He used to describe the action for such former Erie hockey stars as Sylvain Cote, Pierre Legace, Paul Mancini, Ron Hansis, and Val James. For the last four years, he’s been the television voice for the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers.
Monday night, September 22, JP (formerly John Paul) Dellacamera returns to Erie as guest speaker for Mercyhurst College’s Annual Hockey Media Night at the Ambassador Banquet and Conference Center, 7794 Peach St. The dinner will start at 7:00pm.
“I’ve known John Leisering since my days in Erie in the late 70s and early 80s and I’m honored he thought of me. Mercyhurst has excellent hockey programs. The trip to Erie will also give me a chance, hopefully, to greet friends I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Dellacamera was the radio voice of the Erie Blades from 1978 to 1982. During that time, the Blades played at the old Erie County Fieldhouse and won championships in 1979, 1980, and 1981 in both the North Eastern and Eastern Hockey Leagues.
During his diversified career, Dellacamera has called thousands of hockey, soccer and collegiate basketball games during more than 30 years of extensive play-by-play experience in radio and television for various networks, including NBC, ABC, ESPN, MSG Network, and TNT. In addition to serving as play-by-play announcer for the Thrashers for the past four seasons, Dellacamera’s hockey broadcasting experience includes the 2004 World Cup of Hockey for ESPN and ESPN2, and four seasons of calling Stanley Cup Playoff games for that network (1998-2000 and 2004).
The native of Waltham, Mass., served as play-by-play announcer for both men's and women's soccer at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, for NBC during the network's groundbreaking 24-hour-a-day coverage. He is currently working on his second Summer Olympics as the lead announcer for both men’s and women’s soccer
On the international scene, Dellacamera has been a play-by-play voice for six consecutive men's soccer World Cups and four Women’s World Cups.
Currently, Dellacamera is the lead play-by-play voice for ESPN’s MLS Prime Time Thursday.
Ticket information is available by calling 814-824-2277.