Griffin DellaPenna ’23 knew he wanted to be a sports broadcaster when he was 6 years old.
At Canisius University, he didn't have to wait until graduation to start doing the work.
Now, DellaPenna is the new voice of the Rochester Americans, becoming the youngest full-time broadcaster in the American Hockey League. He called his first regular season game October 2, stepping into a role that combines play-by-play with digital and social media, storytelling and community outreach.
The path to that broadcast booth was built, in part, through the countless hours DellaPenna spent calling games, producing content and learning on the fly as a Canisius student.
“When I began looking at colleges, Canisius checked all of the boxes for me,” DellaPenna says. “The ESPN+ studio on campus would allow me to get hands-on experience beginning my first semester, it was in a professional sports market, and it had great connections to industry leaders.”
[Photo: Griffin DellaPenna chats with Buffalo Sabres play-by-play announcer Dan Dunleavy]
A Man With a Plan
DellaPenna didn't wait for opportunities to find him. As a freshman, he introduced himself to Matt Reitnour, associate athletics director for communications, and explained what he hoped to do with his career.
“I just had a gut feeling that he was going to be one of the good ones after our first conversation in his first week as a freshman,” Reitnour says.
DellaPenna kept looking for ways to do more.
Before his senior year, he returned to Reitnour with a detailed plan for expanding Canisius Athletics' digital and social media coverage. He wanted to create the kind of content he was seeing from much larger athletic departments.
“The thing that stood out most to me is how much time and effort Griffin spent crafting his plan and how thought-out his presentation was,” Reitnour says. “I loved the idea of it, and he was totally bought in from the start, so I was bought in too.”
Reitnour gave DellaPenna the creative freedom to put the plan into action across Canisius' NCAA Division I programs.
The result was a senior year packed with experience: more than 100 broadcasts, a new “Around Canisius Athletics” video series, a podcast featuring athletes, coaches and alumni, and extensive coverage of Canisius hockey's Atlantic Hockey championship and NCAA Tournament run.
“Those are reps that students who go to larger schools don't have the opportunity to even get a fraction of,” DellaPenna says.
Reitnour saw the same thing happening from his side of the desk. “If we have students who want to get better, who want to learn and do professional-level work, we have the unique ability to make that happen,” he says. “Griffin is one of those students who saw the opportunity and ran with it.”
Learning by Doing
For DellaPenna, the experience went beyond adding lines to a résumé. Calling live games taught him the small details that can't be replicated in a classroom.
“When Andy Helwig, our previous basketball radio announcer, left for a job in pro baseball, Griffin was my first thought as his replacement,” Reitnour says. “It was a no-brainer for me. He worked hard and earned the chance.”
DellaPenna also learned to accept feedback and use it to improve. That willingness to learn, combined with the volume of live experience he accumulated at Canisius, helped DellaPenna develop his own broadcasting style and voice.
“You can't replicate experience,” Reitnour says. “There's a lot of small details to any professional job that you can't learn from a book, or from sitting in a class. You have to go do it, learn from it, and continue to get better. That's what Griffin did.”
Bringing Canisius to the Booth
DellaPenna continued building his experience after Canisius, including through an internship with Pegula Sports & Entertainment, graduate study at Syracuse University and work with the Coastal Athletic Association.
His relationship with the Rochester Americans began in 2023-24, when he joined the team's broadcast crew as a rink side reporter. Now, after working alongside longtime Amerks broadcaster Don Stevens, he is taking over the primary broadcast role.
For DellaPenna, Saturday's first game offered a chance to put years of preparation into practice. And somewhere behind the microphone were the experiences — and the people — that helped him get there.
“Undoubtedly attending Canisius was one of the best decisions I've ever made,” DellaPenna says. “Wherever I go in my career I will always be a proud alum because this university is such a large part of my identity.”
His advice to himself and students who want to following his path? “Continue to say yes to whatever opportunities come, always be your authentic self and have fun!”
