Longtime Los Angeles Kings announcer Bob Miller will make a major announcement regarding his future plans Thursday amid a report he is expected to retire.
"I have received a lot of inquiries about my health situation and I appreciate the concern," Miller said in a Kings statement, which reported he would hold an afternoon news conference. "I think it's time to bring everyone up to date on my progress and what's ahead in my future."
The Los Angeles Times reported this week that Miller is expected to retire.
The 78-year-old Miller suffered a mild stroke on Jan. 28, hours before he was scheduled to work a live broadcast of the NHL All-Star Skills Competition from Staples Center.
Miller has been the voice of the Kings since 1973. He took a reduced on-air role this season after undergoing successful quadruple heart bypass surgery in February 2016.
Miller's honors include the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, given to members of the television and radio industries for outstanding contributions to their profession and hockey, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and membership in the halls of fame of the Kings and Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association.
Miller became a hockey announcer in 1968, when the program director at his radio station in Madison, Wisconsin, told him he would be announcing a University of Wisconsin game the following Friday because it was the school's only team to win consistently and draw standing-room-only crowds.
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Miller first sought to be hired by the Kings in 1972, when the team's original announcer, Jiggs McDonald, left for the expansion Atlanta Flames.
Legendary Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn recommended Miller for the job, but team owner Jack Kent Cooke hired California Golden Seals announcer Roy Storey. When Storey was fired after one season, Hearn again recommended Miller, with Cooke going along that time.
There was a benefit to the one-season delay in joining the Kings.
Staying at Wisconsin, he broadcast the Badgers during their 1972-73 NCAA championship season.
Miller waited 39 years to broadcast another title-winning team, when the Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2012, which they won again in 2014.
