"One of my favorite memories was a playoff NFL] game in the snow between the Packers and Seattle back in January of 2008," said Albert on
[Tuesday's episode of the Blackhawks Insider Podcast.
"The game ended too late for [the broadcasting team] to get out that night, and [FOX analyst] Tony Siragusa ordered - if memory serves correct - two thousand chicken wings for the table. There were about 15 or 20 of us."
Albert is a man of many hats with a resume including World Series games, Super Bowls, and numerous Olympics. Yet it's been Albert's love of hockey that's carved his path - from covering six Stanley Cup Finals, operating as the radio voice for the New York Rangers, to calling a late-November Blackhawks game fast approaching midnight.
"People are shocked when I tell them that hockey is the easiest [sport to commentate]," Albert said. "But in a sense it's like riding a bike. Once they drop the puck and start the game, it's that continuous flow throughout the 60 minutes."
The son of legendary NBA broadcaster Marv Albert, Kenny grew up on Long Island playing all the sports he could. A love of hockey ultimately triumphed thanks to the zeitgeist of New York at the time.
"I was I was 12 years old when the US [men's national hockey team] won the gold medal in 1980," said Albert. "I would go to the local rink on Long Island where I grew up, there was just such this wave of energy. So many more kids boys and girls signed up to play hockey at the time. And then the Islanders started winning the Stanley Cups. So in my area wherever you went, you saw jerseys [and heard] people talking about hockey."
Albert's love for the sport continued when he attended New York University for broadcast journalism. He called play-by-play for NYU basketball games on WNYU 89.1 FM. Away from the announcing booth, Albert also found some success on the ice.
"I did score the first goal in NYU club hockey history," Albert said, beaming with pride. "I didn't score many after that, but I did score the first."
After graduation, Albert worked for Home Team Sports where he called games in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. region. That included games for the Washington Capitals. In 1995, MSG Radio hired Albert as the radio station's play-by-play commentator for New York Rangers games.
Albert's kept a list of every color analyst he's ever worked with throughout his storied career. Over 200 names are on his list. One name in particular happens to show up on a lot of other hockey-related lists: Wayne Gretzky.
"I knew him a little bit [as] he played for the Rangers [for] three years in the late 90's," said Albert. "I bumped into him a couple times at an NHL All-Star game in Los Angeles, but didn't see him very often over the last 20 years."
That changed when Gretzky signed as an analyst for Turner Sports.
"When I heard he was doing that game in Hamilton, Ontario with us, my first thought was, 'Wow, I can add him to my list [of analysts].'"
Despite both the professional and personal attachments to New York, Albert's always had a soft spot for Chicago and the United Center.
"I know that Blackhawk fans don't want to reminisce too much about 2014, but [there were] big Blackhawk wins throughout that era," said Albert. "I was there for a number of them during those postseasons. So it's one of my favorite cities and one of my favorite arenas."
Given his close proximity to the Rangers through that team's rebuild, Albert sees the potential of the Blackhawks in the next couple seasons.
"When you throw out the word rebuild, we've gone through it here in New York a couple of times," Albert said. "In 2018, [the Rangers] wind up sending a letter out to fans - it was well documented - talking about their plan. They never called it a 'rebuild' in New York, they called it a build, and it involved trading a number of veterans and acquiring draft picks. And they were able to turn it around a lot faster than people expected. So hopefully that's the case with the Hawks as well."
