Raymond Vincent Ferraro is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current broadcaster for TSN Radio 1040 and TSN. He played in the National Hockey League for the Hartford Whalers, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta Thrashers and St. Louis Blues. His nickname was the "Big Ball of Hate," coined by former Rangers teammate Glenn Healy.
Ferraro was a prolific scorer in junior hockey, including a 108-goal and 192-point season for the Western Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings in 1983–84. He also was a member of the 1982–83 Portland Winter Hawks squad that won the 1983 Memorial Cup. Ferraro's teammates on the championship-winning team included Cam Neely, Mike Vernon, Brian Curran, John Kordic and other future NHLers. In his NHL career, he scored 408 goals and 490 assists for a total of 898 points in 1,258 games spanning 18 seasons. He was named to the NHL All-Star Game in 1992, held in Philadelphia. He also had two 40-goal seasons. Ferraro had a memorable Stanley Cup playoff run for the New York Islanders in 1993, scoring two overtime goals against the Washington Capitals as the Islanders defeated both the Capitals and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Ferraro assisted on David Volek's game- and series-winning goal during overtime of Game 7 against the Penguins. The goal advanced the Islanders to the Wales Conference Finals, which they lost to the eventual champion Montreal Canadiens. Ferraro finished that playoff season with team-leading totals in goals and points.
Ferraro retired from the NHL on August 2, 2002. He has a done work for ESPN hockey broadcasts, including work on NHL 2Night with John Buccigross and Barry Melrose, where he began working while still an active player. On that show, Ferraro was often referred to as "Chicken Parm" by Buccigross after an accident with chicken parmesan moments before going on the air. He later worked as a studio analyst for the NHL on NBC, as a colour commentator on Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on Rogers Sportsnet West and on Sportsnet's other hockey programs. Ferraro works as a game analyst and studio analyst for the NHL on TSN. Ferraro provided colour commentary and analysis for CTV during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Since Pierre McGuire left TSN for NBC/Versus, Ferraro became the lead game analyst. After Rogers Media, the parent of TSN's rival Sportsnet, gained the national NHL rights took effect in the 2014-15 NHL season, Ferraro became a color commentator for the regional Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators games on TSN on a rotating basis. On May 5, 2014, EA Sports announced that Ferraro will be an ice level analyst for NHL 15 along play-by-play commentator Mike "Doc" Emrick and color commentator Ed "Eddie" Olczyk. He returned as an ice level analyst for NHL 16.
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