Kings radio voice Nick Nickson wins Hockey Hall of Fame award

Hearty congratulations are due longtime Kings broadcaster Nick Nickson, who on Thursday was announced as the 2015 winner of the Foster Hewitt award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster. Longtime writer and TV analyst Bob McKenzie won the Elmer Ferguson award for excellence in hockey journalism, also a much-deserved honor.

The awards are voted on by the NHL Broadcasters’ Assn. and the Professional Hockey Writers’ Assn., respectively. Each will be honored with a plaque that will be displayed in the media section of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. They will get their awards during a media luncheon on Nov. 9 during this year’s Hall of Fame festivities.

Nickson has been the voice of the Kings for 34 seasons and has called more than 3,000 games. His smooth, authoritative and descriptive play-by-play calls make it easy for radio listeners to envision what’s happening on the ice.

“Nick has been one of the most popular radio and TV personalities in Southern California for over three decades,” Chuck Kaiton, president of the NHL Broadcasters’ Assn., said in a statement. “He is extremely worthy of this award and we from the NHL Broadcasters’ Assn. congratulate him on this distinct honor.”

Fellow Kings broadcaster Bob Miller won the Foster Hewitt award in 2000.

McKenzie, currently known as a TV analyst, had a long writing career in Canada and is considered one of the most knowledgeable and influential reporters in the sport.

“There’s a reason lifelong hockey writer, broadcaster and author Bob McKenzie has a million Twitter followers. There’s a reason he is known affectionately by his colleagues in the industry as ‘The Godfather.’ And that reason is simple; there is no more authoritative voice in the game of hockey than McKenzie’s voice,” said Scott Burnside, president of the PHWA. “If Bob McKenzie says it is so, it is so. I can think of no higher honor for a writer and journalist to be so regarded and McKenzie is full value for every accolade that comes his way, including the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award.”

The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, named for a former Montreal newspaper reporter, was first presented in 1984 by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Assn. in recognition of distinguished members of the hockey writing profession whose words have brought honor to journalism and to the game of hockey.

The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, named for the distinguished Canadian broadcaster, was first presented in 1984 by the NHL Broadcasters’ Assn. in recognition of members of the radio and television industry who have made outstanding contributions to their profession and to the game of hockey.

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