Eugene Charles "Gene" Hart (June 28, 1931 – July 14, 1999) was an American sports announcer

Sports commentator

In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

 for the Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 of the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 and the Philadelphia Phantoms

Philadelphia Phantoms

The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and played most of its home games at the Spectrum. During schedule conflicts or some Calder Cup playoff games, games were...

 of the American Hockey League

American Hockey League

The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...

.

Biography

Hart was born in New York and soon moved to Southern New Jersey, where he graduated from Pleasantville High School. He then graduated Trenton State College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education. After serving time in the military, Hart began officiating high school football, baseball, and basketball in South Jersey. After one game at Atlantic City High School

Atlantic City High School

Atlantic City High School is a four-year public high school located in Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Atlantic City School District. The current school building opened in 1994 and holds approximately 2,500 students...

, the school’s athletic broadcaster Ralph Glenn was walking around frantically to find a person to go with him to Trenton

Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...

 to announce a game. He explained his situation to Hart, and Hart agreed to go with him, which began his announcing career in hockey.

Professional career

Hart continued to announce with Glenn on a regular basis in Southern New Jersey, and kept several side jobs as well. One of which was teaching high school history classes at Lenape High School in Medford as well as in Audubon High School New Jersey. When Philadelphia was granted an NHL expansion team in 1966, Hart submitted his tapes to the team, which would be called the Flyers. Since the Flyers could not afford one of the more experienced Canadian announcers, Hart got the job. Although he only expected to be on the staff for a few years until the Flyers could afford a better broadcaster Hart stayed on as the voice of the Philadelphia Flyers for 29 years, from the team’s inception until the end of the 1994–1995 season. Hart announced more than 2,000 NHL games, 6 separate Stanley Cups, 5 NHL all-star games, and the NHL Soviet Union all-star series. His most famous call came when he announced the end of Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals:

Gene Hart's call triggered the biggest celebration in Philadelphia sports history. More than 2 million attended the parade celebrating the Flyers' win.

In the early 1980s, he was also one of the voices of the NHL on USA Network. His signature phrase, which he used at the end of games, was "Good night and good hockey!" Hart succeeded Hall of Famer Roy Shudt at the Brandywine Racetrack in Wilmington, DE in 1984. He called the races until the track closed in 1989.

Post broadcasting career

Hart was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

 in November 1997, receiving the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award

Foster Hewitt Memorial Award

The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award is an award named after Foster Hewitt and presented by the Hockey Hall of Fame to members of the radio and television industry who make outstanding contributions to their profession and the game of ice hockey during their broadcasting career...

. He came out of retirement in 1997 to announce for the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers’ minor league affiliate. He announced the team’s Calder Cup

Calder Cup

The Calder Cup is awarded annually to the playoff champion of the American Hockey League. The trophy is the world's second oldest continuous professional ice hockey championship, having first been awarded in 1937 following the 1936-37 AHL season, and continuously being awarded every year.The cup...

 championship series before retiring at the end of the 1999 season. Hart also was the host of a little known local radio talk show on WBCB 1490 AM in Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Bucks County, Pennsylvania

- Industry and commerce :The boroughs of Bristol and Morrisville were prominent industrial centers along the Northeast Corridor during World War II. Suburban development accelerated in Lower Bucks in the 1950s with the opening of Levittown, Pennsylvania, the second such "Levittown" designed by...

. It featured former and current Flyers players and coaches as well as players from the minor league Philadelphia Phantoms.

Death and family

Gene Hart died from a variety of illnesses on July 14, 1999. He had been a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Cherry Hill is a township in Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a population of 71,045, representing an increase of 1,080 from the 69,965 residents enumerated during the 2000 Census...

.

Hart's daughter, Lauren Hart

Lauren Hart

Lauren Hart is a professional recording artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best known for performing "The Star Spangled Banner" and "O Canada" prior to Philadelphia Flyers games, the team her father Gene Hart was the long-time television and radio announcer for 29 years, and also...

, is a professional recording artist, and regular performer of The Star Spangled Banner and O Canada

O Canada

It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...

 before many Flyers home games. She also performs a duet of God Bless America

God Bless America

"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song ....

 with a taped version of Kate Smith

Kate Smith

Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...

 on several occasions, especially big games, among them games in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals

2010 Stanley Cup Finals

The 2010 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League season. As the culmination of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers faced the Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks...

. She wears number 68 on her Flyers jersey to honor the age of her father when he passed away.