Detroit Red Wings Director of Player Development on team prospects
Detroit Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary discusses the team’s young prospects.
The Detroit Red Wings have been disappointing on the ice, but NHL fans think they’re elite on the mic.
For the second straight year, the Red Wings broadcasting team of play-by-play commentator Ken Daniels and color commentator Mickey Redmond have finished No. 1 among NHL TV broadcasters in a survey of hockey fans conducted by The Athletic.
Fans were asked to rank broadcasting teams on a 1-5 scale, with the Red Wings receiving a 4.96 rating among local fans (best among all teams) and a 3.83 rating among national fans (still best among all teams). Daniels and Redmond finished No. 1 in the same survey conducted in 2024 and finished No. 2 in 2023.
Daniels first joined Redmond and the Red Wings’ broadcast for the 1997-98 season, the year the Red Wings won their ninth Stanley Cup. Redmond, 77, has suffered various health issues over the years and does not appear on every game, occasionally subbed out for former Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood.
The FanDuel Sports Red Wings’ broadcast has experienced big changes over the past few years, with former pregame/postgame host John Keating announcing his retirement on Dec. 20, and reporter Trevor Thompson seeing his position eliminated May 7.
However, Daniels and Redmond remain a staple on the team’s broadcast.
Fans provided commentary for their choice in the poll, with one writing: “Mickey Redmond and Ken Daniels are Detroit legends who have more chemistry than Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in ‘Grease.’”
Detroit sports broadcasts have gotten high rankings from fans over the past year, with the Tigers’ TV team, led by play-by-play men Jason Benetti and Dan Dickerson, rated as the No. 10 broadcast in MLB in 2024 in an Awful Announcing poll.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.