Broadcaster Profile- Bob Wilson, Boston Bruins (1964-69, 1971-1994)

My next installment of my broadcaster profiles honors a man who was a true genius and legend behind the mike, who we lost just three days ago. The radio voice of the Boston Bruins, Bob Wilson.

A few weeks back I talked about Fred Cusick, an iconic staple on my love of hockey on the radio and broadcasting the game. Fred was one half of my inspirational role models. The other was Bob Wilson, who did Bruins games on radio for three decades. Bob's booming voice and his passion for the game made you want to listen to every game. A quick history- Bob began his career in the late fifties at WCOP in Boston, breaking in as a DJ. He moved on to WHDH radio, which was back then at 850 on the dial (a spot now occupied by WEEI). He began his Bruins career as an analyst alongside Bill Harrington from 1964-67. He then became the Bruins radio voice in 1967, succeeding Jim Laing. He left Boston for one year- when the Bruins left WHDH for WBZ in 1970- and was not here, unfortunately, for the Bruins Stanley Cup championship in 1970.

However, as we all know, his departure was only temporary. After spending a year in St. Louis at KMOX radio in St. Louis, he came back in 1971 and was reinstalled as the Bruins radio voice when Fred Cusick moved over to TV to replace Don Earle. In his first year back, he called the Bruins championship season in 1972. He would remain as the Bruins radio voice until the 1994-95 season, at which point he retired due to the lockout that year.

Bob had a great reputation in the industry. He was picked by ABC to cover game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 1979 between the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens. However since the series ended in five games the game was never played, and Bob never got the chance to call the game- which was scheduled to preempt Wide World of Sports, which was a major program on Saturday afternoons at that time. After retiring he worked part time in New Hampshire on 104.9 FM hosting a music program.

He won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for excellence in hockey broadcasting in 1987 and is enshrined in the Broadcaster's Wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. He was elected to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2007, and the radio booth at the TD Garden in Boston is named in his honor.

Bob impacted so many people positively in this business. Two of my colleagues who I have already featured on this blog, Mike Logan and Ken Cail, have both shared their views with me on how Bob influenced them- Bob was Mike's inspiration to get into the business and Ken worked directly with Bob as a statistician and gave him his first big break in the industry. As for me, Bob was an indelible fixture in my love of hockey. He was the guy I listened to on the transistor radio with the headphone attached late at night when it was past my bedtime under the covers- it had to be that way because if my parents had found me listening the radio would have been taken away. He got me riveted into the game.

As stated earlier, I got to meet all the radio personalities when I worked at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and when I met Bob and John Bucyk, who were doing the games back then, it was a thrill I just can't describe. Bob could not have been nicer to me. With Bob, it wasn't just a case of him making the game interesting to listen to. He made it FUN. I also loved his passion for calling fights on the ice. The fans loved it. Even though not everybody was a fan of that approach, I thought it really helped me to enjoy the game more.

Here is Bob's classic description off a heartbreaking loss to the Montreal Canadiens in  Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 16, 1978. Bob was paired with Bob Lobel. Included are postgame commentary and a pre-game warmup show for the next game. This will give you an excellent look at the spectrum of Bob/s enormous talent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DBjhWfnqr4

And here is a video which shows the dedication of the radio booth at the Garden in his name, complete with commentary from Jack Edwards, the current TV voice of the Bruins.

http://blip.tv/nesn/bruins-honor-legendary-radio-voice-bob-wilson-prior-to-rangers-game-4955926

Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts on one of the all time greats in this business.

My next feature will be on Boston College's Jon Rish, as we return to spotlighting Hockey East radio voices.