A familiar face in the Isles' press box

Daniel Savarino calls NHL games from the booth

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It’s been a special season for the New York Islanders in their final year in Nassau County, and East Meadow’s Daniel Savarino has had a front-row seat.

Actually, it’s more like a bird’s-eye view. The Hofstra University senior is one of the team’s color commentators for its radio broadcasts, and he has called nine games so far this season in the press box.

The team is making its last season at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum a memorable one: As of Tuesday, the Islanders led the Metropolitan Division by a single point over the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins. The team’s success, combined with its supportive fans, Savarino said, has created an unforgettable atmosphere. “The way this building has been this year, you cant even describe it in words,” he said.

Since joining Hofstra’s WRHU two years ago as a sideline reporter, he has interviewed the NHL’s premiere players, from Sidney Crosby to Henrik Lundqvist to John Tavares. Last year he was bumped up to lead reporter, and he moved even further up the ranks this season, joining a four-student rotation as color commentator.

The 2014-15 season marks the fifth year that WRHU — 88.7 on the FM dial — has had the exclusive rights to broadcast Islanders games. Alongside Chris King, the team’s permanent play-by-play announcer, Hofstra students also serve as update anchors and producers for all of the games.

For Savarino, 21, who graduated from East Meadow High School in 2011, the job has created a fast-paced, on-the-go lifestyle that is atypical of the average collegian. When he’s not working Islanders games, he’s doing play-by-play for Hofstra’s men’s basketball, or interning at Molloy College, calling basketball, volleyball and soccer.

In the past few months, his broadcasting duties have taken him to Michigan, North and South Carolina and Virginia as well as several states in the Northeast. “You don’t feel like a normal college kid, I’ll say that,” he said. “I’m not one to go out and party. That’s not me.”

Color commentators are expected to provide hockey insight and expert analysis to complement the play-by-play announcer, who narrates the game’s action. In order to meet those expectations, Savarino said, he does an exhaustive preparation prior to each game.

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