Wednesday, November 27, 2013

ClubberSpeak: Bob Cole – The King

((HT: Jim Lang Blog))

The HQ admits that being in television and having satellite dishes and the NHL Network at our collective disposal has introduced us to how hockey should be produced, announced, and presented on a weekly basis...

With the new television deal that has rocked the landscape up north, Clubber addresses one figure who may not be a part of the new era in the sport...

Unless you have been living in a cave you have heard about the massive new deal Rogers and Sportsnet signed with the NHL.

A big concern for a lot of hockey fans across Canada will be what is going to happen to a lot of our favourite Hockey Night in Canada personalities when the new deal kicks in next year.

I realize a lot of hockey fans won`t agree with me but if this means the end of Bob Cole at Hockey Night in Canada, I am really going to miss him.

Now did Bob Cole make the odd mistake during the call of a game? Sure he did. Did Cole misidentify players from time to time? Yes to that as well.

But there was something about Cole’s voice that brought a sense of drama and excitement to a big game that has yet to be matched in this country. Catch phrases like “Oh Harry” (In reference to his long time colour analyst Harry Neale.) and “Oh baby!” are a part of our hockey vocabulary in Canada.

I will let you in on a little secret. In tribute to Cole I would drop in an “Oh Harry” or an “Oh baby” reference when I did the hockey highlights on Sportsnet. Maybe that’s why I am not at Sportsnet anymore but I loved doing it and I didn’t care what anyone thought.



Call me sentimental but when I think of Bob Cole’s magnificent career at Hockey Night in Canada I choose to think of all his great moments in the booth. And goodness knows he had a lot of them.

That is why Bob Cole will always be the king.

Long live the king.


Here's more of the King...
Oh, baby!!!

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