Ray Ferraro

Ray Ferraro
Born (1964-08-23) August 23, 1964
Trail, BC, CAN
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Hartford Whalers
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Los Angeles Kings
Atlanta Thrashers
St. Louis Blues
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 88th overall, 1982
Hartford Whalers
Playing career 1984–2002

Raymond Vincent Ferraro (born August 23, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current broadcaster for TSN Radio 1040 and TSN. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hartford Whalers (1984–1990), New York Islanders (1990–1995), New York Rangers (1995–1996), Los Angeles Kings (1996–1999), Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2002) and St. Louis Blues (2002). His nickname was the "Big Ball of Hate," coined by former Rangers teammate Glenn Healy.[1]

Biography

Playing career

Ferraro was a prolific scorer in junior hockey, including a 108-goal and 192-point season for the Western Hockey League (WHL)'s Brandon Wheat Kings in 1983–84. He also was a member of the 1982–83 Portland Winter Hawks squad that won the 1983 Memorial Cup. Ferraro's teammates on the championship-winning team included Cam Neely, Mike Vernon, Brian Curran, John Kordic and other future NHLers.

In his NHL career, he scored 408 goals and 490 assists for a total of 898 points in 1,258 games spanning 18 seasons. He was named to the NHL All-Star Game in 1992, held in Philadelphia. He also had two 40-goal seasons.

Ferraro had a memorable Stanley Cup playoff run for the New York Islanders in 1993, scoring two overtime goals against the Washington Capitals as the Islanders defeated both the Capitals and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Ferraro assisted on David Volek's game- and series-winning goal during overtime of Game 7 against the Penguins. The goal advanced the Islanders to the Wales Conference Finals, which they lost to the eventual champion Montreal Canadiens. Ferraro finished that playoff season with team-leading totals in goals (13) and points (20).

Broadcasting

Ferraro retired from the NHL on August 2, 2002. He has done work for ESPN hockey broadcasts, including on NHL 2Night with John Buccigross and Barry Melrose, where he began working while still an active player. On that show, Ferraro was often referred to as "Chicken Parm" by Buccigross after an accident with chicken parmesan moments before going on the air. He later worked as a studio analyst for the NHL on NBC, as a colour commentator on Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on Rogers Sportsnet West and on Sportsnet's other hockey programs.

Ferraro works as a game analyst and studio analyst for the NHL on TSN. Ferraro provided colour commentary and analysis for CTV during the 2010 Winter Olympics. After Pierre McGuire left TSN for NBC/Versus, Ferraro became the lead game analyst. After Rogers Media, the parent of TSN's rival Sportsnet, gained the national NHL rights with effect in the 2014-15 NHL season, Ferraro became a color commentator for the regional Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators games on TSN on a rotating basis.

On May 5, 2014, EA Sports announced that Ferraro would be an ice level analyst for NHL 15 along with play-by-play commentator Mike "Doc" Emrick and colour commentator Ed "Eddie" Olczyk. He returned as an ice level analyst for NHL 16.[2] On November 23, 2015, Ferraro became the first hockey broadcaster to broadcast a game where his child also played in the same game, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Centre.[3]

Personal life

Ferraro's second wife is former U.S. women's ice hockey team captain Cammi Granato, who also worked as a women's hockey analyst during NBC's 2006 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Olympics coverage. The couple has two sons — Riley, who was born in December 2006, and Reese, born in December 2009. Ferraro also has two sons from a previous marriage to Tracey Ferraro — Matt, born in 1988, and Landon, born in 1991. Landon, a centre, was drafted second overall by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft and in the second round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft (32nd overall) by the Detroit Red Wings; he was later traded from Red Deer to the Everett Silvertips, where he was named team captain. Landon made his NHL debut with the Red Wings on March 18, 2014. Matt, a former goaltender, was drafted to the WHL in 2003 by the Prince George Cougars, but has since become a financial planner.

Following the Swedish women's team upset of the U.S. at the 2006 Winter Olympic games, Ferraro publicly criticised U.S. women's coach Ben Smith for failing to bring the best U.S. players to the games, which led to the team's downfall. His comments were broadcast on MSNBC during the intermission of a men's game. This appeared to be directly related to his wife being cut in August 2005 because she wouldn't give up her NBC Sports job, along with other veterans in favour of younger, faster players. Some critics and fans also questioned Granato's cut from the team and cited it as a factor in the U.S. team's disappointing performance. NBC fired him in response.

Ferraro currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Ferraro played in the 1976 Little League World Series.[4]

On April 7, 2008, Ferraro returned to ESPN to call his first ever Frozen Four and as the replacement for Barry Melrose, who left ESPN to coach the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ferraro currently works with TSN, which he joined in 2008.[5]

Transactions

Video games

Ferraro is the current broadcaster between the benches in EA Sports' hockey video game's, starting with NHL 15.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1980–81 Trail Smoke Eaters BCJHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
1981–82 Penticton Knights BCJHL 48 65 70 135 90 — — — — —
1982–83 Portland Winter Hawks WHL 50 41 49 90 39 14 14 10 24 13
1983–84 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 72 108 84 192 84 11 13 15 28 20
1984–85 Binghamton Whalers AHL 37 20 13 33 29 — — — — —
1984–85 Hartford Whalers NHL 44 11 17 28 40 — — — — —
1985–86 Hartford Whalers NHL 76 30 47 77 57 10 3 6 9 4
1986–87 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 27 32 59 42 6 1 1 2 8
1987–88 Hartford Whalers NHL 68 21 29 50 81 6 1 1 2 6
1988–89 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 41 35 76 86 4 2 0 2 4
1989–90 Hartford Whalers NHL 79 25 29 54 109 7 0 3 3 2
1990–91 Hartford Whalers NHL 15 2 5 7 18 — — — — —
1990–91 New York Islanders NHL 61 19 16 35 52 — — — — —
1991–92 New York Islanders NHL 80 40 40 80 92 — — — — —
1992–93 Capital District Islanders AHL 1 0 2 2 2 — — — — —
1992–93 New York Islanders NHL 46 14 13 27 40 18 13 7 20 18
1993–94 New York Islanders NHL 82 21 32 53 83 4 1 0 1 6
1994–95 New York Islanders NHL 47 22 21 43 30 — — — — —
1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 65 25 29 54 82 — — — — —
1995–96 Los Angeles Kings NHL 11 4 2 6 10 — — — — —
1996–97 Los Angeles Kings NHL 81 25 21 46 112 — — — — —
1997–98 Los Angeles Kings NHL 40 6 9 15 42 3 0 1 1 2
1998–99 Los Angeles Kings NHL 65 13 18 31 59 — — — — —
1999–00 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 81 19 25 44 88 — — — — —
2000–01 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 81 29 47 76 91 — — — — —
2001–02 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 61 8 19 27 66 — — — — —
2001–02 St. Louis Blues NHL 15 6 4 10 8 10 0 3 3 4
NHL totals 1258 408 490 898 1288 68 21 22 43 54

See also

References

  1. ↑ Buccigross, John (2003-04-06). "Da Vinci knew all about the Stanley Cup". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  2. ↑ "EA SPORTS NHL 15 Starts a New Generation of Hockey Videogames This Fall". EA Sports. May 5, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ Feschuck, David. "The father, the son and a night to boast". Toronto Star. Toronto Star. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/pdf/Notable_LL_Graduates.pdf
  5. ↑ "Ray Ferraro". TSN. Bell Media. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
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