Welcome to NEW JERSEY DEVILS Hockey! 

Sorry, didn’t mean to rip off Larry Hirsch’s famous Devils’ radio introduction, but there’s a new broadcaster in Jersey and we needed an appropriate welcome. Don La Greca, who has been the New York Rangers’ backup radio play-by-play broadcaster for years and was a longtime Co-Host on The Michael Kay Show and now on The Don, Hahn and Rosenberg Show, is the new Devils’ television play-by-play broadcaster for MSG Networks. 

For La Greca, it’s a dream come true. His entire career has been in radio, all while auditioning for television gigs on the rare occasions they’ve become available. When Steve Cangialosi left New Jersey’s broadcast booth three years ago, La Greca was one of the people who auditioned for the gig. In fact, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, La Greca was one of the finalists for the job that ended up going to Bill Spaulding. 

Now, three years later, Spaulding is no longer the Devils’ TV play-by-play broadcaster and La Greca has finally ascended to his dream job. Blittner’s Blue Line has not yet been able to confirm whether Spaulding left on his own accord or if the move was made by MSG Networks, but one well-placed source suggested it could have been as simple as Spaulding’s contract ending and negotiations not going favorably. 

There’s nothing to suggest that Spaulding wanted out, nor is there anything to suggest that The Network was displeased with his work. MSG Networks is currently navigating the waters of potential bankruptcy, so a new contract, likely with a raise, just wasn’t in the cards. 

While Devils fans are sad to see Spaulding go, they are getting a very knowledgeable broadcaster in La Greca. Plus, he’s basically one of their own. You see, La Greca grew up a Devils fan in Jersey, so he’s plenty familiar with the team’s history.

In The MSG Networks’ press release, La Greca said, “To be the voice of the team that got me into hockey as a kid, a team that represents my home state with an incredible fan base, and to follow in the footsteps of some of the great play-by-play voices in the sport is an absolute dream come true. And to work with the legend Ken Daneyko makes it that much sweeter. I can’t wait for the season to start.”

For those wondering how La Greca became a fan of the Devils and wanted to become a broadcaster, here’s what he said in my book, “Voices Of The NHL.” “I was a Mets fan and a Devils fan. I’d listened to Gary Thorne and I loved him. And I loved Bob Murphy, too, doing the Mets. But from hockey, it was Gary, since there was that connection between baseball and hockey. And when the Devils made their run in ’88, just listening to every game and his calls was awesome. And then the next year after ’88, I joined the Devils Fan Club and you were supposed to sit with a player and the player I’d picked was Jim Korn, but Jim Korn didn’t show up.

“They were very apologetic and they said, ‘Look, would you mind if we sat you with the announcers?’ And so they sat me with Gary Thorne and Chris Moore. Chris Moore was doing the radio at the time. So it was like a dream. It was better than like any player on the team to be able to sit there and have a conversation with Gary. And I picked his brain on how to get into it. How did he do it? 

“And that’s when I realized that I’d love the chance to do that. And I just followed broadcasters and listened to games. Then, the Devils had a bunch of them after that and I remember Mike Miller and talking to him. I was covering the team a little bit at the time and I’d always sit with him and talk to him about how he got into it. How did he get better? But I think it really started with Gary Thorne.”

Well, La Greca has come a long way since those days, but now he’s “home” and ready to continue the franchise’s long history of superb play-by-play broadcasters.