Emrick to be honored by Devils on Friday, Feb. 24. (Getty/NHL Images)

Newark, NJ – The Devils will honor Mike “Doc” Emrick on Friday, February 24, prior to the club’s game vs. the Western Conference Champion Vancouver Canucks at Prudential Center at 7 p.m. The announcement was made by Devils’ President/CEO/ General Manager Lou Lamoriello.

“We were fortunate to have ‘Doc’ as part of our organization for more than 20 years,” said Lamoriello.  ”Mike and Joyce Emrick will always be part of the Devils’ family.  We look forward to welcoming them back to Prudential Center.”

Emrick joined NBC/VERSUS on a full-time basis this summer after serving the Devils as their television voice for the previous 18 seasons (21 overall). He is now in his 39th year covering professional hockey, including 32 in the National Hockey League. Emrick, who is in his seventh season as the league’s lead play-by-announcer on both NBC and VERSUS, has worked more than 3,000 hockey games in his broadcast career.

“It has always been an honor to be associated with the New Jersey Devils,” said Emrick. “Part of it is the commitment to winning, part of it is the friends you make within the broadcast team, the hockey team, and the fans. Joyce and I could never imagine this kind of recognition and were speechless when we received Lou's call. We thank all who have been so good to us and I will certainly look forward to saying ‘thank you’ in person.”

On December 12 in Chicago, IL, Emrick will be one of five individuals, and the first-ever broadcaster inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. In May 2011, he received his first-ever national Emmy Award as best sports play-by-play personality, a first for hockey. Emrick received the 2008 Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.  He has been on the selection committee for the Hall of Fame for ten years, and has also served on the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee. Emrick worked his sixth Winter Olympic Games in 2010, serving as the lead announcer for both men’s and women’s ice hockey in Vancouver, B.C. He was named recipient of the 2004 Lester Patrick Award for service to hockey in the United States, while serving as the ceremony’s emcee 16 times, and as a member of its selection committee three times. Emrick received the 1999 Cable Ace Award for best play-by-play sportscaster nationally, and has received the New York region Emmy for on-camera achievement on seven occasions.

Emrick has worked on 23 consecutive Stanley Cup Playoffs, 13 Stanley Cup Finals series, and nine NHL All-Star Games. He previously served as the television voice of the Philadelphia Flyers, 1988-93, as well as a telecaster for PRISM-TV, 1980-83. Emrick has been vice president of the NHL Broadcasters Association since 1985, and has broadcast hockey for CSTV, ESPN, and FOX. He has contributed to nhl.com, while providing voice-overs for Hockey Week, NHL Power Week, the NHL’s Stanley Cup video, and Sony’s NHL Video Game. Emrick spent time as a radio broadcaster for more than 100 hockey games on WNBC/WFAN-AM, 1983-88. His other sports credits include: the National Football League, NCAA men’s basketball, Olympic water polo, track, and luge. He began his career serving as radio/TV broadcaster and public relations director of the AHL’s Maine Mariners, 1977-80, and the IHL’s Port Huron Flags, 1973-77. Emrick earned his Ph.D in radio-television-film from Bowling Green State University in 1976.

A native of LaFontaine, IN, Mike and his wife, Joyce Anne, are joined by two canine children and three horses at their home in St. Clair, MI.