Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Retiring Bruins announcer Jack Edwards brought unmatched passion, and controversy, to booth

The Boston Bruins announced on Tuesday that play-by-play man Jack Edwards is retiring after the 2023-24 season, ending a two-decade run as the voice of the team. It was one of the wildest careers of almost any play-by-play announcer in the league as Edwards consistently brought an unmatched level of passion, homerism and, yes, even some controversy to the booth.

Edwards grew up a Bruins fan and did not hide that fact during games. He wanted the team to win, and he did not care who knew it. It produced some legendary calls, including many of the ones that can be heard in this top-10 countdown

There were some times, however, when that passion got him into some hot water. 

Back in 2019, he faced criticism for referencing "bad hockey karma" when then-Dallas Stars defenseman Roman Polak was injured during a play, sparking a profane response from Polak's agent, Allen Walsh.

He also got himself into some hot water when he made unflattering comments about the weight of forward Pat Maroon when he was a member of the Minnesota Wild. 

As play-by-play announcers have become more robotic and boilerplate in recent years, Edwards definitely stood out among his peers with his passion and willingness to get involved in the action. 

It made for some of the wildest broadcasts in the league. 

While incidents like the Polak and Maroon calls were regrettable and deserved the criticism that came along with them, it was mostly a positive experience to hear such a unique brand of play-by-play. 

Especially for a local broadcast that is geared toward the home fans. While nobody wants to hear an announcer openly rooting for a team on a national broadcast, if you tune into a Bruins game on a Boston channel, you probably expect a local slant (with the same being true for any team in any city). Edwards brought that in a way that almost no other announcer ever has in the modern era. 

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