Photo: Delano family handout
The New York sportswriting community lost a heralded and beloved member of its fraternity on Easter Sunday when longtime Post hockey writer and columnist Hugh Delano passed away at the age of 81 following a long illness.
Delano covered a wide range of sports in his long career, which included 21 years at The Post from 1972-93, but is best remembered for his time on the Rangers beat. Delano began covering the NHL in 1969 at the Newark (N.J.) Evening News. While with The Post, Delano also covered the Giants in the late 1970s.
“I vividly remember reading Hugh’s coverage of the Rangers when I was growing up,” said Post Rangers beat writer and columnist Larry Brooks. “He set a standard at The Post that all of us who followed on the beat attempted to match.”
Delano was ahead of his time in many ways, said former Post hockey writer and columnist Mark Everson.
“Hugh was the information source we all followed during the Emile Francis era of the Rangers in his days with the Newark News and then The Post,” Everson said. “In those days, a reporter actually had to pay attention to the game, before instant replay, or even monitors for live telecast viewing. Hugh’s specialty was keeping faceoff statistics for the individual Rangers.”
Delano forged a strong relationship with Rangers Hall of Fame goaltender Eddie Giacomin, authored Giacomin’s biography in 1976 and presented the netminder into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987.
The Hockey Hall opened its doors to Delano in 1991, when he was honored with the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, given by the Hall to one writer per year for bringing honor to journalism and to hockey.
“He wore the Hall of Fame jacket proudly,” Everson said.
In 1994, Delano was given the Al Laney Award for service to hockey by the New York chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Delano moved to the Devils beat for The Post from 1983-93, and to this day, the Devils honor a player each year with the Hugh Delano Unsung Hero Award.
Delano, who also was a Marine Corps veteran, is survived by his wife, Marylou, four sons and three grandchildren.
