Knocking around college hockey arenas isn’t exactly what Mike Emrick had in mind during this point of his career. However, the 64-year old play-by-play man is trying to make the best of it while waiting for the NHL dispute to be resolved.

Emrick has called several college hockey games for NBC Sports Network. As I’ve written before, it’s like Vin Scully working UCLA-San Diego State baseball.

From Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News:

“I’ve enjoyed the college experience a lot – I just like any kind of hockey,” said Emrick, a 64-year-old waiting to call his 30 th season of NHL play after receiving a Ph.D. in communications from Bowling Green in 1976, thus earning the nickname “Doc.”

“I’m waiting like everyone else on the NHL, but in the meantime you get to see some players who down the road that I expect I’ll get to see someday in the NHL.”

Emrick said he has learned a thing or two by being on campus.

A Boston College-Boston University game this year led him to learn “that Alexander Graham Bell received a one-year salary advance from the Boston College to do research, and during that year, he developed the telephone,” Emrick said.

“I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t been researching some of the college games.”

Now that’s being positive.