Any game spent in the booth is sublime right now for Dave Strader. But one spent in this booth perhaps means just a little bit more.
Strader’s fight with bile duct cancer has been well documented, especially since he has been feeling well enough to call a handful of postseason games for NBC Sports. After calling the three Washington games of the Capitals-Maple Leafs series, Strader will do play-by-play for Games 3 and 4 of the Rangers-Senators Eastern Conference semifinal.
“Getting to do two games at the Garden is always extra special to me,” Strader, who has lived upstate in Glens Falls almost his entire life, told The Post this week. “I remember as a 13-year-old kid going to the Garden when it first opened in 1968, attending an NBA doubleheader, that was when I was first hooked. … When I was a kid I was a huge fan, and hearing Marv Albert call games was really one of the things that got me the broadcasting bug. He was the first guy that I really listened to and he got me hooked on the whole idea of trying to get into that world, and that was what I decided to.”
Able to call games only in the northeast, Strader will be behind the mic for Game 3 on NBC Sports Network and Game 4 for Westwood One/NBC Radio, and that will likely be the final games he does this postseason. It is more than anyone expected.
Strader, 61, was diagnosed with the incurable and rare form of cancer 11 months ago — which is how long one oncologist told him is the median survival rate for those afflicted, according to Sports Illustrated. He was told he could live up to three years because he was younger than most who get the disease. He was healthy enough to call five Dallas Stars games in late February and early March before suffering a setback. He currently is in between treatments, looking into clinical trials and now getting to do what he loves.
“Sam Flood at NBC [executive producer] said if the Stars are out of the playoffs and you’re feeling well enough, I’ll save you a spot,” Strader said. “About a week before the playoffs, I connected with him and told him I think I could do this.”
And Strader has done so thus far without rust, with the same cadence — he is nicknamed “The Voice” for a reason — that left the NHL community saddened by his diagnosis and thrilled with his return.
“I knew I missed it and I knew I wanted to get back into it, but until I got in the booth for that first game in Dallas, I didn’t realize how much I missed it and how normal it felt to be back,” said Strader, who also has been the voice of the Red Wings and Panthers and nationally for ESPN and NBC in his 38 years in the business.
“For the four or five hours that I am there, I completely forget that I am sick. I completely forget that the last 11 months ever really happened,” he said. “It is the whole experience. It’s the preparation ahead of time, talking to different people.”
Strader was looking forward to watching the first two games of the series, which started Thursday night in Ottawa, from his home as his final preparation. He wondered if the Rangers could match the Senators toughness and noted how Ottawa could be a “frustrating team to play.”
His one regret is he won’t see longtime friend and Rangers MSG Network analyst Joe Micheletti (he is the analyst for the Ducks-Oilers series) at the game. The two called 13 Stanley Cup finals together for NHL International.
But as has been the case in every arena he walks into, there will be plenty of colleagues, players and coaches thrilled to see him back where he belongs.
“It just takes me away from thinking about the other things going on, and fortunately I am feeling well enough that I haven’t been dwelling on it because I have been well enough to work,” Strader said. “It continues to be great therapy for me.”