Edwards, who has been the team's play-by-play man on NESN for 19 years, will end his broadcasting career after this season.
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A steady stream of visitors made their way to the NESN broadcast booth on the Garden’s ninth floor early Tuesday evening, media friends and acquaintances of Jack Edwards wishing him well after he announced earlier in the day that he will retire at the end of NESN’s game coverage in the upcoming playoffs.
“It’s time for me to get off the ice,” a smiling, relaxed Edwards told a longtime media friend about an hour prior to puck drop against the Senators. “I’ve tried, but I can’t get the words out when I need them . . . so, time to go before I become the pylon out there.”
In an on-ice pre-game ceremony, Charlie Jacobs, son of owner Jeremy Jacobs, presented Edwards with a gold stick, which the veteran broadcaster hoisted over his head as the Garden crowd applauded.
In a recent Globe story, Edwards
detailed his extensive struggles with speech, dating back to last season, a work impediment that he finally decided was too daunting to continue in the play-by-play role he held for 19 years.
“Yeah,” said Edwards, a friend noting how hard he had worked in recent months, “. . . 40 minutes a day of speech therapy, and . . .”
He stopped mid-sentence and recited a tongue-twister that he had worked on, over and over again, in months of speech therapy he hoped would keep him on a job he loved.
“Not fair for me to continue,” he said, noting he no longer could “perform at the standard” he set for himself. “Not fair to the players, the team . . . not fair to ownership, to NESN . . . and, most of all, not fair to the fans.”
He’ll still watch the Bruins, albeit from the couch, and admitted he’ll probably still be in play-by-play mode when he tunes in, perhaps adding words he couldn’t use during his distinctive on-air narrative.
“When I’m watching, my wife has to leave the room . . . she can’t stand it,” he said. “You know, the refs, blown calls.”
The Bruins and NESN will conduct a nationwide search for the next play-by-play voice to join color commentator Andy Brickley for the 2024-25 season.