The Hockey News' Rangers writer, Stan Fischler, has covered the NHL for the entire Modern Era and before that. It's time to get him in the Hall, writes Gregg Kennedy.
By Gregg Kennedy
If you are a hockey fan of a certain age, chances are the first hockey book you read was written by Stan Fischler.
Scratch that. If you are a hockey fan of a certain age, the very first book of any kind you ever voluntarily read was written by Stan Fischler.
Maybe it was one from his series of Hockey Stars of… starting in 1969 and continuing through to 1976. Maybe it was one of those big, oversized ones he seemed to release monthly in the early 1970s featuring the photography of Dan Baliotti. How about any number of the biographies and cowritten autobiographies of the ’70s and ’80s?
The point is, Stan Fischler was and remains a pretty prolific hockey writer.
When 'The Hockey Maven' saw his first amateur hockey game in 1939, there were two NHL teams in New York, and one of them was the New York (later, Brooklyn) Americans. This is important, as the suspension of operations by the Amerks in 1942 marks the beginning of the NHL's Original Six Era.
Stan Fischler has been watching, writing about and broadcasting NHL hockey for the entirety of the Modern Era of the game.
Fischler attended his first live Ranger game at the age of 10 in 1942. He would become the team's publicist by 1954.
Fischler, an original subscriber of The Hockey News in 1947, would be contributing articles on the Rangers to the publication by 1955. He would progress to featured columnist, where his "Fischler Report," arguably hockey's first "notes" column, was the weekly must-read.
In fact, he still contributes his work to the Rangers' THN website to this day, and he writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com.
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Along the way, Fischler contributed a multitude of hockey articles to any number of sports and hockey-specific magazines.
Stan Fischler's first published book was Hockey Stars of 1969, although some sources claim it was Strange But True Hockey Stories in 1971. Talk about strange, but obviously not true, as I have a copy of the ’69 work, not to mention Hockey Stars of 1970, but I digress. A couple of years ago, Fischler was a major contributor to the Islanders' 50th Anniversary book. In between, depending on who you ask, there have been about a hundred other books; well over 90 of them on hockey.
It is safe to say Stan Fischler has written more words on hockey than any other human being, living or deceased.
In 1973, Stan Fischler became the studio analyst for the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association. He would go on to join Sports Channel and its present incarnation, The MSG Network, in 1975. He remained a fixture on the network covering the Rangers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils until his retirement in 2018, winning seven Emmy Awards along the way. Over 45 years of television work in hockey, The Maven has seen a lot.
"He's a historian of the game, but he's lived virtually all of the history of the game, and there isn't a piece of the game that he hasn’t been a part of covering," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman put it in an interview with ESPN in December 2023.
Which brings us to the reason for this history lesson – Stan Fischler is not in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Not for his writing. Not for his broadcasting. Not as a builder.
This is a snub of Citizen Kane proportions.
The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is the Hall of Fame honor for distinguished members of the hockey writing profession. The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award is the Hall of Fame honor reserved for broadcasters.
I have traced the history of honorees from Elmer Ferguson and Milt Dunnell to Red Fisher, Al Strachan and Larry Brooks, no Stan Fischler, hockey writer. From Foster Hewitt and Danny Gallivan to Bob Cole and Mike Emrick, no Stan Fischler, hockey broadcaster. I checked the builder category, and I get it – coaches, team executives and owners only, but we'll slip in every NHL president and commissioner as well.
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Some slights can never be repaired; Elvis is never going to win that Emmy for the ’68 Comeback Special, Val Kilmer is never going to get that Best Supporting Actor for Tombstone, and Sinatra at the Sands won't be receiving a Grammy anytime soon. But, there is one very huge slight that can be fixed – Stan Fischler belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
I call on all hockey writers and broadcasters to get this done, and now. Many of you spent time and words in print and on air, criticizing the Hall when they wouldn't enshrine Pat Burns until it was too late for the man to receive it while still alive. Stan Fischler is 93 years old. Get on with it!
Gregg Kennedy is a co-host of the Sens Nation Podcast with The Hockey News' Ottawa Senators site editor, Steve Warne. Kennedy is the former coach of the Carleton Ravens and hosted TSN Radio's Grass Roots Minor Hockey Show. You can follow him on X @coachneg.