NEWSLETTER
They say all good things must come to an end. For Chicago Blackhawks play-by-play man Pat Foley, the 2021-22 NHL season will be his last.
The team announced on Wednesday morning that Foley would call his 39th and final season of Blackhawks hockey this upcoming year.
Hall of Fame play-by-play broadcaster Pat Foley will call his final season of #Blackhawks hockey during the 2021-22 campaign.
A titan of the NHL and Chicago broadcasting community, Foley’s 39th season in the booth will include a year-long celebration. pic.twitter.com/9RCJ1SBhxY
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) June 23, 2021
Part of Foley’s final season will be used for him to “pass the torch” to his successor, for which the search is underway according to the Blackhawks.
“Listening to the great Lloyd Pettit fostered a love for the Chicago Blackhawks and broadcasting at an early age. To follow in his footsteps and broadcast for the team for nearly 40 years is a dream come true for a Chicago native.” Foley said in the press release announcing his final season.
“Pat Foley is not just a legendary broadcaster and great partner in the booth, but I’m proud to say he is an even better friend,” long-time Blackhawks broadcast partner Eddie Olczyk said of Foley in today’s press release. “Two Chicago guys calling Blackhawks hockey for the past 15 years has been a dream come true for me and I’m so fortunate to have that experience. I’m so happy for him to be able to go out on his own terms and so proud of what he has accomplished.”
Foley has called Blackhawks games from 1980-2006 and then back again from 2008 to the present. He is a multi-time Emmy award-winner and a Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame inductee and was selected as the Hockey Hall of Fame Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winner in 2014. For a large portion of Blackhawks fans, he has been the only voice of the Blackhawks we have known. It will be incredibly sad, but incredibly entertaining to see the love and admiration that Foley will receive over his final season calling Blackhawks hockey. It would be nice if he was able to call some significant hockey in the process.
