Stan Fischler (born March 31, 1932) is a historian of

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

, as well as a broadcaster, author, and professor. During his career, Fischler was best known for covering the New York Islanders,

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

MSG Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium Salt (chemistry), salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a fl ...

and

MSG Plus MSG Sportsnet (visually branded on-air as MSGSN) is an American regional sports network owned by MSG Entertainment; it operates as a sister channel to MSG Network. The network serves the New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to co ...

. He also provided general hockey analysis on MSG, and continues to write columns for the network's website. In 2009, Fischler began hosting a feature, "Five For Fischler", on ''

Hockey Night Live! ''Hockey Night Live'' is a current events sports talk show about NHL hockey broadcast on MSG Network. Its main host, Al Trautwig, is joined by a panel that includes Steve Valiquette, Ron Duguay, Dave Maloney, Butch Goring, John MacLean, and E ...

'' which lists his Top Five in a random hockey topic. In the 1980s, he was a hockey commentator for ''

The Radio Show ''The Radio Show'' was a Canadian radio show, which aired on CBC Radio from 1983 to 1992. The show incorporated some aspects of a conventional radio talk show, filtered through the warped comedic sensibilities of host Jack Farr. John Doyle, "The Ra ...

'' on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

in Canada. He was also a color commentator for the New England Whalers of the WHA in their first two years in 1972–73 and 1973–74. In addition to broadcasting, Fischler has authored or co-authored almost 100 books on hockey, baseball and even a few on the New York subway system. His books include: ''The Hockey Encyclopedia'', ''Everybody's Hockey Book'', ''Hockey Chronicle'', ''The New NHL Encyclopedia'', ''Cracked Ice: An Insider's Look at the NHL'', and most recently ''MetroIce: A Century of Hockey in Greater New York'', focusing on the Rangers, Islanders and Devils franchises. His most famous subway book is ''Uptown, Downtown''. Fischler contributed to the 2017 documentary ''Only the Dead Know the

Brooklyn Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play i ...

''; having been a fan of the team as a young child before the team folded, he was one of the few living Americans fans to have witnessed the team firsthand. On September 18, 2007, Fischler was announced as one of the four recipients of the 2007

Lester Patrick Trophy The Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the National Hockey League and USA Hockey since 1966 to honor a recipient's contribution to ice hockey in the United States. It is considered a non-NHL trophy because it may be awarded to players, c ...

. On May 13, 2014, his wife Shirley—a hockey journalist in her own right and Fischler's long-time collaborator on many of his works—died of cancer at the age of 74. Fischler retired from MSG Networks on air productions at the conclusion of the 2017–2018 NHL season. Afterwards, he moved to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

so that he could be closer to his son, Simon, and his grandchildren. On October 26, 2022 the New York Islanders unveiled The Stan Fischler Press Level, dedicating UBS Arena’s press level to Fischler.

References

External links

Stan Fischler Official BioStan Fischler Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischler, Stan 1932 births 20th-century American Jews American television reporters and correspondents Sportswriters from New York (state) Lester Patrick Trophy recipients Living people National Football League announcers National Hockey League broadcasters New Jersey Devils announcers New York Giants announcers New York Rangers announcers New York Islanders announcers People from Brooklyn World Hockey Association broadcasters 21st-century American Jews