Rod Phillips—"He scoooooores!"

Rod Phillips was not exactly groomed to become the first radioman to call games for the Edmonton Oilers. The Calmar, Alberta, native was certainly a media trendsetter by hosting Edmonton’s original late-night television sportscast in 1967. However, when Phillips went behind the microphone to broadcast the Oilers second season in the World Hockey Association, he had no experience doing play-by-play over the airwaves.

What he did have was enthusiasm, and plenty of it.

"I believe that on radio, you have to make it exciting, fast moving, or people will lose interest," Phillips says. "I enjoy the game. I have a passion for the game. To me, hockey is the most exciting game in the world."

"That’s what I try do–make it exciting."

Phillips did not have to try too hard considering that the team he watched on a nightly basis would evolve into one of the most dominating dynasties in professional sports history. As the young Edmonton squad entered the NHL, no one, Phillips included, had an idea of what was to come. The long-time radioman says that the 1979-80 season was extremely special because the team had gained entry into the NHL. By the next season, he correctly assumed there would be many good times ahead.

"The first real indication was the second year in the league, when they swept Montreal in the first round of the playoffs," says Phillips. "That was the first time I started thinking in the back of my head that this team would be special."

And the cigar-chewing Phillips (he says he picked up the stogie chomping habit from Glen Sather) would be there through all of it, his trademark "He scoooooores"  would become a fixture for Oiler fans tuned into the radio. The greatest memories are almost too numerous to mention but Phillips does have a few, including the sweep of the Canadiens and the first of the five Stanley Cups in 1983/84. Some of the most obvious recollections have to do with the mesmerizing show Wayne Gretzky put on nightly. On his perch above the ice, Phillips was fortunate enough to watch history unfold in front of him and his connection with Gretzky is a strong one. When the Great One’s number was retired at the Oiler home opener in 1999, Phillips had tears in his eyes and when he introduced Edmonton’s greatest star ever, the voice known by so many cracked with emotion.

"Every year, it seemed like he would break a new record," says Phillips. "In my way of thinking, he was the greatest player in the history of game."

And Phillips has become one of the best broadcasters. In 2003, as he prepared for his 30th year of Oiler coverage (he has only missed a single game during his tenure), Phillips received the prestigious Foster Hewitt Memorial Award and induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

"I’m very proud of that," says Phillips. "The Hockey Hall of Fame. It doesn’t get any better for a kid from Calmar."

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