currently theplay-by-play announcer for theDetroit Red Wings of theNHL onFanDuel Sports Network Detroit, now in his 25th season as the voice of the Red Wings, he is also known as a sportscaster withCBC Sports, having worked for the network from 1985 until 1997, the year he joined the Red Wings. Daniels now lives inBirmingham, Michigan.
Daniels grew up influencing the game of hockey, not just calling it. He was ahockey official on the ice from the age of 11 until the end of his college career. He was involved with theGreater Toronto Hockey League and put himself through college doing up to four games a night. After graduating fromYork University inToronto, Daniels began his radio career in Oshawa and moved toCJCL out of Toronto in 1980, covering both the political beat and general news. He dabbled in sports and kicked off his play-by-play career with theToronto Maple Leafs in1988. He would remain with that radio station, which later became Canada's first all-sports radio station, THE FAN, for another nine seasons.
While continuing with his radio job, Daniels appeared on television in 1985, with theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation, and by1990, became a reporter/host forHockey Night in Canada. In February1992, Daniels was the main game host, which included appearances withDon Cherry on "Coach's Corner", whileRon MacLean was inAlbertville, France covering theWinter Olympics. Meanwhile,Dick Irvin Jr. hosted the Montreal broadcasts. In1994, Daniels began doing play-by-play forHNIC, usually for games in Western Canada.
While working for CBC, Daniels' diverse sports experience included hosting stints forCBC Sports Weekend and theChamp Car/Indy-Car World Series, as well asFormula One Grand Prix coverage andToronto Blue Jays baseball. Daniels' broadcast résumé also includes two Olympic games. He covered both the1988 Summer Olympics inSeoul, and1996 Olympics inAtlanta, 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 theNBCMovie of the Week:On Thin Ice - TheTai Babilonia Story. He also appeared in a film withTony Danza,The Philadelphia Phenomenon, and was a play-by-play voice for theCBS/CTV television programDue South.
For the1997–98 NHL season, Daniels was lured away from CBC to take over play-by-play for theDetroit Red Wings and teamed up with color commentatorMickey Redmond.
On December 12, 2006 Daniels broadcast a game between theRed Wings and theOttawa Senators from ice-level between the benches, while color commentator Redmond remained in the booth. This was the first time a U.S. local station had attempted this type of broadcast.[2] Daniels received a MichiganEMMY Award for this broadcast at the 29th Annual Michigan EMMY Awards on June 16, 2007 in Detroit.[2]
On June 4, 2008, Daniels filled-in for regular Detroit radio broadcast announcer Ken Kal for Game 6 of the2008 Stanley Cup Finals between theRed Wings and thePittsburgh Penguins. Kal was suffering fromlaryngitis and thus, was unable to call the game. The Red Wings had a 3–2 lead in the series and won the game, and the cup. With 45 seconds left in the game, Daniels took off the headset and handed the game over to Kal, saying, "I don't care if you can't talk, you have to bring it home." Kal called the final 10 seconds, and was able to make the call "...The Detroit Red Wings are the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions!"
Daniels also became a regular announcer forVersus during the2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Daniels is an occasional play-by-play announcer for NBC Sports on NHL games as well as Big Ten Hockey as broadcast by Fox Sports Detroit.
Daniels is a longtime active member of Detroit Sports Media (formerly Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association), founded in 1948 by pioneer Tigers announcerTy Tyson. Daniels won the Ty Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting from DSM in an on-ice ceremony Sept. 30, 2011 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, prior to a Red Wings game.
Daniels' book "If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Red Wings" (Triumph Books) was released in October 2017.[3]
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