NESN made the announcement on Wednesday that it was bringing back WEEI’s Dale Arnold to Boston Bruins hockey as a studio host. He replaces Kathryn Tappen who left the network to go to NHL Network. Dale had been NESN’s Bruins announcer for home games from 1994 — 2007. He had split the duties with Dave Shea then Jack Edwards, both of whom would call road games. But just before the 2007-08 season when NESN decided to go with one announcer, it was thought that Dale would be the natural fit to take over the entire schedule. However, he chose to remain with WEEI where he had just signed a new contract to remain as co-host of the midday show for the Boston sports radio station. But this year, WEEI went in a new direction and took Arnold off middays, made him permanent fill-in host and gave him a weekend shift.
Arnold lamented on the air that he should have taken the NESN offer. But after Tappen left, it was speculated that Dale would become Bruins host and lo and behold, it became official.
In addition to announcing Dale’s hiring, NESN says it’s brought back Bruins rinkside reporter Naoko Funayama for her fourth season as part of the crew that includes Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley.
Here’s the NESN press release.
NESN HIRES DALE ARNOLD AND RENEWS NAOKO FUNAYAMA
BOSTON, MA – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, announced today that veteran sports broadcaster Dale Arnold has been hired to serve as the network’s Boston Bruins studio host. The network has also signed Bruins reporter Naoko Funayama to a contract extension. Arnold will host all of NESN’s pre-game, intermission and post-game Bruins coverage, while Funayama will return for her 4th season as the network’s rink-side reporter. NESN will drop the puck on the 2011-12 season on Thursday, September 29 at 6:30 PM with WB Mason Bruins Face-Off LIVE before delivering live coverage of the Bruins – Ottawa Senators pre-season game from TD Garden.
“Dale is going to be a great addition to our Bruins hockey coverage this season,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s President and CEO. “Dale brings authenticity, credibility and a deep passion and knowledge about the league and the Bruins organization. We are very happy to welcome him back to NESN.”
“Since joining NESN’s Bruins broadcast team in 2008 Naoko has earned the respect of her peers and excelled as a reporter and storyteller,” said McGrail. “We look forward to an exciting season covering the defending Stanley Cup Champions and believe we have one of the best broadcast teams in the country.”
Arnold is no stranger to NESN’s Bruins audience, having previously served as the network’s play-by-play voice for 13 seasons (1994-2007), earning two Emmy Awards during that time. The versatile announcer has enjoyed a 20 year career as a sports talk show host at WEEI Sports Radio 93.7 FM/850 AM in Boston. Arnold also holds the distinction as the only person in Boston sports media history to have done play-by-play for all five professional sports teams (Bruins, Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Revolution). The Maine native and graduate of Bowdoin College began his career as a play-by-play announcer for the Maine Mariners.
Funayama has served as NESN’s Bruins reporter for the past 3 seasons. In addition to her work on the network’s Bruins pre-game, intermission and post-game shows, Funayama provides regular reports for NESN Daily. She also served as a freelance Red Sox reporter for NESN during the 2007 season. She came to NESN after spending four years as a sports reporter for WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire where she covered all the Boston sports teams.
The popular broadcast duo of Jack Edwards (play-by-play) and Andy Brickley (color analyst) will be back in the NESN booth for their 7th season together. Joining Arnold in the NESN studio will be veteran studio analysts Gord Kluzak and Barry Pederson. NESN will also rotate in several additional guest studio analysts during the season.
Maybe one more press release before I shut it down tonight.
