At 21 years old, Don La Greca, a member of the Devils fan club, had the chance to participate in the team’s “Dinner with a Devil” event. He was scheduled to dine with Jim Korn, who played for the Devils from 1987 to 1990.

But plans changed. Korn was unable to attend, and La Greca was reassigned to a different table, one that would change his life.

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Instead of dining with Korn, he found himself seated with the Devils’ broadcasting team: Peter McNabb, Chris Moore, and Gary Thorne. He told them about his dream of becoming a broadcaster. Thorne wished him luck.

Korn missing that dinner turned out to be a twist of fate that would shape La Greca’s future.

On July 8, 2025, at 57 years old, Don La Greca was announced as the new play-by-play announcer for the New Jersey Devils on MSG.

After years of serving as co-host of the Don, Hahn & Rosenberg podcast, hosting the New York Rangers’ pregame and postgame radio shows since the 2005-06 season, and working as the Rangers’ backup radio play-by-play voice, La Greca is finally living his childhood dream.

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When MSG offered him the job, his answer was immediate: “Absolutely, I’m interested. This is my dream job.”

But he had to sit on the news for two weeks before it became public.

“There were so many people I wanted to tell, people I grew up with, Devils fans, coworkers,” La Greca said. “It was really difficult when they were asking, ‘How many Rangers games do you think you’ll get this year?’ and I had to just play the fool.”

A lifelong Devils fan, La Greca was born in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and attended his first game on February 22, 1987. He went to every home game during the Devils’ 1988 playoff run and quickly fell in love with both the team and with hockey.

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He even got the team’s logo permanently inked on his body.

“I got that right after they won in 2000, so it’s 25 years old, and it doesn’t look great anymore, unfortunately,” he said, referring to the NJ Devils Stanley Cup that is still on his leg.

Not only was La Greca hooked on the Devils, but he was especially fascinated with broadcasting. In a household where hockey wasn’t watched, it was the voices on the air who taught him the game.

“They taught me what a two-line pass was, what offside was, what icing meant,” he recalled. “It reminds me that when I broadcast, someone out there might be watching or listening to the game for the first time, and they’re going to learn through me.”

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Now, as the Devils’ play-by-play voice for the 2025-26 season, La Greca couldn’t be more thrilled.

“Being the Devils’ broadcaster is exciting just because that’s the team I grew up following,” he said. “But also, to be part of a team. You are part of the team. You’re not on the outside covering it.”

The road wasn’t easy. La Greca applied for the Devils’ broadcasting job three times before finally getting the call. His years with the Rangers, his patience, and his passion all led to this moment.

“I keep thinking about that story, sitting at that dinner table when I was 21,” he said. “Now I’m calling games for the team that’s been pumping through my blood for so long.”

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Now, nearly four decades after that dinner-table conversation, Don La Greca will sit behind the mic, not just as a broadcaster, but as the voice of the team that taught him to love the game.

Photo Credit: © Paula Barbagallo – Imagn Images