‘Newseum WTOP Microphone’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Yesterday the Hockey Hall of Fame announced that Ron Weber, the original play-by-play voice of the Washington Capitals, will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.

Hired in 1974 when the Caps joined the NHL as an expansion team, Ron Weber had the dubious honor of calling all of the record-breaking 67 losses by the franchise in their first year on WTOP. Nonplussed, Ron stuck with the team for the next 23 years, never missing a regular season or playoff broadcast – a total of 1,936 consecutive games. Chuck Kaiton, President of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association, said in a Caps press release that “Ron has been a key contributor to the growth of NHL hockey interest in the DC area over his two-plus decades as the original voice of the Capitals. He’s very worthy of this honor.”

The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award is named for the late “Voice of Hockey” in Canada and was first presented in 1984 by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association in recognition of members of radio and television who’ve made lasting contributions to both broadcasting and hockey. Ron will receive the award on November 8, 2010 in Toronto.