Opportunity to call games on TV lures Goucher to Las Vegas

Pawtucket native spent 16 years as radio voice of Bruins

LAS VEGAS — Vegas Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz announced Tuesday that the team has hired its first-ever television and radio broadcast teams.

Pawtucket native Dave Goucher will serve as the team’s TV play-by-play announcer, while Shane Hnidy will serve as the TV color commentator.

Goucher and Hnidy will call games on the television home of the Golden Knights, AT&T SportsNet.

"We are thrilled to have Dave and Shane on board as our firstever broadcasters," said Vegas Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz. "Each of them brings a wealth of hockey experience,

and will be an integral part of making Golden Knights broadcasts enjoyable and insightful. They will not only be great announcers in the broadcast booth but also great community ambassadors, bringing the great game of hockey to the Las Vegas community."

A graduate of Tolman High School where he played both tennis and hockey, Goucher has been the radio play-by-play announcer for the Boston Bruins since 2000. He has been named New England's top radio play-by-play announcer by the Associated Press three times (2003, 2006 and 2007), was awarded the Associated Press "Best Sportscast" Award in 2006 and was named the Massachusetts Sportscaster of the Year in 2013 and 2014.

While with the Bruins he has called several historic and exciting matchups. He was the voice in the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park featuring the Bruins and Flyers and could be heard throughout the Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup Championship run.

This included calls of Game 5 and Game 7 of the Bruins vs. Canadiens matchup, both of which Bruins won in double overtime and overtime, respectively, Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final, where the Bruins defeated the Lightning to advance to the Cup Final and Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, in which the Bruins defeated the Canucks to take the Cup.

In 2013, he called Game 7 of the Bruins-Leafs matchup, where the Bruins rallied from three goals down in the third period to win the game and series in overtime. Also in 2013 Goucher was the radio play-by-play broadcaster of the Bruins-Penguins series in which Bruins swept the Penguins to return to the Stanley Cup Final and called all six games of the Stanley Cup Final between the Bruins and the Blackhawks that year.

In 2016, he called his second Winter Classic as the Bruins hosted the Montreal Canadiens at Gillette Stadium. Goucher has been a regular contributor to Bruins coverage on Comcast Sportsnet New England, the NHL Network and WCVB-TV in Boston.

During the 2014 and 2015 hockey seasons, he was the TV play-by-play announcer for NBCSN covering college hockey's Hockey East games. Goucher could be heard nationally on Westwood One Radio in 2017 calling the Predators vs. Ducks Western Conference Finals.

Prior to calling Bruins games, the Pawtucket native was the radio voice of the AHL's Providence Bruins, and was at the mic when they won the 1999 Calder Cup.

Also during this time he occasionally worked on NESN's hockey coverage of Providence and ECAC college hockey.

He began his broadcasting career at his alma mater, Boston University, calling Terrier hockey games, including for the Hockey East Championships and 1993 Frozen Four, before becoming the radio and television play-byplay announcer for the ECHL's Wheeling Thunderbirds.

In 2004, he covered the Boston Red Sox winning their first World Series in 86 years and Super Bowl XXXIX.