At a spring training game in Arizona a few years ago, Josh Schaefer spotted Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis.
He asked for his email, sent him a broadcast tape and waited. What he heard back wasn’t what every broadcaster wants to hear.
“It was the first time anybody just absolutely shredded a tape of mine,” Schaefer said. “He did not mince his words. It wasn’t, ‘Hey, you’re doing great. Keep it up.’”
That kind of honesty has defined Schaefer’s path through broadcasting, a job he treats like a craft.
Now one of the youngest play-by-play voices in the NHL, Schaefer splits his time between radio and television. This season, he’ll handle the bulk of the Kings’ games on ESPN LA while calling select broadcasts on FanDuel Sports Network.
What separates Schaefer is the energy and warmth in his delivery, a tone that mirrors the excitement he once felt as a kid listening to Kings games. He’s intent on sounding like himself and that authenticity carries through in the way he describes plays, tracks the puck and brings listeners into the moment. It’s a style that resonates with fans because it feels lived-in, not performed.
Before the career came the fandom. Schaefer’s hockey story starts with one night at Staples Center, when a giveaway ticket became a lifelong devotion. Growing up, Schaefer was a hockey fan and would pick the Kings to root for, but didn’t consider himself a true fan. But nothing compared to stepping into a Kings game for the first time, a moment that hit him with a scale and energy he hadn’t known sports could have.
“My first game, we got free tickets because my uncle was an LA City firefighter. The Kings were down 4-0 with five minutes left, and they somehow came back and won the game,” Schaefer said. “And for me, that was it, and I was a Kings fan from that point forward.”
Years later, he watched Los Angeles rally around the team during the Stanley Cup runs.
“Those years from 2012 to 2014 were just so cool to be around and to be a fan at that time, because you saw the way that the city bought in to those teams,” Schaefer said.
Even now, he feels echoes of that era.
“These first two home games last year, to me, seemed like some of the loudest I’ve heard that building since those few Cup years,” said Schaefer. “The Kings have a very dedicated fan base. It’s a community that I’m glad I was a part of.”
From early play-by-play in his driveway to late-night road trips with the Ontario Reign, the LA Kings’ AHL affiliate, Schaefer’s climb has been deliberate: that of a Los Angeles native learning to find his voice in the sport he grew up loving.
“I have gotten a lot of practice doing this,” said Schaefer, now 27. “It’s something that I was always very dedicated to. I would play basketball in my driveway and do play-by-play in my head. When I went to college, it was my number one priority.”
Schaefer graduated from Arizona State in 2020. That same year, the pandemic brought opportunity.
Schaefer was local and available, and the Reign happened to need someone.
From the organizational side, that opportunity came into focus quickly. Darren Abbott, now President of LA Kings Affiliates and SVP of Revenue, first encountered Schaefer during those early pandemic broadcasts.
Abbott said Schaefer made an immediate impression.
“He didn’t know anyone, he came well prepared and had fun on the air and did a great job,” Abbott said. “We realized that he was a really talented broadcaster.”
“Not many aspiring broadcasters land at that high level out of college for their first job,” Schaefer added. “You have to have thick skin. You have to be willing to get better.”
The Ontario Reign hired him full-time for three seasons as their play-by-play voice coming out of the pandemic.
Schaefer remembers one moment that drove home how deeply hockey had embedded itself in the community. A local elementary school held a ticket fundraiser during his time with the Reign, and Schaefer called the organizer to thank her before moving on to the Kings.
“She told me that the event three years ago was the first time her son had ever been to a hockey game,” Schaefer said. “Now he’s 12 and in his third year playing junior hockey for the Ontario Junior Reign.”
Abbott also made the same jump Schaefer did, moving from the Reign to the Kings.
Because of that path, Abbottt hoped Schaefer would eventually follow the same route and become the voice of the Kings.
“I’m very thankful that we’re able to fill that position through someone of our own, somebody that we’re able to develop in Ontario,” Abbott said. “We want to bring people up from the Ontario Reign, whether they be broadcasters or ticket sales people or hockey players or coaches.”
Abbott said the organization valued not just Schaefer’s work, but the fact that he grew up here.
“He’s not only someone who grew up a fan of the Kings, but he grew up a fan of the broadcast itself,” Abbott said. “He speaks to the fans because of that. He’s very passionate about our team and our brand, and that comes across with our fans.”
LA Kings lead radio play-by-play announcer Josh Schafer smiles at Crypto.com Arena ahead of the Penguins-Kings game. (Photo/LA Kings Social)
After his time in the AHL, Schaefer said, his first NHL season came with a learning curve. There were corrections he had to make on the fly, too. After one interview, he caught himself wishing he’d phrased a question differently.
“I go back and listen to it and hear how it came across on the air,” Schaefer said. “I pay attention to my tone and the way I say things. That’s a big thing, don’t try to be somebody that you’re not.”
For Schaefer, improvement behind the mic and improvement away from it became inseparable. The same discipline that pushed him to analyze every broadcast also pushed him to figure out how to live the NHL lifestyle without burning out.
He’s found that growth comes from accepting that no broadcast will be perfect.
“At the end of the day, the more reps you get and the more willing you are to listen back to yourself and listen to critiques and take those steps to get better, you’re going to get better,” Schaefer said.
That mindset extended beyond the booth. Adjusting to the NHL’s fast travel pace last year, Schaefer admitted, required new habits.
“Last year, my first year in the NHL was difficult at times,” Schaefer said. “I was probably the most out of shape I’ve been in my life because I didn’t really make time for the gym.”
This season, he said, has felt more balanced.
“Starting from the beginning, knowing how I wanted to do things now, I’ve gone to the gym every day on the road,” Schaefer said. “Things are changing all the time, which is why I love what I do.”
Listening to Schaefer on a broadcast feels steady and conversational—measured without being monotone, energetic without forcing excitement. He leans analytical, explaining plays with clarity and pacing that makes the game feel organized even during chaos.
When big moments hit, his voice lifts naturally, more like someone letting the moment carry them than someone performing for effect. It’s polished, calm and easy to settle into for a full game.
Even now, Schaefer studies his broadcasts the way a coach breaks down film. He reviews every broadcast, always reminding himself to sound genuine.
“Don’t try to sound like a broadcaster,” he likes to say. “You are one, so be one.”
That mantra came from mentors.
One of his biggest influences was longtime Kings voice Nick Nickson, a Hall of Fame broadcaster who retired last season.
High in the rafters, hall-of-fame broadcaster Nick Nickson makes his classic call as the LA Kings take on the Carolina Hurricanes and try to overcome a 3-1 deficit. (Photo/LA Kings Social)
Nickson first met Schaefer during the pandemic years when games were being called from the team’s practice facility in El Segundo. He remembered Schaefer as a young broadcaster eager to learn.
“From game 50 to game 200, you get more comfortable, you develop a rhythm, you know the team, you know the players,” Nickson said.
What stands out most to Nickson now is Schaefer’s energy and the same enthusiasm he had as a kid listening to the Kings.
“He’s very fortunate – he’s not that old, but he’s getting the opportunity to broadcast at the highest league in hockey,” Nickson said. “The passion is there, and that comes across in his delivery.”
For Nickson, seeing a Los Angeles native carry the microphone for the team is special.
“They’ve got a homegrown product as their broadcaster,” Nickson said. “He grew up listening to mostly myself and [former play-by-play commentator] Bob [Miller], so he understands the history of the game and what the Kings have meant to this community.”
Abbott sees the same traits — and the same trajectory.
“He’s got so much in front of him,” Abbott said. “He’s going to be so good, and he already is. He’s a good teammate more than anything. No matter what situation we put him in, he does it professionally.”
Schaefer said Nickson’s advice still shapes how he prepares.
“I always have been willing to take constructive criticism, and I’ve had mentors who have helped me from Day One of me doing this,” Schaefer said.
Schaefer hasn’t kept those lessons to himself.
He’s already mentoring younger broadcasters, passing on the same practical advice.
“I remember when I was working on Cape Cod two summers ago and I felt like I was in a broadcasting rut,” said Jack Smith, a young broadcaster currently working for the San Francisco 49ers. “Josh is an alum of the same team I was working for. I reached out to him for advice and for feedback on my work and he was incredibly helpful.”
Smith sent three tapes to Schaefer, seeking feedback on how to improve his broadcasting.
“He worked with me on finding my voice and regaining my confidence,” Smith said.
Smith’s experience isn’t unusual; Schaefer has tried to help younger broadcasters the same way others once helped him. That instinct, to give back to the place that shaped him, extends to the team he now calls games for.
Schaefer believes local roots are what set the Kings apart. Their in-arena intro video ends with the phrase “First team born in LA” – a line he thinks captures their place in the city’s sports fabric.
“The Kings can lean into that and say, we didn’t move from anywhere,” Schaefer said. “We’ve been here.”
Abbott said the broadcast group mirrors that identity and continues to evolve.
“They’re young, and they’re energetic, and they’re willing to try different things,” Abbott said. “We’re going to do different things on our broadcast, and they’re open to it.”
“He’s the model of perseverance,” Abbott said of Schaefer. “He worked hard to get to where he is, and he should be very proud of that, and we’re proud of him.”
The next challenge, he added, is turning casual support into a lasting connection. It’s the feeling he still remembers from that first game and comeback win, the kind of moment that locks a fan in for life. That sense of connection, to fans, mentors and the noise of the crowd, remains at the heart of what he does.
“Whenever we’re at home, and there’s a big goal that’s scored, I like to take my headphones off and just listen to the crowd once people start stirring,” Schaefer said. “That’s something that really speaks to me.”
The LA Kings form a circle center ice as referees review their game-winning goal. (Photo/Makena Arteaga)