Broadcaster Profile- Eric Frede, NESN, ASN, Cod Rock Media

Moving right along to showcase more of the great talent that brings you hockey to your homes- the next post here at Hockey On the Radio deals with a great friend and very talented broadcaster who has been involved with Hockey East for a long time, Eric Frede.

Eric Frede is a fixture on the college hockey scene and has been a vital part of the coverage of the sport here in New England for several years. Eric began his coverage of the game with NESN in 2002 and has since moved onto SportsNet Central where he continues to anchor for the network.

Beginning with Eric's college hockey work, he arrived at NESN in 2002, hosting Inside Hockey East, a half hour show dedicated to the coverage of college hockey for the network. He has covered all of the teams in Hockey East with his play by play coverage, and has called games for NESN and most recently the American Sports Network (ASN). He was honored with the presentation of the prestigious Joe Concannon Media Award in 2005, becoming the 14th media member to receive the award, and the third NESN personality to be honored, following Bob Whitelaw and Bob Norton.

Eric has also been exposed to hockey at the professional level, serving as the in-studio host for Boston Bruins hockey from 2005-07. He has worked alongside Cam Neely, Rick Middleton, Don Sweeney, Gord Kluzak, Barry Pederson and Paul Stewart. He has also done play by play for the Ice Hockey World Championships for the World Championship Sports Network.

An Edward R. Murrow Award winner for sports reporting, Eric began his broadcasting career in New York, covering sports for West Point as well as Marist College basketball, while also working as a production assistant at NBC Sports. He also had stints at WVII in Bangor, Maine and WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H. He also served as the Celtics pre and post game shows on FOX Sports New England.

Eric is also known for his basketball work, as he has done many broadcasts for the America East Network. He also served as the Celtics PA announcer in 2002-03.

He is also no stranger to baseball work, as he has done many minor league games for NESN, and also has acted as a field reporter for Boston Red Sox baseball from 2004 to 2005. Eric also filled in for Tom Caron on the pre and post game shows. He also has done fill in work for the Red Sox on NESN, pinch hitting for Don Orsillo in 2010. He has worked with Jim Rice, Dennis Eckersley, Tom Caron, Jerry Remy, Gary DiSarcina and Sam Horn.

Nationally, he has called games for the Oxygen, Speed, and CSTV networks (CSTV being college hockey coverage).

To further illustrate Eric's versatility, he has done games for the Boston Breakers of the former USFL, and the New England Revolution.

He has also hosted sports specialty shows, among them being NESN Sports Desk, Red Sox Rewind and Boston Globe Sports Plus (filling in for Bob Lobel).

In addition to his work with SportsNet Central, Eric is co-owner of Cod Rock Media along with Maine radio PxP voice Dan Hannigan (you can read more about Dan and Cod Rock in an earlier post on this blog). Cod Rock specializes in sports media video productions, and is the go to source for productions of this type. Eric and Dan were colleagues also at Bangor's ABC television affiliate.

Eric was educated at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y., graduating in 1988.

Here is a video which describes the work of Cod Rock, and the work of Eric and Dan:

https://youtu.be/IM1GqYQW2Aw

Eric can be seen on CSN and on NESN and ASN during college hockey season.

Broadcaster Profile- Dale Arnold, New England Sports Network

My next feature here on the Hockey On the Radio Blog features the only man to serve as the play by play voice of all five of the major sports teams in Boston- the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, Celtics, and Revolution- Dale Arnold of NESN.

Dale Arnold, NESN

Dale Arnold has been synonymous with Boston sports for nearly thirty years. Currently the in game studio host for Boston Bruins hockey on the New England Sports Network (NESN). Dale has a long history of play by play work in the hockey world. From 1995-2007 he was the voice of Bruins hockey on NESN, paired with former Bruins standout defenseman Gord Kluzak. Prior to his play by play work with the Bruins, Dale served as the voice of New Jersey Devils hockey in 1986 and 1987.  Leading up to his storied play by play NHL career, Dale was the voice for Maine Mariners hockey for seven seasons, in which he replaced the venerable Mike Emrick on the broadcasts. Dale worked with Tom McVie at Maine, a coach who would go on to have great success in the National Hockey League. Dale's current hockey responsibilities involve being the in studio host for Bruins telecasts on NESN, in which he anchors the pre-game, intermission and postgame coverage. 

Hockey is the tip of the iceberg as far as Dale's play by play work is concerned. He called New England Patriots football from 1988-90, and did work with the Red Sox on their broadcast team in 2008, assigning him to work with Joe Castiglione when Dave O'Brien called games for ESPN. He has also chipped in doing play by play for the Celtics and the Revolution while also serving as the public address announcer for the Revolution as well. He has also been at the microphone for Boston College football on WEEI. 

A three time Regional Emmy Award winner for outstanding Play By Play coverage by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Dale has been with WEEI AM (850) since the station's inception in 1991. One of my lasting memories of Dale was his coverage of the Oklahoma City bombings on WEEI.... The moment when you transition from a sports reporter to a news one.... And he handled it brilliantly.  He also worked with WEEI-FM. He has been paired with many great sports personalities in the region, among them Eddie Andelman (in a show named the A-Team); with Bob Neumeier on the Dale and Neumy Show, and currently with former Boston Globe columnist Michael Holley in the Dale & Holley Show. He has also hosted Sunday morning talk shows with Boston Herald columnist Steve Buckley. 

He was educated at Bowdoin College in Maine and was a native of Brunswick, ME, for a time. Dale also worked at WHDH Radio. He began broadcasting games in high school in Brunswick, and he was also a fine athlete, lettering in four sports in high school (soccer, cross country, basketball, and baseball). He continued on with broadcasting while at Bowdoin, covering football and hockey for the college. 

One of the interesting aspects of Dale in popular culture is that he has a sandwich named after him- the Dale Arnold- which you can enjoy at the Maine Diner in Wells, Maine- a lobster roll with melted butter. (This author has had it and loves it).  

I had the good fortune to meet Dale and interview him at WEEI when I first started out in the business and he was the consummate professional. 

To paint a better picture of Dale's work, here is a video clip of Dale discussing Bruins hockey with NESN analyst Barry Pederson: 

https://youtu.be/wSOlLYyVRIs       

Dale can be heard from 10-2 on WEEI AM 850 AM alongside Michael Holley, and on NESN (as stated above on Bruins broadcasts.