For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
The SPHL announced Tuesday afternoon that Joel Silverberg has been named the 2024-25 SPHL Broadcaster of the Year. The award is selected by a vote of the league’s broadcasters.
Now in his 11th season as the Voice of the Ice Bears, Silverberg joined Knoxville ahead of the 2014-15 SPHL season and is responsible for overseeing, announcing, producing and engineering the Ice Bears play-by-play broadcast, which can be heard on FloHockey and on the Ice Bears’ flagship radio station 92.5 WKCE.
“I’m beyond excited to receive this award in a vote by my broadcasting peers,” said Silverberg. “The SPHL broadcasting fraternity is a fun one. I’ve made good friends through this industry and this league. The depth and quality of broadcasting across the SPHL has continued to grow during my time in this league, which makes it even more special to win it now considering the depth of the talent pool we have.
I’m grateful for the support I’ve received from the Knoxville Ice Bears ownership, front office, staff and our team that has allowed our broadcast to continue to improve over the years. I’m also incredibly thankful to our fans, who have invested their time listening through my 11 seasons and to our corporate partners for their support.”
Silverberg, who celebrated his 400th Ice Bears broadcast earlier this season, was joined on the call this season by color analyst Cooper Smith.
“Cooper’s been a huge boost to our broadcast this season,” Silverberg said of his on-air partner. “He’s an underclassman at UT, he’s going to class, coming to watch practice, taking notes and doing so much to prep for each game. He flew out to meet the team in Peoria for a road trip this season. He’s invested so much into our broadcast this season and I think it shows in his on-air work.”
The Ice Bears face the Birmingham Bulls in the President’s Cup semifinals. Game one of the series is Wednesday, April 16 at 7:05 p.m. at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
ABOUT The Knoxville Ice Bears: The Knoxville Ice Bears organization began in 2002 and was an inaugural charter member of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) in 2004. As four-time SPHL Champions and five-time regular season champions, the Ice Bears are an experienced and established organization, offering the city and its visitors a balanced product of highlight-reel hockey, unique and exciting intermission activity and endless fan interaction, presenting the most affordable, family-friendly way to enjoy sports and entertainment. Season, Partial Season and Flex Tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit www.knoxvilleicebears.com or call (865) 525-7825.
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