Don Stevens closes 58-year career as Amerks voice, postseason ride continues

Nearly 200 of Don Stevens’ more than 3,300 AHL broadcasts have come with Rochester and Hershey on the ice, a striking sign of how often his voice has framed the Amerks’ biggest nights. That backdrop mattered even more as Rochester’s postseason push closed the regular season and Stevens worked through his final stretch as the franchise’s soundtrack.

The Amerks announced on Sept. 26, 2025 that Stevens would retire after the 2025-26 season, his 40th year at the microphone in Rochester and the end of a 58-year broadcasting career. They said he would handle all 36 home games and select road dates during a season that also marked Rochester’s 70th anniversary. By the time the club reached the final week of the AHL regular season, Stevens’ farewell had become part of the standings race, not separate from it.

That emotional overlap was on full display at Don Stevens Night on April 4 at The Blue Cross Arena, where Rochester beat the Providence Bruins 2-1 in overtime in a result the team called a storybook ending to the tribute. A dozen family members were flown in for the celebration, a Don Stevens bobblehead was sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and longtime booth partner John Bednarski made a surprise return. Buffalo’s parent club also honored Stevens during the same week with a framed jersey, a videoboard salute and a live radio cameo, a reminder that his reach has stretched well beyond Rochester.

Stevens had already been recognized in February 2023 when Rochester unveiled the Don Stevens Press Box at The Blue Cross Arena, and he added another honor in 2024 when he received the Gary Smith & George Beahon Sports Media Excellence Award from the Rochester Press-Radio Club. The farewell run now closes with playoff hockey still ahead, after Rochester clinched its 2026 Calder Cup Playoff berth on the final day of the regular season with a rally at Hershey, giving Stevens one last postseason chapter to narrate in a building and against a rival that have defined so much of his career.