Ken Daniels is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

sportscaster. Currently the

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

announcer for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Bally Sports Detroit Bally Sports Detroit (BSD) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group that operates as a Bally Sports affiliate. It provides coverage of local sports teams in the state of Michigan, primarily focusing on those in Metro D ...

, entering his 19th season as the voice of the Red Wings, he is best known as a sportscaster with

CBC Sports CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...

, having worked for the network from 1985 until 1997, the year he joined the Red Wings. Daniels now lives in

Birmingham, Michigan Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor ( M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103. History The area comprising what is now the c ...

Biography

Early life and career

Daniels grew up influencing the game of hockey, not just calling it. He was a hockey official on the ice from the age of 11 until the end of his college career. He was involved with the

Greater Toronto Hockey League The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), formerly known as the Metro Toronto Hockey League, is a minor level ice hockey organization based in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. The league was founded in 1911 as the Beaches Hockey League by ...

and put himself through college doing up to four games a night. After graduating from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Daniels began his radio career in Oshawa and moved to

CJCL CJCL (590 AM, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toron ...

out of Toronto in 1980, covering both the political beat and general news. He dabbled in sports and kicked off his play-by-play career with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. He would remain with that radio station, which later became Canada's first all-sports radio station, THE FAN, for another nine seasons.

CBC Sports

While continuing with his radio job, Daniels appeared on television in 1985, with the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, and by

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, became a reporter for ''

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

''. In February

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, Daniels was the main game host, which included appearances with Don Cherry on "

Coach's Corner ''Coach's Corner'' is a commentary and analysis segment that aired from 1982 to 2019 during the first intermission of the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (HNIC) television broadcast of National Hockey League (NHL) games. It featured Don Cherry, and ...

", while Ron MacLean was in Albertville, France covering the Winter Olympics. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, Daniels began doing play-by-play for ''HNIC'', usually for games in Western Canada. While working for CBC, Daniels' diverse sports experience included hosting stints for ''CBC Sports Weekend'' and the Champ Car/Indy-Car World Series, as well as Formula One Grand Prix coverage and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

baseball. Daniels' broadcast résumé also includes two Olympic games. He covered both the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, and

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where he could be heard during cycling, baseball, canoeing, kayaking, tennis and judo. Daniels' Olympic experience landed him a role as the "Olympic host" in the NBC Movie of the Week: ''On Thin Ice - The Tai Babilonia Story''. He also appeared in a film with

Tony Danza Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983) and '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award a ...

, '' The Philadelphia Phenomenon'', and was a play-by-play voice for the CBS/ CTV television program ''

Due South ''Due South'' is a Canadian crime comedy-drama television series created by Paul Haggis, and produced by Alliance Communications from its premiere on April 26, 1994, to its conclusion after four seasons on March 14, 1999. The series starred Pau ...

''.

Detroit Red Wings

For the

1997–98 NHL season The 1997–98 NHL season was the 81st regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Washington Capitals in four games. League business On June 25, 1997, the National Hockey Lea ...

, Daniels was lured away from CBC to take over play-by-play for the

and teamed up with color commentator Mickey Redmond. On December 12, 2006 Daniels broadcast a game between the Red Wings and the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

from ice-level between the benches, while color commentator Redmond remained in the booth. This was the first time a U.S. local station had attempted this type of broadcast. Daniels received a Michigan

EMMY Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for this broadcast at the 29th Annual Michigan EMMY Awards on June 16, 2007 in Detroit. On June 4, 2008, Daniels filled-in for regular Detroit radio broadcast announcer Ken Kal for Game 6 of the

2008 Stanley Cup Finals The 2008 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2007–08 season, and the culmination of the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings ...

between the Red Wings and the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

. Kal was suffering from

laryngitis Laryngitis is inflammation of the larynx (voice box). Symptoms often include a hoarse voice and may include fever, cough, pain in the front of the neck, and trouble swallowing. Typically, these last under two weeks. Laryngitis is categorised ...

and thus, was unable to call the game. The Red Wings had a 3–2 lead in the series and won the game, and the cup. With 45 seconds left in the game, Daniels took off the headset and handed the game over to Kal, saying, "I don't care if you can't talk, you have to bring it home". Kal called the final 10 seconds, and was able to make the call "...The Detroit Red Wings are the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions!" Daniels also became a regular announcer for

Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...

during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Daniels is an occasional play-by-play announcer for NBC Sports on NHL games as well as Big Ten Hockey as broadcast by Fox Sports Detroit. Daniels is a longtime active member of Detroit Sports Media (formerly Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association), founded in 1948 by pioneer Tigers announcer

Ty Tyson Edwin Lloyd "Ty" Tyson (May 11, 1888 – December 12, 1968) was an American sports broadcaster and radio play-by-play announcer. Early life Tyson was born in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania and he attended Penn State University. As a young man, he ...

. Daniels won the Ty Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting from DSM in an on-ice ceremony Sept. 30, 2011 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, prior to a Red Wings game. Daniels' book "If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Red Wings" (Triumph Books) was released in October 2017.

References

External links

Interview with Toronto Mike on Toronto Mike'd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Ken Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian television sportscasters College hockey announcers in the United States Cycling announcers Detroit Red Wings announcers Emmy Award winners Major League Baseball broadcasters Motorsport announcers National Hockey League broadcasters Olympic Games broadcasters Sportspeople from Toronto Tennis commentators Toronto Blue Jays announcers Toronto Maple Leafs announcers York University alumni