Mike Haynes resigns as the play-by-play voice of the Colorado Avalanche

According to reports, the longtime voice of the Colorado Avalanche, Mike Haynes has resigned from Altitude Sports.

When the team moved to Denver from Quebec City, Haynes began working as the team’s radio play-by-play man from game one. He then took the opportunity to move to the television broadcast a decade later. Prior to joining the Avalanche crew, Haynes cut his teeth calling league hockey games.

Haynes has been the broadcast voice of the Avalanche since the beginning. He started calling play-by-play for Avs television broadcasts alongside color commentating partner Peter McNab during 2005-06 season.

In April 2008, he had to undergo an operation to repair a brain aneurysm. The health scare caused Haynes to take a hiatus from work and forced him to miss Colorado’s playoff run that season. He returned to the booth the following fall.

Along with calling thousands of Avalanche games, Haynes has also worked play-by-play for the Colorado Rapids of the MLS and Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League.

Haynes has twice been honored as Denver’s Best Sportscaster by Westword magazine.

Whether you were a fan of Haynes or not, his was a familiar voice for hockey fans in Colorado. The Avs fan base will now start next season with a different sounding home broadcast for the first time in more than a decade.

For those who aren’t familiar with Haynes, here is a pretty outstanding example of why he had his fans, but wasn't for everybody.