Daryl “Razor” Reaugh Honored by Hockey Hall of Fame

Daryl “Razor” Reaugh Honored by Hockey Hall of Fame

Our next honore grew up loving the Montreal Canadians as a young goalie in Prince George, British Columbia, but he idolized Danny Gallivan as much as he did Ken Dryen. He would go on to be drafted by the Oilers in 1984. Played a little with the Oilers, played a little with the Hartford Whalers, but soon realized that his true calling was more Gallivan than it was Dryen. was part of the Hartford Whalers broadcast team in 959 96 and then moved to Dallas with the stars where for the greater part of the last 30 years he has been providing endlessly colorful and entertaining and insightful elephantine mastadonic velvety razorism commentary for Texas hockey fans. 12 Lonear Emmy awards plus national accolades for basically every network that has broadcast hockey versus ABC, NBC, ESPN hockey night in Canada. And now the ultimate honor in the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. I’d like to bring up Chuck Kaitton from the NHL Broadcasters Association to present the jacket to the great Daryl Ray. And I just quickly want to add my congratulations on behalf of the broadcasters association because this is a very special man to me and uh he is truly one of the best. Congratulations Darl and to your wonderful family. I believe it. [Applause] Wonderful. I finally get to take a jacket in instead of let it out. Thank you, Chuck. Thank you, Chuck. To think you and I got kicked off the Hartford Whalers team bus in 1995 for good for being too loud. Look at us now. Look at us now. What a jacket to slip on. Uh, thank you all. Before I get to a slew of thank yous, I did want to talk just for a minute about influences and James touched on it. When you start out in broadcasting, you always ask for some uh feedback what you should be uh as aspiring to. And most people will tell you just be yourself, you know, try to be original, not too original. You still want to be employed, but try to be original. And to me, the broadcasters that I adored, two men I now join in having this honor bestowed on me, which is just absolutely surreal. I’d like to talk a little bit about as a kid, as as James mentioned, I I idolized Ken Dryden. I wanted to be Ken Dryden, but at the same time, I was absolutely infatuated with the play-by-play legend Danny Gallivan. I’d be clad in my foam pads, no mask, no cup. I was brave, but I wasn’t smart as a kid. I they were whizzing semifrozen tennis balls at me in my driveway on the neighborhood streets in Prince George and I was Dryen but Mr. Gallivan’s stenuran playbyplay was always running through my head and at times spilling out of my mouth. Yes, I made every save in rapier like fashion back then. Every glove grab was glittering. I my love of powerful and descriptive words really stems from those days, those Saturday nights of my youth. He’s why yes, Larsson and mastadonic and oodles of other wonderful words have peppered our stars broadcast through the years. Never to make me sound smarter. That was never the purpose with it. Was always just to emphasize the things that were going on on the ice. and uh emphasize the players and what they do and to honor him. The great Harry Neil is the other major influence. He was extremely kind to me when I was first starting out along with Joe Bowen. They let me stand in that that little foam booth of a broadcast booth at the old Joe Lewis Arena. There was really room for one. I don’t think any of us could fit in there even singularly. They let me paint myself onto the wall. watch the broadcast. Harry was always a delight. I found it uh so incredibly adept for him to to get in those quips, those oneliners in never felt forced, never felt shoehorned into the game. And when they landed, you you could hear the glint in Harry’s eye. And it’s because of his influence that when Jaime Ben went through the entire Carolina Hurricanes team and scored, I felt the urge to describe it as being like poop going through a diarrhea infected goose. And I truly hope I truly hope Harry appreciated and approves of that. I I also get asked many times like when my first inclination to get into broadcasting was. I think it was actually when I was playing for the Oilers in the 80s. Playing might be a bit of an exaggeration. Fury played 75 games that year. Won the VZNA of course. You’re welcome Grant. All thanks to my patience and ineptness. Anyway, I was trying to endear myself to the rest of the group at our Christmas party. Uh, you know, just trying to fit in in some way, some impressions, what have you. And afterward, Glenn Sther came over to me and suggested that I think about getting into broadcasting and entertainment. It’s not exactly what you want to hear from your coach and GM when you’re 22 and trying to make it in the NHL. I I’m pretty sure Slattz didn’t mean it that way, but maybe this honor today actually further validates Slattz’s ability to evaluate talent and she uh see the true talent in me. So many people to acknowledge here today. Thank you, Commissioner Bman for being here and Mr. Dailyaly. Of course, the selection committee. I saw Sam Rosen. There you are, Sam. Bob, Peter, Jim, Rick, yourself. I want to thank each of you. I want to thank you for how much this means to me. Means to me coming from you that you think I deserve this. It’s It’s flabbergasting. It It’s truly the greatest honor I’ve ever had in my life and likely ever will. On behalf of my family, thank you to Kelly Massie and the Hockey Hall of Fame. Yes, you, Kelly. Thanks for everything. Uh, congratulations to you, Francois. Frank, Frankie told me before we came upstairs here that if I do it bilingual, I get more time. Is that true, James? It’s not a premier. No. to the people seated at my tables, especially table seven back there. Start with you. You guys are important people in my life. Like extremely important all of you and especially considering the weather and the travel. Thank you very much for being here today with me. My family, Brad, Kate at my table, thank you so much for being here and being a part of this with me. Big thanks to the Dallas Stars organization. Stars fans to the coaches, managers, players over the years. Most of what I have in life and have accomplished in this vocation I have because Jim Lights hired me in 1996. I just wanted to get a second contract. I’m still here 30 years later. And in the time I don’t think any other franchise in the NHL has won more games than the Dallas Stars have. And there’s nothing easier than calling games for a winning team. I represent our fans here today. They’re all up here with me. We are in a relationship. We have been for a long time. They are out there. TVs, tablets, phones, radio. I’m on the other side and makeup bushell of 25 cent words to wedge into the broadcast. We’ve been linked up for 30 years. Speaking of relationships, I was fully embedded with those late 90s Dallas Stars. I actually practiced more with the team than Eddie Belffor did the win the year we won the Stanley Cup, trying to save the Eagle for games, I guess. So much so that one day the assembled media asked my old head coach Ken Hitchcock his assessment of me in practice since I was kind of a novelty act obviously you know goalender by day broadcaster by night. Hitch always the astute and sage hockey man answered in his folsy manner. Well for the first 15 or 20 minutes Razer looks like an NHL goalender. The problem is our practices are 45 minutes long, which was fair. My play did tail off some. Uh, to all my broadcast partners, starting with you, Jim Ralph, and Gorge Stella, who I know is here in our ringside days. What a beginning, huh? Look at us. Unreal. And all the other brilliant booth poodles that I’ve shared airwaves with through the years. I thank you all for the dance and for putting up with me. Uh we have a a phenomenal production team in Dallas. I’ve benefited greatly from not only their professionalism and their talent, but the continuity. We’ve kept it together down there. I wish I could mention everyone. I won’t. I do want to shout out my boys though. Starting with you, Walshie, Veto, Handsome Johnny. Sound like a mob family or something. Uh, Nordy.com, Greg Red, who’s here. I could go on and on. Uh, and finally, of course, my my family. My wife Kristen, man. Uh, geez, I’ll get it. Eight months of the year, you’ve uh basically run our house with only half a husband. And then the other four months probably too much husband. Way too much husband by around month number four. Time for Daryl to get back to work. But uh this day would not be without you and all the sacrifices you’ve made for me and for our family. Not a chance. Same goes with my two beautiful daughters, Felon and Kendall. Hopefully the summers, we killed it in the summer. summers and offseasons together as you two grew up in some way made up for me not not being there and being absent. But daddy had to make bank. Those those Juicy Couture trackies back in the day, they didn’t come cheap. Okay, all three of you, thank you very much for your love, support, and understanding. Uh again, I apologize to you, James. I know I’ve spilled over my four minutes. I I really I I really love what I do. I I really do. I always have and this is just a absolutely sublime honor uh that you have bestowed upon me and it just shows me or you’ve told me that you love and appreciate what I do just as much and I thank you for that and I thank all of you for indulging me here today. Thanks everyone. [Applause]

Dallas Stars legend Daryl “Razor” Reaugh was named the 2025 recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.

Courtesy: RDS