Dave Strader

Dave Strader is an American sportscaster and currently does double-duty as the play-by-play announcer of the Phoenix Coyotes on FSN Arizona and as the #2 play-by-play announcer for The NHL on NBC and The NHL on Versus. He also broadcasts the Stanley Cup Finals on the NHL's International feed.

A New York State native, Strader honed his broadcasting skills in the college radio station while studying for his Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies at the University of Massachusetts.

Strader's professional broadcasting career began as the radio announcer and public relations director for the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL from 1979-1985. A two time New York Broadcasters Association honoree, Strader was named the AHL's top public relations professional in 1984.

In 1985, the NHL's Detroit Red Wings called Strader up from the farm club and he took over the play-by-play duties, calling TV Games on both WKBD and PASS Sports (the regional sports network was acquired by Fox in 1996 and relaunched as FSN Detroit).

Following the tragic death of longtime ESPN broadcaster Tom Mees in 1996, Strader was hired by the cable network to take the now-vacant play-by-play spot on National Hockey Night broadcasts. Strader was usually paired with Darren Pang on the network's secondary hockey broadcast team, although during the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, he was reunited with his Detroit broadcast partner, Mickey Redmond, to call the games for ESPN's international feed. When ABC got the NHL contract in 2000, Strader worked for them as well. He moved to NBC and Versus when they got the contracts in 2006.

In his career he also has called NHL games for FOX in the mid 1990s. While hockey has been his primary focus, he has also called college basketball, WNBA, and the NBDL games.

Prior to his current stint with the Coyotes, Strader called games for the Florida Panthers for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons when not calling games for NBC or Versus. He also provided hockey play-by-play for NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Strader was hired for his current position with the Coyotes on July 2, 2007. He is reunited with his former ESPN and ABC partner, Darren Pang, for Coyotes broadcasts.

He and his wife Colleen have three sons: Christopher and twins Casey and Trevor.

References

This biographical article related to American sports is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.