More than a month after suffering a mild stroke, longtime Los Angeles Kings announcer Bob Miller announced his retirement Thursday.
Miller, 78, noted that he had suffered a series of health setbacks over the past year, starting when he had quadruple-bypass surgery in February 2016, followed by a mini stroke three months later. He returned to the broadcast booth after those issues — although with a reduced on-air role — but he said the stroke he suffered Jan. 28 led to his decision to step away from the microphone.
“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, who has been the voice of the Kings since 1973, described the day he suffered his stroke and how he was checked by the Staples Center medical staff, which called an ambulance.
“They said we want to keep this quiet. The ambulance pulled down the tunnel here at Staples Center, and they wheeled me down the main concourse,” he said with a smile. “There are only about 250 workers coming into work. So much for keeping it quiet.”
After four days in the hospital and undergoing various test and procedures, including having a stent inserted in his left carotid artery and being told his right carotid was about 60 percent blocked, he was ultimately sent home to recover.
“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.”
Miller suffered his stroke hours before he was scheduled to work a live broadcast of the NHL All-Star Skills Competition from Staples Center.
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.
Legendary Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn 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