Hockey broadcaster Strader ‘dies’ at 62

NEW YORK, Oct 2, (AP): Dave Strader, the hockey broadcaster known affectionately as “The Voice,” has died after battling bile duct cancer for more than a year. He was 62.

The Dallas Stars said Strader died Sunday at his home in Glens Falls, New York. Strader was a play-by-play man with the Stars and a national broadcaster on NBC Sports.

“He was a guy who made every team he was a part of better,” said Sam Flood, executive producer and president of production for NBC and NBC Sports.

“What was unique about him was he wanted the analyst to be the star, and he took the time to make sure his analysts were in a position to get the focus and the spotlight. That’s a unique skill as a play-by-play guy to make sure that the stars of the game are the analysts, and he did it in a way with no ego, but loved the game and shared that love every time you watched a game that he broadcast.”

One of Strader’s final public appearances was in Glens Falls on Sept 16, where the press box at the 5,000-seat arena where he got his start calling games for the AHL’s Adirondack Red Wings was renamed in his honor. He received multiple standing ovations at that ceremony, and said he was deeply moved by the gestures.

“To have this happen where it all started is beyond anything I could have dreamed,” Strader said that day according to The Post-Star of Glens Falls.

“I was going to be the next NBA guy. You have to have doors open for you, and you have to be willing to walk through those doors and have to be willing to do the job, but you also have to get lucky.

Strader