Legendary LA Kings Announcer Bob Miller To Retire

LOS ANGELES, CA — Hall of Fame Los Angeles Kings Announcer Bob Miller announced his retirement Thursday, stepping down after 44 years as the voice of hockey in Southern California.

Sidelined by a quadruple-bypass surgery in 2016 and again in 2017 by a mild stroke, the 78-year-old broadcaster was able to fulfill his dream of watching the team win the Stanley Cup twice before retiring.

"I don't want this to be a sad situation," he said during a Staples Center news conference. "I've had a great time working with people and visiting with fans and everything down through the years.

Miller, whose steady voice called everything from the Miracle on Manchester and the Stunner at Staples to Wayne Gretzky's all-time scoring record, suffered a stroke hours before he was scheduled to work the NHL All-Star Skills Competition from Staples Center Jan. 28.

"After that situation I was told to go home, take it easy, rest, don't do to much. And so after 44 years with the Kings, as of right now 3,351 broadcasts, 57 years in radio and TV, I think it's time to retire and hopefully have some quality time left with my family," he said. "So that's how we got to this situation here today."

Famed for his professionalism and class, Miller is the last active broadcaster in a trio of sports announcers including Vin Scully and Chick Hearn who dominated Los Angeles airwaves for a combined 152 years.

Miller has been the voice of the Kings since 1973. He took a reduced on- air role this season after undergoing successful quadruple heart bypass surgery in February 2016.

When the Kings won their first Stanley Cup in 2012, the team had Miller call the came for Kings fans in lieu of the national broadcast because Miller has been such an integral part of the Kings franchise.

“This is for you, Kings fans, wherever you may be,” he shouted. “The Los Angeles Kings are indeed the Kings of the National Hockey League.”

Miller's honors include the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, given to members of the television and radio industries for outstanding contributions to their profession and hockey, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and membership in the halls of fame of the Kings and Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association.

Miller became a hockey announcer in 1968, when the program director at his radio station in Madison, Wisconsin, told him he would be announcing a University of Wisconsin game the following Friday because it was the school's only team to win consistently and draw standing-room-only crowds.

Miller first sought to be hired by the Kings in 1972, when the team's original announcer, Jiggs McDonald, left for the expansion Atlanta Flames.

Hearn, the Legendary Los Angeles Lakers announcer recommended Miller for the job, but team owner Jack Kent Cooke hired California Golden Seals announcer Roy Storey. When Storey was fired after one season, Hearn again recommended Miller, with Cooke going along that time.

There was a benefit to the one-season delay in joining the Kings. Staying at Wisconsin, he broadcast the Badgers during their 1972-73 NCAA championship season.

Miller waited 39 years to broadcast another title-winning team, when the Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2012, which they won again in 2014.

City News Service contributed to this report. Photo: LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 14: Los Angeles Kings play-by-play television announcer Bob Miller addresses the fans as General Manager Dean Lombardi (bottom right) and Assistant to the General Manager Jack Ferreira (bottom left) look on during the rally in Staples Center after the Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Victory Parade on June 14, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images)