Among the guests on my show last night was Jiggs McDonald, one of hockey’s all-time great hockey broadcasters. It’s always a pleasure to get a chance to speak with Jiggs, and a treat for myself and many longtime Islanders fans when we get to hear him call the action. Last night Jigg’s informed us that he will be broadcasting 9 games for the Islanders this season, all of which will be on the road.

Jiggs only visit to the Nassau Coliseum will come on November 19th, when the Islanders take on the Boston Bruins. The Islanders will honor Ed Westfall on that night as a part of their “Decade Nights” taking place throughout the season. While Jiggs will not be in the broadcast booth that evening, he will MC the pre-game festivities honoring Westfall, who sat beside him on Islanders telecasts for many years.

Here’s the list of Islanders games Jiggs will be calling the play-by-play for this season:

 
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Hosted by Rob Kowal along with Brad Kurtzberg. Guests included longtime Islanders broadcaster Jiggs McDonald, who spoke about the Islanders play to start the season. Next on the show was frequent guest Matt Sweetwood from the popular Devils fan website and message forum NJDEVS, who as always gave his pointed insights on the  New Jersey Devils. Finally the guys closed out the show talking with the recently retired NHL referee turned hockey analyst Kerry Fraser. Kerry spoke about some of the more memorable incidents throughout his 30 year career, many of which are featured in his new book entitled The Final Call: Hockey Stories from a Legend in Stripes, coming out in November.

NY Hockey Talk’s Rob Kowal talks with Jiggs McDonald about the current Islanders team, the situation regarding a new Nassau Coliseum, head coach Scott Gordon and the possibilty of drafting phenom John Tavares.

Joining host Mike Carver live in the studio were brothers Paul and Sean Cuthbert from icecreeps.com. Guests on the program also include longtime New York Islanders play-by-play announcer Jiggs McDonald. Hockey talk dominated the show this week, and included Carver’s Stanley Cup winner prediction.

Host Rob Kowal talked with Inside Hockey’s Brad Kurtzberg about the latest in New York hockey, followed by longtime New York Islanders broadcaster Jiggs McDonald. After the break Rob aired Part II of his interview with former Rangers forward Andy Bathgate, and afterwards chatted with longtime Rangers fan and friend of the show Joseph Durocher. The new voice of Sports Radio NY, Greg Boyes also made a brief appearance at the end of the program.

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NY Hockey Talk host Rob Kowal talks with Longtime Islanders announcer Jiggs McDonald.

Guests on the season debut of the show included James Murphy, from Inside Hockey, followed by njdevs.com site administrator and frequent guest Matt Sweetwood, who talked some Devils hockey with Rob. Then former New York Ranger and current radio announcer Dave Maloney talked about the Rangers team heading into the season, followed by former Islanders television play-by-play announcer Jiggs McDonald. Finally, Bridgeport Soundtigers PA announcer and Zambonis lead singer Dave Schneider closed out the show. A busy show indeed!

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NY Hockey Talk ’s Rob Kowal talks with longtime Islanders announcer Jiggs McDonald about his upcoming broadcasting scedule for the upcoming season, as well as his thoughts on the current Islanders team heading into the season.

This week hockey writer Patrick Hoffman joined Rob to talk about the retirement of Brian Leetch’s #2 this past Thursday night at the Garden, and the play of the Rangers so far this season. Brian Koziol from WGR-550 sports radio in Buffalo spoke to Rob about the recent play of the Sabres. Longtime Islanders broadcaster and hockey Hall-of-Famer Jiggs McDonald then spoke to Rob about his broadcasting career, and the current Islanders team. Finally, former New York Ranger Barry Beck surprised the show with a call from Hong Kong, China to talk about some of what he is up to today.

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