Rod Phillips (broadcaster)

For the American football player, see Rod Phillips (American football).
Rod Phillips
Born (1941-09-09) September 9, 1941 (age 83)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
OccupationRadio Broadcaster
SpouseDebby[1]
Children2[1]
RelativesChris Phillips (nephew)

Rod Phillips (born September 9, 1941) is a retired Canadian radio broadcaster for 630 CHED in Edmonton, Alberta. Phillips is best known as the play-by-play man of the World Hockey Association and National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers from 1973 to 2011, succeeding longtime Edmonton Eskimos broadcaster Bryan Hall despite having no experience in the field. He is most famous for his loud, long scream of "scooooooooooores!" which is considered a classic by Oilers fans. Many fans attending games brought their radios to Northlands Coliseum to listen to his broadcasts, and many people watching games on television turned down the sound to listen to his coverage. In 2003, Phillips received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.[2]

Rod Phillips was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1941 and grew up in Calmar, Alberta.[3][4] Before being a hockey broadcaster, Phillips hosted Edmonton's first-ever late-night television show in 1967.

Rod Phillips is the uncle of retired Ottawa Senators defenseman Chris Phillips.[5]

Phillips announced his retirement on May 28, 2010. Although retired, he still broadcast 10 more games of the 2010–2011 season, referred to as a "farewell tour" and dubbed "Rod's Classics."[4] These ten games included the Oilers' greatest rivals: Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes (née Winnipeg Jets), Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers, and Los Angeles Kings, in that order.

Rod called his 3,552nd and final game on March 29, 2011, officially marking his retirement. During a pre-game ceremony before the game, the Edmonton Oilers honored the Hockey Hall of Famer with a banner marked not with a sweater number but, rather, the number 3,542, which references the number of games he called for the Oilers.

  1. ^ a b "Rod Phillips retires & Oilers announce 'Rod's Classics'". Edmonton Oilers. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  2. ^ "Congrats, Rod!". NHL.com. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  3. ^ "Oilers '84: Rod Phillips, the former voice of the Oilers, on winning the Cup: "It was just so hard to believe" | Edmonton Sun".
  4. ^ a b "Rod Phillips retires & Oilers announce 'Rod's Classics'". Edmonton Oilers. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  5. ^ "Bring Stanley home". Western Standard. Archived from the original on 2011-05-27. Retrieved 2009-01-15.