February 9, 2017
by Gann Matsuda
In the final installment of a two-part series on the Los Angeles Kings first play-by-play announcer, Jiggs McDonald, who will fill in for the legendary Bob Miller on tonight’s Fox Sports West telecast when the Kings skate at the BB&T Center against the Florida Panthers, McDonald shared his thoughts on how hockey has changed since 1967, and more on what it was like to work for the Kings first owner Jack Kent Cooke. He also talked about his career after leaving the Kings, and about filling in for Miller.
The Los Angeles Kings first play-by-play
announcer, Jiggs McDonald.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein courtesy
Los Angeles Kings/NHL
LOS ANGELES — More than fifty years after he broadcast the first
Los Angeles Kings game,
Hockey Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer
John Kenneth “Jiggs” McDonald will call one more when the Kings skate into the
BB&T Center on February 9 to face the
Florida Panthers, filling in for another Hall of Famer, the legendary
Bob Miller, who is working a reduced schedule this year after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery last season and more recently, suffering a mild stroke during the 2017 NHL All-Star weekend.
During the Kings celebration of their 50th Anniversary last October, McDonald spoke exclusively with Frozen Royalty about his time with the Kings, which you can read in part 1 of this series. In the second and final segment, he also shared his thoughts about how things have changed in the National Hockey League over the last 50 years, about his career after he left Los Angeles, and about returning to the Kings broadcast booth for one more game.
To be sure, hockey has changed rather dramatically over the years, and, as one would reasonably expect, over the course of fifty years, there has been a great deal of change in every aspect of the game, both on the ice and off.
Read more of this post
