Arch Ecker Honored As BCHL Voice Of The Year

PHOTO:  Arch Ecker raises the British Columbia Hockey League’s Fred Page Cup overhead as general manager Bliss Littler (right) looks on in 2018. Ecker was unanimous choice by BCHL broadcasters as the league’s Jim Hughson Broadcaster of the Year. (Photo credit: Russ Alman/Digital Media Northwest)

By Austin Draude  Wenatchee Wild Media Relations & Broadcast Manager

WENATCHEE, Wash. – The Wenatchee Wild have announced that late play-by-play broadcaster Arch Ecker has been named the BCHL’s Jim Hughson Broadcaster of the Year for the 2022-23 season.

Ecker spent a quarter-century at the mic in junior hockey, including more than five years as the play-by-play voice of the Wild. He called nearly 1,500 games during his junior hockey career, and was able to make a limited return to broadcasting while recovering from a single-vehicle accident in June of 2021. He passed away this past September while in the final stages of recovery from that accident.

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“Great job by the BCHL play-by-play talent in recognizing Arch as this year's Broadcaster of the Year,” said Wenatchee general manager Bliss Littler. “Arch would have been very humbled and proud to know that his colleagues recognized him with this award. The Wild are so proud of Arch and all that he brought to the broadcast booth, the Wild organization as well as the Wenatchee Valley.”

Ecker becomes the first person to receive the BCHL’s Broadcaster of the Year award since its renaming in honor of longtime Canadian broadcaster Jim Hughson last summer. Hughson’s broadcasting career in the sport began in the 1970s with the BCJHL’s Penticton Vees and Kelowna Buckaroos, before moving on to an extensive career calling hockey and baseball across Canada. He is best known in British Columbia for his 17-year run with the Vancouver Canucks, and his 16-year stint on Hockey Night in Canada, including 13 years as the broadcast’s lead voice.

“He put his heart and soul into every broadcast,” said Vernon Vipers play-by-play broadcaster Graham Turnbull, who shared the 2022 award with Alberni Valley’s Evan Hammond. “I’m sure the Wild faithful would echo that. He cared so much for the players, the team and the BCHL. It’s not the same without him, but this is a great way to pay tribute to him.”

The Wild organization has continued to honor Ecker after his passing, recognizing him as their Broadcaster Emeritus and renaming the broadcast booth and “crow’s nest” at Town Toyota Center in his memory.

The Wenatchee Wild congratulate Arch Ecker on his recognition as the 2022-23 BCHL Jim Hughson Broadcaster of the Year, and sincerely thank the league and its broadcasters for its support of Arch during and after his time on the call for the Wild.