Ray Ferraro

Ray Ferraro (born August 23, 1964, in Trail, British Columbia, Canada) is a retired professional hockey player for the NHL. He played for the Hartford Whalers (1984–1991), New York Islanders (1991–1995), New York Rangers (1995–1996), Los Angeles Kings (1996–1999), Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2002) and St. Louis Blues (2002). His nickname was the "Big Ball of Hate", coined by Rangers teammate Glenn Healy. He is currently a broadcaster for Team 1040 Radio and TSN in Canada.

Playing career
Ferraro was a prolific scorer in Junior Hockey, including a 108–goal and 192–point season for the Brandon Wheat Kings in 1983–84.

In his NHL career, he scored 408 goals and 490 assists, for a total of 898 points in 1258 games in 18 seasons. He was named to the NHL all-star game in 1992. He had two 40 goal seasons.

Ferraro had a memorable playoff run for the New York Islanders in 1993, scoring two overtime goals against the Washington Capitals as the Islanders defeated both the Capitals and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Ferraro assisted on David Volek's game- and series-winning goal during overtime of Game 7 against the Penguins. The goal advanced the Islanders to the Wales Conference Finals, which they lost to the eventual champion Montreal Canadiens. Ferraro finished that playoff season with team-leading totals in goals (13) and points (20).

Broadcasting
Ferraro retired from the NHL on August 2, 2002. He has done work for ESPN hockey broadcasts, including on NHL 2Night with John Buccigross and Barry Melrose, where he began working while still an active player. On that show, Ferraro was often referred to as "Chicken Parm" by Buccigross after an accident with chicken parmesan moments before going on the air. He later worked as a studio analyst for the NHL on NBC, as a colour commentator on Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on Rogers Sportsnet West and on Sportsnet's other hockey programs.

Ferraro works as a game analyst and studio analyst for the NHL on TSN. Ferraro provided colour commentary and analysis for CTV during the 2010 Winter Olympics. After Rogers Media, the parent of TSN's rival Sportsnet, gained the national NHL rights with effect in the 2014-15 NHL season, Ferraro became a color commentator for the regional Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators games on TSN on a rotating basis.

On May 5, 2014, EA Sports announced that he would be an ice level analyst for NHL 15 along with play-by-play commentator Mike Emrick and color commentator Eddie Olczyk. He returned as an ice level analyst for NHL 16. On November 23, 2015, Ferraro became the first hockey broadcaster to broadcast a game where his child also played in the same game, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Centre.

On April 7, 2008, he returned to ESPN to call his first ever Frozen Four and as the replacement for Barry Melrose, who left ESPN to coach the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ferraro currently works with TSN, which he joined in 2008.

In February 2018, he was the lead color commentator along with Chris Cuthbert doing the play-by-play announcer for men's ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

Personal life
Ferraro's second wife is former U.S. women's ice hockey team captain Cammi Granato, who also worked as a women's hockey analyst during NBC's 2006 Olympics coverage, and they have one son Riley who was born in December 2006. Ray has two sons from a previous marriage to Tracey Ferraro; Matt (b. 1988) and Landon (b. 1991). Landon, a center, was drafted 2nd overall by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft and in the 2nd round of the 2009 NHL draft (32nd overall) by the Detroit Red Wings; Matt, a former goalie, was drafted in 2003 by the Prince George Cougars, but has expressed a desire in pursuing a career law and hockey related business.

Following the Swedish women's team upset of the U.S. at the Torino games, Ferraro publicly criticized US Women's coach Ben Smith for failing to bring the best US players to the games, which led to their downfall. His comments were broadcast on MSNBC during the intermission of a men's game. This appeared to be directly related to his wife being cut in August 2005, along with other veterans in favor of younger, faster players. Some critics and fans also questioned Granato's cut from the team and cited it as a factor in the US team's disappointing performance.

Ferraro currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

=== Transactions ===
 * November 13, 1990 — Traded by the Hartford Whalers to the New York Islanders in exchange for Doug Crossman.


 * August 9, 1995 — Signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers.


 * March 14, 1996 — Traded by the New York Rangers, along with Ian Laperrière, Nathan LaFayette, Mattias Norström and New York's 1997 4th round draft choice (Tomi Kallarsson), to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley and Shane Churla.


 * August 9, 1999 – Signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Thrashers.


 * March 18, 2002 — Traded by the Atlanta Thrashers to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for St. Louis' 2002 4th round draft choice.

Awards & Achievements

 * Bob Brownridge Memorial Trophy WHL Scoring Champion (1984)
 * WHL MVP (1984)
 * Canadian Hockey League WHL Player of the Year (1984)