What will Sam Rosen miss the most in retirement? On Wednesday night, Rosen was asked that question by a man he interacted with a lot over the years, Henrik Lundqvist.
Before getting into broadcasting as a studio analyst, Lundqvist played goalie for NHL seasons — all for the New York Rangers. That meant he spent a lot of time with Rosen, the legendary Rangers announcer who is set to retire at the end of the season. Before Wednesday’s game between the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, Lundqvist and his NHL on TNT co-hosts, interviewed Rosen. Before asking his question, Lundqvist spoke highly of Rosen, telling him how much he enjoyed interacting with him.
“I just want to say it was an absolute pleasure, as a player, to be around you throughout my entire career,” Lundqvist said. “To see you on the team plane, to see you before every morning skate, talking about the game, about the life. Thanks for being such a professional and again, it was an absolute pleasure to be around you.”
“And my question is, you’ve been around the game for so long, what will you miss now, after 40 years of doing this and walking away from the game?”
Rosen, who has been on the receiving end of tributes from the Rangers — both past and present — as well as other announcers in recent weeks, discussed a lot of the things he’ll miss.
“There’s a lot to miss, Hank,” Rosen replied. “But I think I’ll start with the players. I’ll miss the players and the relationships we’ve had. Just what you mentioned — 15 years, I love going into the locker room, talking with the players — 19-year-olds who come to the team and you find out everybody has a great story.”
That said, Rosen added that even when things haven’t gone great for the Rangers, he’s always enjoyed — and will especially miss — watching the games on the ice.
“But I’ll miss the game. The games are so good. Every night I look forward to the game. Doesn’t matter, yeah, it’s been a crazy, up-and-down season for the Rangers. I just look forward to the next game when they drop the puck and we can look at the greatest players in the world play the game in front of us.”