Wild Broadcaster Arch Ecker Passes Away in Spokane

Longtime Wenatchee Wild play-by-play voice Arch Ecker is dead following complications from recent surgery. 

Ecker died Tuesday morning of a heart attack while hospitalized in Spokane. 

Wild General Manager Bliss Littler says Ecker had a special relationship with the Wild organization. 

"He just had a passion," said Littler. "He had a passion for broadcasting the games. He loved being part of the team. He loved wearing the logo on his chest, where he could see the logo right by his heart." 

Ecker passed away after more than a year of recovery efforts following a single car rollover crash that left him with numerous internal injuries. 

He was able to make a limited return to broadcast Wild hockey games at the end of this past season. 

Ecker had been the voice of Wild Hockey games for five years.   

Littler says Ecker was multi-talented, and was an especially gifted musician. 

"I don't know if there was any instrument that he couldn't play," said Littler. "He's a heck of a singer. The two bands that he's been in, most recently No Promises. I went out to watch him play, maybe about a month ago, and you could just see the passion that he had to entertain."  

According to an account from Ecker, he was involved in a single vehicle rollover accident near Ritzville on the way home from a visit with family.  

He required back surgery to fuse three vertebrae. There was extensive internal damage along with six broken ribs, a cracked sternum, and a fractured clavicle.  

The crash took place on June 15, 2021. 

Ecker needed nine weeks of bed confinement before undergoing months of rehab. 

He continued to suffer from medical complications before his death. Littler said Ecker had been in the hospital for about a week before his fatal heart attack. 

He said the Wild organization would be holding some sort of tribute to Ecker at an appropriate time.