'DOC' IN THE HOUSE FOR DEVILS AND MORE

Mike "Doc" Emrick, the signature voice for National Hockey League games in this country, was driving to Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning when the Times Union caught up with him. I asked for 5-10 minutes of his time. He gave me 30.

As the top play-by-play announcer for NBC, Versus and the New Jersey Devils, Emrick would have reason for an ego to match the size if Ilya Kovalchuk's contract, but you won't find a more accommodating person in the business.

Emrick, 64, was in Pittsburgh to call Thursday night's Flyers-Penguins game, He will call the first of 60 or so Devils games -- his network doesn't carry every game, and he misses a few because of his NBC work -- Friday night when New Jersey plays host to the Dallas Stars on MSG+.

You can read the entire interview on our website (http://timesunion.com/sports) -- including a fascinating analysis of how John Davidson changed the ways of hockey analysts -- but here are some highlights:

Are you just doing hockey these days?

"There's nothing else now. I'm not sure about water polo at the London Olympics. That's not determined yet, but I had a good time doing it in Athens, that's for sure. It's exclusively hockey, and it's pretty much been that since that basketball tournament (1995 NCAAs in Albany)."

Do you approach Devils games any differently than a national game?

"The one thing that is different is the amount of time we spend talking about the two teams. In a national game, for example, like Pittsburgh and Philly (on Thursday night), even though this is Pittsburgh's first game in their arena, and that we'll talk more about Pittsburgh than Philadelphia just because of the venue, normally you try to be about 50-50.

"What happens with Devils games is that you recognize, even though the New York metropolitan area has fans of a lot of teams, primarily your viewers are Devils fans. What we try to do is to probably be in the neighborhood of 70-30 in terms of the percentage of time we spend on the Devils."

Does the nickname 'Doc' go back to the Bowling Green days?

"It does. ... I got a job in Portland, Maine, with a new farm team the Flyers were putting in called the Maine Mariners. At that time, the president of the team, Ed Anderson saw that I had this credential that was PhD, so he just started the nickname 'Doc.' It may not have been very creative, but it sure has lasted a long time."

Would you consider calling the past Olympics among the highlights of your career?

"Just to walk in there and know that I've got a good seat for the Games and wasn't paying for it, and to be able to watch that type of competition, you have to pinch yourself and say, `My goodness, what has happened to me?' "

Pete Dougherty is the Times Union's sports TV/radio columnist. He can be reached at 454-5416 or by e-mail at pdougherty@timesunion.com Visit his blog at http://blog.timesunion.com/sportsmedia.

BOX:

Sound bytes

1MSG and MSG+ are among 21 channels no longer available on Dish Network after the satellite service failed to reach an agreement with News Corp., which owns 19 regional sports networks, FX and National Geographic. Remember the good ol' days when business negotiations were limited to professional sports leagues?

2TBS hasn't done anything egregious so far in its postseason coverage, but you can't help but wonder how a network that produces one baseball game a week can measure up to regional networks that cover a team all year. At least Fox, which enters the picture later this month, has three regional games per week, so its broadcast crews have worked together previously.

3Union College has moved its hockey broadcasts from low-powered campus station WRUC (89.7 FM) to WABY (1160 AM) in Mechanicville and WVKZ (1240 AM) in Schenectady. Not only are those stations stronger, but it gives the Skating Dutchmen coverage in most areas of the Capital Region.Weekend's best

Today, 6 p.m.: Major league baseball, NL Division Series (TBS). Newscasts will be interrupted when the Reds get their first postseason hit.

Saturday, 7 p.m.: Pro hockey, N.Y. Rangers at Buffalo (MSG). The NHL's back. If you don't like this game, "Center Ice" has a free trial through Oct. 24.

Saturday, 8:30 p.m.: Major league baseball, AL Division Series, Minnesota at N.Y. Yankees (TBS). A rare Saturday night game in Yankee Stadium.

Sunday, 4:15 p.m.: Pro football, Tennessee at Dallas (CBS-6). CBS gets only two cracks at the Cowboys. Can't wait for that Jacksonville game on Halloween.

Monday, 8 p.m.: Pro football, Minnesota at N.Y. Jets (ESPN). Randy Moss gets two Monday night games in a row.

BOX:

stars at devils

When: 7 p.m. Friday

TV: MSG+

Discuss these and other topics in the "Best Seat In My House" blog. Go to http://blogs.timesunion.com/sportsmedia.