Bruins Announcer Jack Edwards Say's He's Never Had A Stroke Despite Sounding Like He's Had A Stroke

They say every rose has its thorns. For this Boston Bruins fan, listening to Jack Edwards do play-by-play for my favorite hockey team is a gigantic thorn in my rose of a fandom.

The Bruins have done a lot of winning over the past three years (except in the playoffs, which we won’t talk about). Roughly three times a week, I get to watch David Pastrnak make NHL defenses look like fools, and the goal-tending tandem of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark render most offenses helpless. It’s tons of fun.

Except, of course, when the 66-year-old Edwards is calling the games.

The current New England Sports Network (NESN) play-by-play announcer and former ESPN anchor was once a brilliant commentator. Sure, he’s a homer who shows lots of bias for the Bruins (which only bothered non-Bruins fans). However, he was descriptive and incredibly knowledgeable about the game. And his roasts of referees are absolutely legendary.

But that’s not the case anymore. 

Over the past two and a half years, Edwards’ on-air performance level has deteriorated significantly. Gone are the scintillating calls that made you want to sit on the edge of your seat. 

Now, he rivals Joe Biden with his inability to form coherent sentences, he labors through stating even the most basic of hockey terminology, and takes far too long to describe what’s happening on the ice. Without trying to be flippant, it honestly sounds like Edwards had a stroke that impaired his speech.

He painfully mispronounced the word "Carolina" twice in a game against the Hurricanes last year.

Edwards topped that by sounding drunk while calling Ullmark’s goalie goal against the Vancouver Canucks that same season (despite what the fan who posted this said).

And he could barely muster the brain power to correctly enunciate "five hole" in a call of Pastrnak’s shootout attempt against the Colorado Avalanche earlier this year. 

Edwards Said His Poor Game Calls Are Not Due To A Stroke Or Other Medical Incident

Stuff like this doesn’t just happen now and again. With each passing week, he finds some new way to make watching one of the best hockey teams in the NHL unenjoyable. It’s gotten to the point where any time the Bruins are on NESN, I mute the volume because I can’t bear to listen to Edwards.

Many people have speculated that Edwards has suffered some sort of medical illness, like a stroke. However, the announcer confirmed that after undergoing rigorous testing with Mass. General Neurology, doctors can confirm that his bad speech performance isn’t linked to a major health event.

Edwards (middle) is doing all he can to imrpove his speech problem. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"I did not have some kind of accident," he said. "I do not have cancer. I don’t have dementia. I haven’t had a stroke. They’ve done tests that seem like I’m going through some sort of science-fiction scene, but it’s really true. The images of my brain literally reveal nothing. That’s my joke with them."

What further makes this situation so confusing is that Edwards will undergo 40-60 minute speech therapy sessions on non-game days, and 10-minute ones on game days. The doctors have even said that he is making progress in these sessions.

While it's great news that Edwards hasn’t suffered any life-threatening incidents, it provides no explanation for loyal Bruins fans. Unfortunately, the only way this situation will change is when Edwards retires.

Boston plays Vancouver tonight at 7 p.m. With Edwards expected to call the game, I’ll be watching my Bruins in silence.