MILLBURY, Mass. — For the second straight week, Boston sports fans are saying farewell to an iconic voice as he steps away from the mic.
Boston Bruins play-by-play announcer Jack Edwards will retire after 19 years calling games for NESN, announcing his intentions shortly after Boston Celtics announcer Mike Gorman called his last game for NBC Sports Boston.
For fans, it’s hard to mistake Jack Edwards’ signature style when he’s calling a game, and over the years, his emphatic calls have tested the limits of what a microphone can handle and reflected the passion of the fanbase itself.
Edwards himself is a longtime Bruins fan, and in a statement announcing his imminent retirement, he said nobody has had more fun than their fanbase over the last two decades.
Longtime Boston sports fan Matt Corey, who owns the sports-themed barbershop Matt’s at the Buzzer, said the two retired announcers leave some big shoes to fill.
“A big part of hockey is the excitement that the announcers can create, you know?” Corey said. “He definitely brought that to the game. Anybody can say, ‘goal,’ But when you put a little bit of emphasis behind it, it makes you feel like you’re at the game even when you’re watching it at home. That will be sorely missed.”
Corey said it feels as though there is a ‘changing of the guard’ for Boston’s sports teams, and both the Celtics and Bruins honored their announcers with pregame ceremonies.
Edwards will continue to call games on NESN in the first round of the NHL Playoffs. He has publicly said his speech has slowed and he’s received therapy, but doctors don’t know what’s causing the issue.
He said although he is healthy, he can no longer attain the standards he sets for himself.
Mike Gorman had been with the Celtics since 1981 in a career spanning the Larry Bird era, the ‘big three’ of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and the modern Celtics lead by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Edwards, meanwhile, witnessed his team hoist the Stanley Cup in 2011 among countless other highlights.