Billy Jaffe (born April 2, 1969) is an on-air

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

analyst for

NESN New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of Boston Red So ...

, provides commentary for pre-game, post-game and intermission shows during

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The ...

games. Jaffe also served as a hockey analyst for

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...

, and for select coverage by NHL Network. He was formerly a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and th ...

for the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

MSG Plus MSG Sportsnet (visually branded on-air as MSGSN) is an American regional sports network owned by MSG Entertainment; it operates as a sister channel to MSG Network. The network serves the New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to ...

, as well as a color analyst and reporter for nationally televised hockey games on Versus.

Early life

Jaffe graduated from

Kent School Kent School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory boarding school in Kent, Connecticut, United States. Frederick Herbert Sill established the school in 1906. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States. Acade ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in 1987.

Playing career

Jaffe played hockey for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1987–1989 as a right wing. He has also served as team-captain for the silver medal winning team USA at the

1997 Maccabiah Games The 15th Maccabiah Games are remembered for being marred by a bridge collapse that killed several participants. The Maccabiah had more than 5,000 athletes from 33 countries competing in 36 sports. New sports for the Games included beach volleybal ...

held in Israel.

Broadcasting career

Jaffe began his broadcasting career as an analyst on the pre-game, intermission and post-game

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

during the 1998–99 season. After spending the 1999–2000 season as the Radio and Television Analyst for the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

of the International Hockey League, he joined the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

in September 2000. During his tenure with the Thrashers, he served primarily as the radio analyst, but also contributed to the Thrashers television coverage. In addition to his work with the Thrashers, in October 2001, Jaffe served as color commentator for Fox Sports Net's coverage of

the Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term ''cold war'' is used because there ...

game between the University of Michigan and

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

which took place in outdoor Spartan Stadium on the Michigan State Campus. Jaffe took on another role acting as lead analyst for

CSTV CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known ...

's ''Friday Night Hockey'' game of the week. He also served as a fill-in host on the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

studio show on TBS Superstation. In 2006, Jaffe replaced

Joe Micheletti Joseph Robert Micheletti (born October 24, 1954) is an American ice hockey analyst and reporter, and a former defenseman who played in 142 World Hockey Association (WHA) games with the Calgary Cowboys and Edmonton Oilers between 1977 and 1979, an ...

, who moved on to the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

booth, as

color analyst alongside

Howie Rose Howard Jeffrey Rose (born February 13, 1954) is an American sportscaster. He is currently a radio broadcaster for the New York Mets on WCBS. Previously, Rose called play-by-play for the New York Rangers and New York Islanders. Early life Rose ...

. He works for ''

NHL on Versus ''The NHL on Versus'' was a presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games broadcast on Versus. Versus became the NHL's cable partner in the United States beginning in the 2005–06 season from previous partner ESPN, providing coverage of re ...

'' as an analyst and reporter during regular season and playoff broadcasts. He worked on Versus for 5 years, building a strong reputation around the NHL and with fans, adding work with VERSUS. Jaffe joined NESN for the 2010-11 Bruins season, working select games as an in-studio analyst on a part-time basis. For the 2013-14 season, Jaffe relocated to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and is slated to work at least 50 Bruins games for the network.Billy Jaffe to Expand Role in NESN’s Bruins Coverage for 2013-14 Season
NESN.com, 10 September 2013 (accessed 3 October 2013). Jaffe currently is working as a studio analyst, appearing across NHL Network programming.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffe, Billy 1969 births American sports journalists American television sports announcers Atlanta Thrashers announcers Jewish American sportspeople Jewish ice hockey players Kent School alumni Living people College hockey announcers in the United States National Hockey League broadcasters New York Islanders announcers People from Chicago Sports in New York (state) Maccabiah Games medalists Maccabiah Games silver medalists for the United States Competitors at the 1997 Maccabiah Games Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players 21st-century American Jews