Stan Fischler

American sportswriter and broadcaster

Stan Fischler (born March 31, 1932) is a historian of hockey and the New York City Subway, as well as a broadcaster, author of over 100 books, and professor. As a broadcaster with MSG, Fischler has won seven Emmy Awards.

Graduating from Brooklyn College, Fischler began his journalism career as a publicist for the New York Rangers starting in the 1954–55 NHL season. Fischler is perhaps best known for his work broadcasting with the MSG network, with whom he won seven Emmy Awards. He also provided general hockey analysis on MSG, and continues to write columns for the network's website. In 2009, Fischler began hosting a feature, "Five For Fischler", on Hockey Night Live! which lists his Top Five in a random hockey topic. In the 1980s, he was a hockey commentator for The Radio Show on CBC Radio in Canada. In addition to broadcasting, Fischler has authored or co authored almost 100 books on hockey, baseball and even a few on the New York subway system. His books include: The Hockey Encyclopedia, Everybody's Hockey Book, Hockey Chronicle, The New NHL Encyclopedia, Cracked Ice: An Insider's Look at the NHL, and most recently MetroIce: A Century of Hockey in Greater New York, focusing on the Rangers, Islanders and Devils franchises. His most famous subway book is Uptown, Downtown. Fischler contributed to the 2017 documentary Only the Dead Know the Brooklyn Americans; having followed the franchise as a young child before the team folded, he was one of the few living hockey fans to have witnessed the team firsthand. Until 2017, Fischler, a long time resident of Boiceville, NY, wrote a weekly column for the local Kingston Daily Freeman. As a journalist and columnist, Fischler's articles have appeared in several publications including The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Sport, Newsweek, The Hockey News, and the NHL's website. In December 2021, he was inducted into the U. S. Hockey Hall of Fame. On October 26, 2022, the New York Islanders unveiled The Stan Fischler Press Level, dedicating UBS Arena’s press level to Fischler. As of December 2023, Fischler continues to publish hockey articles online, including with the NHL and The Hockey News.

Fischler was born on March 31, 1932, in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of parents Benjamin and Malkla 'Molly' ( Devorah) Fischler, and raised in a poor Jewish family. Although his family was Jewish, the Fischler's celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas. Despite growing up in New York, which at points during his youth housed both the Rangers and New York Americans, Fischler grew up cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs; he began regularly attending Toronto games when they played in New York beginning in 1946 and became a Rangers season ticket holder for the 1947–48 NHL season to see Maple Leafs games in person. Fischler was an original subscriber of The Hockey News magazine when it debuted in 1947, and first wrote for the publication in 1955. On May 13, 2014, his wife Shirley—a hockey journalist in her own right and Fischler's long time collaborator on many of his works—died of cancer at the age of 74. After retiring from broadcasting in 2018, Fischler moved to El Rom, Israel, so that he could be closer to his son, Simon, an immigrant to El Rom, and his grandchildren, though he does not speak Hebrew. He exercises daily for one hour and often stays up late to catch hockey games played several hours behind in North America. Politically, Fischler identifies as a Zionist and credits some of his passion for Jewish causes and the protection of Israel to the loss of relatives in the Holocaust.