Hockey season is upon us and Long Beach City College professor Phil Hulett couldn’t be more excited for the upcoming season, as he is gearing up for his 27th year as the Anaheim Ducks PA announcer.
Phil Hulett has been the public address announcer for the Anaheim Ducks since 1996.
“I think the passion grew,” Hullet said on what sparked his passion for this field.
At the beginning of his journey, Hulett attended Cal State Long Beach and got a bachelor’s degree in radio television and film, where he then found his love for radio and quickly took over the radio station there, as his dream was to be a disc jockey.
In February 1995, KNAC, a famous Los Angeles heavy metal FM radio station in the 80’s and 90’s ended up being turned into a Spanish radio station 3 years later, Hulett and a few of his friends saw an opportunity as bright as day as they bought the radio station.
As a result of the purchase, the radio station became a huge success and he was able to live his dream and become a disc jockey for the radio station.
Although everything seemed smooth sailing, Hulett wasn’t the most confident with his voice until later on in his career.
LBCC professor and Anaheim Ducks announcer Phil Hulett showing some personality outside the Honda Center before the game. (Brianna Apodaca)
Once he got the attention of people listening to the radio, his confidence skyrocketed as he became satisfied with his voice as well as the quality of his radio station.
Hulett ended up looking towards sports after his success with KNAC, as he decided to call the Los Angeles Angels, asking who was in charge of the public address announcers.
The phone call ended up with Hulett being able to announce three games with the late David Courtney, and by the third day, Hulett was announcing the middle three innings against the Angels and Mariners.
Hulett turned his focus towards hockey and became the PA Announcer for the Los Angeles Blades.
Hulett was never a hockey fan growing up. He followed baseball and basketball but the opportunity to be a hockey PA announcer turned him into a big hockey fan.
“I was able to cut my teeth on hockey by doing that,” Hulett stated in response to becoming the Blades’ PA announcer.
By the end of the first season with the Blades, Hulett was contacted by the Long Beach Ice Dogs, which was a minor league ice hockey team for the Boston Bruins.
As the season with the Ice Dogs came to an end, he was contacted by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and accepted their job offer to be the new PA announcer for them, and he has been with the team since.
Since Phil is only a part-time professor, he doesn’t have a hard time juggling being a professor while also being the Ducks’ PA announcer.
Since Hulett worked for the NHL, LBCC professor and head of the radio & TV program Robert Hersh realized Hullet was the perfect fit for the radio production class as their professor at the time was retiring.
“I was strictly looking for people that work in the industry currently,” Hersh clarifies when speaking about what he was looking for in the hiring process.
“It’s nice to be able to bring in professors that bring in that level of expertise in the classroom.”
Hulett mentioned that one of his favorite games he announced was in 2007 when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup, as he got to celebrate on the ice with the team and kiss the cup.
But as for the most exciting, he said it was when he announced the World Baseball Classic at Angel Stadium against North Korea and Mexico, in which Hulett stated “The crowd was absolutely nuts” as his reasoning.
“The crowd was absolutely nuts,” Hulett said.
Hulett is eager and ready to announce once more for the Anaheim Ducks as the season just began on Oct. 14, 2023.