Paul Woods exits Red Wings radio booth after 40 years: 'This has been a dream'

Sunrise, Fla. — Paul Woods wasn't sure what the emotions were going to be.

Woods, 71, was set to do his last game as the Red Wings' radio analyst Wednesday when the regular season concluded against the Florida Panthers.

Working his 40th season as the Wings' radio analyst, Woods announced his retirement in February for this season's end.

Color commentator Paul Woods (left), shown here with play-by-play announcer Ken Kal, will call it a radio career following the end of the Red Wings' season.

"I'm not quite sure what to think," Woods said after the Wings' morning skate. "It's all good. Just so many great memories. I'm very satisfied with how everything turned out."

Woods played seven seasons and 501 games with the Wings before joining the radio booth in 1987, three years after his playing career ended. Woods accepted the radio opportunity on a lark, not expecting radio to be a long-time career, but suddenly "it grew on me."

"Just the game itself, to be able to see it and played at the highest level," Woods said of what he'll miss the most. "I was just going to do it for one year and then turned out to be 40. I love hockey. As a young kid on my house squirt team, I put on the Wings sweater and I wore it everywhere for two years.

"And now over 60 years later, it means a lot. I'll never forget it."

As for memories, calling the four Stanley Cup championships is foremost, but also the endless parade of Hall of Fame players that have played on the Wings and the special relationships around the team on a daily basis have made an impact with Woods.

"I love the game of hockey. I've had a great passion for it since I was 6 years old. I'll keep abreast of it. I'm just thrilled with how everything has turned out," Woods said. "I saw my first game at Maple Leaf Gardens (in Toronto) and the next one I was on the Wings playing against Toronto.

"This has all been a dream."

Woods is the longest-serving radio analyst in Detroit sports broadcasting history. Woods began his broadcasting career in 1987 working the booth with Bruce Martyn before Ken Kal replaced Martyn in 1995. Since then, Kal and Woods have become a favorite and trusted pairing for Wings fans for over three decades.

"Both of them are top play-by-play guys," said Woods, who worked his 3,000th game in 2022. "They just make the game so exciting and they drag into the fight, the tempo that they do with it.

"It's been exciting to be by their side."

Red Wings coach Todd McLellan has worked with Woods in two different stints, first when McLellan was an assistant on Mike Babcock's staff from 2005-08 and then when McLellan became head coach in 2024.

"I've been very fortunate," McLellan said. "Just his impact on the game and the ability to sell the game to Michigan for the past 40 years and the (seven) he played is remarkable."

As good a broadcaster Woods is, said McLellan, Woods the person has left an even bigger impact.

"Everybody can recognize his voice but maybe you don't recognize him at the grocery store or wherever it is," McLellan said. "But what I can tell you is, for as good a hockey man as he is, he's an even better human being. He's always positive. He means so much to the entire Red Wings family and to the game.

"I was just telling Ken Kal, we recognize players and coaches and managers, and they put statues up for people. I'm not saying Paul Woods needs a statue, but 48 years in one organization, we definitely have to acknowledge that."

Some Wings heading to playoffs

Defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka and forwards Carter Mazur, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Dominik Shine will return for Grand Rapids and take part in the Griffins' run toward an AHL championship.

McLellan feels the experience can be extremely beneficial.

"We talked about Dominik Shine (the Griffins' captain) and the role he plays down there, how he drags everyone into the game, and I know he'll do that," McLellan said. "We spoke to him about it already and he's very hungry to go down there and lead.

"Then for the other players, this is a beginning, not an end. Everybody else has an ending (of the season) and this is a beginning for them. They can learn some valuable lesson in the playoffs and understand what it's like to play against the same team and in some cases seven games in a row, in hostile environments, playing through injuries. Being counted on is the big thing, so they can gain a lot."

The AHL playoffs will begin the last week of April.

tkulfan@detroitnews.com

@tkulfan

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Paul Woods calls it a broadcasting career after 40 years with Red Wings