Daniel Rusanowsky II (born December 31, 1960) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

sports broadcaster, best known for being the radio play-by-play announcer for the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

since the team's inaugural season in 1991–92. His tenure with the team has earned him the title as the Voice of the San Jose Sharks.

Early life and career

Rusanowsky was born in

Milford, Connecticut Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the Vill ...

. Before arriving in the Bay Area, Rusanowsky provided the radio play-by-play call for the American Hockey League's

New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the New York Islanders (1972–1973), Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Rangers (19 ...

and was the voice of

St. Lawrence University St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,100 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is nonsectarian, it was founded in 1 ...

's NCAA Division I hockey program from 1979–86. He received a bachelor's degree at St. Lawrence and subsequently earned his M.B.A. at

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York. Clarkson has additional graduate programs and research facilities in the New York Capital District. It was established in 1896 and enrolled over 4 ...

. Rusanowsky is an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

San Jose Sharks

Rusanowsky is responsible for producing all Sharks radio broadcasts and has worked with a variety of color commentators over his tenure with the team. Currently, his broadcast partner is rotated between Drew Remenda,

Bret Hedican Bret Michael Hedican (born August 10, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player, a Stanley Cup champion, and a two-time US Olympian. A product of St. Cloud State University, Hedican played with the 1992 US Olympic Team before he ...

, Mark Smith, or Scott Hannan. Rusanowsky also operates and administers the San Jose Sharks Radio Network, which began in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and brings Sharks broadcasts to

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

. Additionally, Rusanowsky is one of a select few play-by-play announcers who have called the ''

NHL Game of the Week The ''National Hockey League Game of the Week'' is a branding used for regular season National Hockey League weekend games that are typically televised on a national broadcast network in the U.S. The branding was previously used by NHL on NBC, NB ...

'' on

Westwood One Radio Network Westwood may refer to: Companies and brands *Westwood, Baillie, 19th-century engineering and shipbuilding company, London *Westwood One (1976–2011), a former American radio network based in New York City *Westwood One, an American radio and medi ...

. Until

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, Rusanowsky had been the only broadcaster who had called all San Jose Sharks

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

and

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

games in franchise history. This came to an end when he was injured in a serious automobile accident on November 25, 2000, ending a continuous broadcast streak of Sharks games at 774. Due to the accident, he had missed 27 games. Rusanowsky called his historic 1,000th Sharks regular season game on March 21, 2004 vs.

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. On January 29, 2009, he was on the air with his 1,300th Sharks regular season game vs. Phoenix. Dan called his 2000th Sharks regular season game on January 16, 2018 vs. Arizona. The NHL Network featured Rusanowsky on its program, "Voices," on December 25, 2008. In addition to his broadcast duties, Rusanowsky selects the Three Stars of every Sharks home game.

Other broadcasting duties

Rusanowsky stays active in the Bay Area broadcasting community year-round, and has delivered play-by-play calls of other sports. He has hosted two baseball-oriented radio segments — ''Dan's Dugout'', which aired on

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

radio broadcasts, and ''Dan's Diamond Notes'' for Bay Area radio station KFOX. Rusanowsky has also called games for RHI's

Oakland Skates The Oakland Skates were a professional roller hockey team and were a member team in Roller Hockey International (RHI) from 1993 through 1996. In 1993 the Skates were a finalist for the RHI league championship, named the Murphy Cup, for one of the ...

and San Jose Rhinos, the

San Jose Grizzlies The San Jose Grizzlies were a professional indoor soccer team based in San Jose, California, United States. The team was founded on November 24, 1993, and played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). After playing in the 1994 and 1995 ...

of the CISL, and served as a

closed-circuit television Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

broadcaster for the

San Jose Grand Prix The San Jose Grand Prix was an annual street circuit race in the Champ Car World Series in San Jose, California. The race had three different title sponsors over the course of its three-year existence, being known as the Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix ...

. He also appears on NBC Sports Bay Area's "Race Week" program to discuss Indy Car, Formula One, and NASCAR series. He has joined the IMS Radio Network's coverage of the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma since 2011.

Awards

In 2013, Rusanowsky was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in the sports category. In 2015, Rusanowsky received the

Silver Beaver Award The Silver Beaver Award is the council-level distinguished service award of Scouting America. Recipients of the award are registered adult leaders who have made an impact on the lives of youth through service given to the council. Those deemed ...

from the Boy Scouts of America. In 2021, Rusanowsky received the

Outstanding Eagle Scout Award The NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (NOESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout by the National Eagle Scout Association for distinguished service to their profession and commun ...

from the Boy Scouts of America. In 2023, Rusanowsky received the

Foster Hewitt Memorial Award The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award is an annual accolade honoring ice hockey broadcasters in North America. It was named for the Canadian hockey radio broadcaster and newspaper journalist Foster Hewitt, and it has been presented every year at a ...

for his career in NHL broadcasting.

Author

In 2018, Rusanowsky became a published author with the

Triumph Books Triumph Books is a Chicago-based sports book publisher. The company is well known for its "instant books", such as its illustrated tribute to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, which was released 10 days after his death in a crash in the 2001 Daytona ...

release of "If These Walls Could Talk: San Jose Sharks," which he co-wrote with reporter Ross McKeon. The book covered some behind-the-scenes stories from the team's history, and is part of Triumph's "If These Walls Could Talk" series.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rusanowsky, Dan American sports announcers 1960 births San Jose Sharks announcers Living people People from Milford, Connecticut National Hockey League broadcasters American soccer commentators Motorsport announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Mass media people from San Jose, California Oakland Athletics announcers American Hockey League broadcasters College hockey announcers in the United States Canterbury School (Connecticut) alumni