The Blackhawks are hiring Chicago-based broadcaster Chris Vosters to replace retiring play-by-play announcer Pat Foley, the team announced Sunday. Foley introduced Vosters as his successor on air during Chicago's game against Arizona.
Foley announced in June 2021 that he will retire after the 2021-22 season following a 39-season career. He only called a portion of the schedule this year to "pass the torch to his successor," with Vosters among the others who got air time.
Foley called Blackhawks games from 1980 until 2006 and then returned to the booth in 2008, calling a total of four Stanley Cup Finals and 12 conference finals. He was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.
Vosters, 30, has called games for Big Ten Network, Fox Sports, ESPN networks, NBC Sports and Stadium. The Blackhawks expect longtime color commentator Eddie Olczyk to remain with the organization after his current deal expires at the end of the season.
“It's a tremendous honor to succeed Pat,” Vosters, who grew up in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield, Wis., and moved to Chicago three years ago, told The Athletic. “This is not any other job. It's more than just the next stepping stone in my career. This is a really big deal for me and my family, and I'm really excited to be a part of the organization and really continue to plant roots in Chicago.
"I think it's the best sports town in America. I'm just really flattered and excited and really eager to pour my heart and soul into this job and be the best person that I can be.”
For more on Vosters, read Scott Powers' full story in the Go Deeper section.
(Photo: Courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks)
GO DEEPER
Chris Vosters on succeeding Pat Foley: 'This is not any other job'
Why Vosters got the job
Scott Powers, Blackhawks senior writer: Vosters checked a lot of different boxes for the Blackhawks. They liked he had national TV experience, possessed a more traditional hockey broadcast call, was active on social media and willing to assist the Blachkawks on different content platforms and worked well with Eddie Olczyk, who they envision being his partner going forward.
Vosters was a mixture some new and some old as a play-by-play broadcaster.
How has he been received by Chicago fans?
Powers: Blackhawks fans probably haven't been fair to any of Pat Foley's potential replacements. That is the territory that comes with replacing a legend. Vosters gets that, too. He has received some positive reviews, though, and was probably outside of John Wideman the most popular of the candidates.
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How will Foley be remembered?
Powers: Foley will be remembered as the voice of the Blackhawks for young and old. He's been in that broadcasting chair for 39 years. He's called good times and bad times and everything in between.
He's seen and called it with the Blackhawks. It's important for Vosters not to attempt to replace Foley, but to create his own identity in that position. That's how he'll win over fans, too.
