This summer, on Sunday, July 12, 2026, when The New York State Hockey Hall of Fame inducts its fifth-ever class, one of the honorees is somebody who never wanted to be in the spotlight. He just wanted to do his job to the best of his abilities. But when he announced that he was retiring after close to 60 years of doing his job, the accolades (of which there had already been a few) started rolling in.

For 40 years, Don Stevens was the Voice of The AHL’s Rochester Americans franchise. Stevens was the only play-by-play broadcaster the team and its fans had known for generations. During his time on the headset, Stevens became not just another broadcaster. He became the soundtrack of a team. He transcended the game and most importantly, he became family to all those in and around the Rochester area.

Now, with Stevens being newly retired, The Hall has called his name. In Troy, NY, approximately 230 miles west of the town that adopted him as its own, Stevens will be honored for a career’s worth of achievements and a lifetime of memories.

*Editor’s Note: Questions and Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Question: What was your immediate reaction when you received “The Hall Call?”

Stevens: “One was disbelief and the other was, there’s been so many things that have gone on in the last little bit, the last few months, that it’s hard to, I guess, try to figure out where that goes. 

“As far as the list is concerned, there’s so many highs, so few lows that it’s obviously very high on the list and it’s just mostly mind-boggling that I’m receiving all of these accolades and honors for just showing up to do my job. That’s all I did. So, I guess, just trying to overcome all of those different thoughts.”

Question: Had you ever heard of The New York State Hockey Hall of Fame before you got the call?

Stevens: “Well, I had heard of it, but I didn’t know anything about it. There’s a lot of different Hall of Fames that you hear about. It’s something I never paid much attention to because I never thought I would be involved in it. So, it’s like I say, I’ve heard of it, but I really don’t know much about it.”

Question: What are your thoughts on joining a Hall of Fame that has already inducted the likes of Sam Rosen, Stan Fischler, Jiggs McDonald and others?

Stevens: “That my name would be involved in the same sentence as those tremendous individuals is just mind-boggling to me. (I) Certainly never expected to be amongst that list. I’ve known some of them and they’re just great individuals and outstanding broadcasters. So to be there with that list is incredible.”

Question: What, if anything, can you tell us about what you’re looking forward to regarding the speech you’ll be giving?

Stevens: “I’ve been so fortunate over the years to have done so many things and more importantly, met so many tremendous individuals. To try and just pull that down into a 10-minute segment is perhaps one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do. 

“I haven’t gotten that far yet, but we’ll see what I can work out. The biggest thing it’s coming down to is, I’ve known so many great individuals over the years that it’s been very special.”

Question: Do you have an idea of how many friends and family will be joining you for the ceremony?

Stevens: “Right now, three or four is about it. We’re coming from across the state, so not very many. There’s been so many different things that they’ve gone to in the last little while (laughs), that they’re kind of, maybe, partied out, if you will. (Laughs).”

Question: What does it mean to you, being from Alberta, to now be forever part of New York State?

Stevens: “(New York) became my home. The longest time that I’d ever spent in one place, in my life, was seven years, until I came here. And now it’s been 40 years. This certainly has become my home, along with my family. My youngest was in diapers when we came here. They grew up in their schools and they also became part of Rochester. So, Rochester became my home and for my family also.”

Question: What are one or two of your favorite moments from your career?

Stevens: “Well, obviously, this is one. Another was when the press box was named after me in the Blue Cross Arena here in Rochester. Another was receiving the Key to the City. Of course, a couple of Calder Cup championships. Even outside of hockey, with soccer, winning the U.S. Open Cup. What a great thrill that was. 

“Then, going back even to when I did World Team Tennis, traveling with some of the biggest names ever in tennis history. Traveling with them for a season was so thrilling. There’s just been so many thrilling things.”

Question: Can you talk to us a little bit about how it comes together that a broadcaster becomes an icon for the city?

Stevens: “I think it’s more consistency than anything. I try and figure out, why am I receiving all of these great honors? There’s a lot of people who come back and say, ‘You’ve been in my ear my whole life,’ especially if they’re like a 30- or 35-year-old or whatever and grew up listening to Rochester Americans Hockey. I’m the only one that they’ve ever known that has voiced that hockey team. So, its consistency, I think, is probably the biggest thing.”

Question: What were some of your influences that led you down the path to becoming a hockey broadcaster?

Stevens: “I had never had any intention at all of being a broadcaster. I had no thoughts at all through high school and didn’t know what it was I was going to do. At that point, I had received some injuries and couldn’t participate any further in the sports I played, mostly football and some baseball. But I couldn’t do that anymore. 

“The college thing didn’t work out for me very well, so it was my mother, actually, who said, ‘Well, you talk a lot, why don’t you get into broadcasting?’ We all laughed about that and then she pursued it with a radio station in Denver and got the name of a school in Minneapolis, The Brown Institute. And so, kind of almost on a lark, I ended up going there to school and they were, ‘Oh, you have the greatest voice.’ 

“I’m sure they say the same thing to everybody: ‘You’re gonna be an outstanding broadcaster.’ So, one thing led to another and I ended up at a small station in Nebraska for three years before moving on to all over, out west. It just kind of happened as time went along. I never planned or pursued it really.”

Question: A lot of broadcasters are known for having a “catchphrase” of some sort. Do you feel you have one and if so, what is it?

Stevens: “It’s the same as every other hockey broadcaster, ‘He shoots, he scores.’ That’s the big thing. Maybe putting a little emphasis to it. The one thing that I think, maybe early on, I was one of the first perhaps to be this way: I was very much a homer and admitted to it and said it straight out to everybody. 

“’I’m a homer.’ I went bananas when my team scored a goal and I was very down and dejected when the other team scored a goal. So, I think maybe that was a little bit different. I never figured I could fool the fans into thinking I was for one team or the other. So, I didn’t try and hide it. I just said straight out, ‘Hey, I work for this team, I’m for this team and I want this team to win.’ So maybe that’s a little different.”

Question: Have you wrapped your mind around it yet, Don Stevens, New York State Hockey Hall of Famer?

Stevens: “No, because there’s so many things I’m trying to wrap around my head. I haven’t been able to get anything developed in any one area. There’s so much to think about and it hasn’t been that long since I’ve officially become the former Amerks’ Voice. 

“People ask me about that and I just say, ‘Well, this is something that’s going to develop in my mind as time goes along.’ You can’t just snap your finger and say, ‘Okay, well, this is what it means to me,’ because I don’t know yet what it means to me. It’ll come in time.”

Question: In a career that spanned almost 60 years, you’ve essentially seen and done it all. But what’s one thing that you haven’t done that you wish you had?

Stevens: “I think it goes back with anybody, if there’s a regret, that it’s I didn’t make it full-time to the Big Leagues. I did some games here and there, which was great and outstanding. But that was certainly a goal as my career was developing, to make it to the National Hockey League and it just didn’t work out. 

“But, on the other side of that, I don’t think that I could have ever done any better than what I’ve done here and the way it’s ended up. I think somebody up there was watching out for me and knew that I should be at this place, at this time, because it’s been just fabulous for me. I am so grateful for what I’ve received, especially from the fans here in Rochester and the reception in the Rochester area.”