In case you missed it, MSG is going to honor Sam Rosen and his 30 years behind the microphone as the Rangers play by play announcer on Friday, January 31. The special will air at 10:30pm, right after the Rangers/Islanders game that night.

I posted the press release after the jump. Check it out.

This One Will Last a Lifetime: 30 Years of Sam Rosen

Friday, January 31 at 10:30 p.m.

Special Presentation to Feature a Countdown of Rosen’s Greatest Calls, Plus Testimonials from Current and Former Rangers Players, Colleagues and New York Sports Luminaries 

New York, NY (December 13, 2013) – MSG Network will celebrate broadcasting legend Sam Rosen’s 30th year as “The Voice of the Rangers” with a special program on Friday, January 31 at 10:30 p.m. following coverage of the Rangers-Islanders game from Madison Square Garden.

“This One Will Last a Lifetime: 30 Years of Sam Rosen” will feature a countdown of Rosen’s greatest calls from the Rangers broadcast booth interspersed with special testimonials from his friends and colleagues in the industry, former and current Rangers players and New York sports luminaries. The 30-minute program will be hosted by Rosen’s current Rangers broadcast partner Joe Micheletti and former partner John Davidson (J.D.), who shared the booth with Rosen from 1986 to 2006. Davidson surprised Rosen with the announcement during the second intermission of last night’s Rangers-Blue Jackets game telecast: http://goo.gl/JroumY

“Sam is an incredible man and a special broadcaster who has done a tremendous amount for the Rangers and New York City,” said Davidson. “It was an honor to work by his side for 20 years and I consider him a very close friend.”

“This is a wonderful opportunity to turn the spotlight on a man who has meant so much to the team and the city,” said Micheletti. “He elevates the game of everyone that he works with and his relationship with Rangers fans is as special as it gets in the sport of hockey.”

“From ‘this one will last a lifetime’ to ‘it’s a power play goal,’ Sam Rosen’s calls of Rangers hockey games have become synonymous with the franchise and have captivated multiple generations of Rangers fans,” said Daniel Ronayne, executive vice president and general manager, MSG Networks. “We look forward to celebrating Sam’s exceptional career as the ‘Voice of the Rangers’ with this special program in January.”

On June 14, 1994 Rosen’s exclamation of “This one will last a lifetime!” joined the pantheon of famous play-by-play calls and will be celebrated forever by the nearly two million Rangers fans that tuned in that evening to watch the Rangers clinch the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years.

Rosen joined MSG Network in 1977 as a part-time broadcaster before being hired full-time in 1982 to work as the studio host for Rangers telecasts and as a back-up radio play-by-play announcer. Rosen succeeded Jim Gordon in 1984, joining former Rangers star Phil Esposito in the booth. After Esposito’s departure in 1986, Rosen was paired with Davidson for the next 20 years. When Davidson left in 2006 to pursue a management position with the St. Louis Blues, Micheletti joined Rosen in a partnership that continues today.

Rosen began his sportscasting career in 1970 as a statistician for the Knicks Radio Network and as a newsman for WNAB-AM in Bridgeport, CT. In 1971 he moved to WICC-AM (Bridgeport), where he spent two years as a newsman while serving as weekend sportscaster for New Haven’s Channel 8 (WTNH).

In September of 1973 he joined UPI Radio Network, where he worked until December 1980. Rosen was one of the first voices of ESPN, where he called play-by-play for a variety of sports, including hockey, boxing, table tennis, Australian Rules Football, college wrestling and college baseball from 1977 to 1988. He also called Jets and Giants preseason football for WPIX-TV and Cosmos soccer for WNEW-AM.

In addition to his duties with MSG, Rosen works as a play-by-play announcer for Fox’s coverage of the NFL, a position he’s held since 1997. Since 1996 he has also called the Stanley Cup Finals, the Eastern Conference Finals and the NHL All-Star Game on the NHL Radio Network.

MSG Networks is the exclusive local television home of the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres (Upstate New York only), New York Liberty and New York Red Bulls, and the official regional sports networks of the New York Giants. MSG Networks also telecasts over 135 live college basketball games and over 35 live college football games from top national conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big East), as well as horse racing, boxing and award-winning original programming. In 2013, MSG Networks received 18 New York Emmy Awards, including 16 for MSG and one each for MSG+ and MSG.com. MSG’s 85 Emmys over the past six years are more than any single network or station in the region during that time.

For more information, visit www.msg.com and www.facebook.com/MSGNetworks and follow @MSGNetworks on Twitter.

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