Hockey Night Montage for Game 5 Gives Us The Who

((HT: Tim Thompson))

If this is the last "Hockey Night in Canada" montage in the history of CBC's coverage, Tim Thompson was all over it for the four-billionth time. His work is top-notch and lends itself to the story-telling that the game itself gives us night in and night out.

This time, it was The Who and it made us a little dusty.
When you see a particular edit, you'll know why...


The HQ only hopes that Sportsnet finds a place for Thompson in their next decade of coverage...

Ron MacLean Apologizes For HNIC Comments

((HT: CBC News))

First... tell the HQ what you think about this segment...


Well, if one of the best in the business offended you, Ron MacLean has apologized...

Coming from a referee like MacLean, the remarks were surprising.
And FOSG Elliotte Friedman was on set with him- and disagreed...

The reaction among French-speaking and separatist Canadians was somewhat expected:
 
An example from the Journal de Montreal op-ed piece by Rejean Tremblay...translated...

Well then, it should be forbidden to have a "Canadian" referee a game Maple Leafs or Canucks? And an American officer should not during a match between a Canadian team to an American team? Or, would be the finest of racial discrimination and prohibit a native referee Minnesota work in a game of Wild? But then, what do we do with an Albertan and Oilers and Flames? You know that in these cases, the question does not arise. 

Because for MacLean, the "Canadian" or Ontarian Dave Jackson or even an English Montreal are part of the superior race. They therefore intelligence and control of their emotions that guarantee the quality of their work. While the poor little French, he is subject to the call of the tribe.

And fan mail was somewhat hot in places...from one such letter in the Montreal Gazette:

Ron MacLean’s comments regarding the inappropriate use of French referees in the Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay game was insulting to all Canadians who respect diversity and who live in a country that claims this as a value. 

To think our so-called national broadcaster allows such divisive rhetoric is deplorable and just reinforces the fact that the CBC should have its funding cut (even though I do not support the political reasons the government uses to justify its cuts).

So, what say you about the comments... faithful reader...???

Just asking...

Grapes Tries To Pronounce "Jacoby Ellsbury"

((HT: HNIC/Timothy Burke's Vine))

And away we go...

Yep, Strombo Will Be Running Point For HNIC

((HT: Sportsnet))

The announcement was made today in Toronto and the landscape will be markedly different when "Hockey Night" moves its way from CBC to Rogers and the new generation of hockey broadcasting will be led by George Stroumboulopoulous...

Strombo, Ron MacLean, Don Cherry, Daren Millard, and Jeff Marek will be on the front lines...

Here's Scott Moore with the announcement

The short version:

Cherry and MacLean will still do "Coach's Corner" on Saturdays
MacLean will also host Hockey Day in Canada and Sunday’s new "Hometown Hockey Community Celebration"
Millard will host programming on Wednesday nights
Marek will host action on Thursdays, Friday Night Hockey and the Memorial Cup

And that's what C$5.3-billion will do...

Is Strombo The New Hockey Night Host...???

According to TSN's Bob McKenzie... yes...

His series of tweets...

If I'm not mistaken, I believe congrats may soon be in order for @strombo and @CoachesCornerCBC.

Lots of talk @strombo will this week be named primary face/host of the other guys' nat'l package.

And @CoachesCornerCBC is reportedly getting a new 2-yr deal. Sounds like Ron MacLean still involved but not as main man.

George Stroumboulopolous has been a host for MuchMusic, CBC, and CNN with some very stellar guests and conversations. So, if the big-time Habs fan gets the gig when Rogers takes the "Hockey Night" franchise next year for the next 12 years, it would be a huge coup for the network and the debut presentation.

An example:
((HT: CBC))


And this one...


According to The Score up north, the set-up is this...

"Hockey Night in Canada" will continue to air Saturday nights on CBC through a sub-licensing agreement Rogers made with the public broadcaster, although Rogers will retain editorial control.

Dan Snyder's Legacy: 10 Years Later

((HT: Hockey Night In Canada))

The HQ will stipulate, openly, that we follow the puck- regardless of level and geography...

And the HQ's home base that had the Atlanta Thrashers was ground zero for a lot of story-telling in the team's history. It involved weddings, firings, trades that stunned, and drafts that even stunned more...

It also involved, sadly, a death...and those kinds of phone calls that you get alerting you to those stories leave you with a pit in your stomach...

Dany Heatley was driving home from a local bar with teammate Dan Snyder in the passenger seat of his Ferrari in October of 2003. On a very curly, two-lane road with dips in elevation, Heatley crashed the car and the accident took Snyder's life...

The HQ covered the subsequent trial and how Snyder family has carried on from here...

And Graham and LuAnn have done so nobly...

HNIC caught up with them and the Snyder family's efforts over the weekend...


Few rival the people who the Snyders are as a family...
And we doubt many we come across will...

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!!!

Rogers Gets The Next 12 Years Of The NHL Up North...

((HT: Sportsnet))

And this is huge in a few ways...

1) The dollar figure- C$5.2-billion over 12 years... the largest deal in league history...

2) Sportsnet gets the "Hockey Night in Canada" brand, but can sub-lease it back to the CBC for four years...

3) It completely boxes out TSN nationally- the top-ranked cable network in the country and puts CBC under the thumb of Sportsnet- as it barely hangs on to any kind of sports branding...

Any kind...

Which means that the future of Don Cherry is in flux right now... and he can't even tell you what his future is...

4) CBC, run through public funding, can't flip the profits they make from hockey and turn them into other shows...

So, Sportsnet outspent everyone and CBC continues to fall behind in sports programming, but one of the first things the commissioner had to do was survive "Prime Time Sports" with Bob McCown....

Here's The Bettman with Bobcat...

Dave Bolland Is No Andrew Shaw

((HT: CBC/NHL))

While the HQ knows that Andrew Shaw, probably, set the modern day record for post-game celebratory cussing while Doc Emrick was trying to cover it over with monologue and the audio guy for NBC let it ride last night...

Not to be outdone, Dave Bolland got excited while talking to Scott Oake...


Carry on... and congrats to the Blackhawks... even if they did beat the Kings to get there...

Said the Kings fan on staff...

If someone posts the Shaw outburst while he was bleeding the blood of elation onto the sweater of celebration, you'll see it...

Why The Stanley Cup Is A Big Deal

((ht: puckdaddy))

This is pure awesomeness.

If you ever want to know why you should watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs, you should watch this video.

If you ever want to know what Canada does better than the U.S, you should watch this video. (It was produced by the CBC)

For most of us here in the states, we don't pay a lot of attention to Hockey most of the year. Much like the NBA, the regular season goes on forever. But unlike the NBA, when it comes to the playoffs, there are few things more intense or amazing to watch.

Hockey's playoff's, they, at least in our opinion (OSG Sports), every bit as exciting and fun to watch as March Madness.

((**--Note-- We don't include the NBA Playoff's as exciting, because much like the regular season, they drone on...........forever))

Check out the Canadian Broadcast Company's (CBC) Hockey Night in Canada open to kick off their Stanley Cup Coverage--yeah, the song is used too much for commercials in the states, but it's perfect for this.

Memo To Ron McLean: Really...??? Really...???

((HT: CBC Sports/youtube via Sporting News))

It defies words so the HQ will just have you watch...


Comparing these guys to first responders from 9/11...???
With all due respect... What in the blue hell are you thinking...???

Let's minimize bravery from 343 and thousands of others...
Way to go...

The HQ had far much more respect for McLean before this...
Ugh...

Glenn Healy Enjoys His Uninformed Comments

((HT: CBCSports/NHL/youtube))

First and foremost, the HQ would like to congratulate the town of Winnipeg for getting back their Jets. All that a lot of people ask from this part of the world is that you give the Thrashers a good home... and the HQ knows you will...

Like this...


And, yes, you lost 5-1 to Montreal in your first home game...
But Nik Antropov is the answer to the trivia question...


More than anything, CBC analyst Glenn Healy proved his jingoistic, ill-informed-ness carried over to the topic of Atlanta versus the Peg...

From Spector and his required reading:

Shortly after the puck dropped in Winnipeg, the fans serenaded Canadiens goalie Carey Price by slowly chanting his first name, hardly uncommon in NHL arenas to get under the opposition’s skin in a big game. The chants subsided, then picked up again after Nik Antropov’s goal got the Jets within 2-1.

“Want to know how we know we’re in Winnipeg?” Healy asked. “They’re chanting Price’s name. That wouldn’t have happened in Atlanta.”

The jingoism continued over the course of the evening, extending to Healy saying, while the Canadiens were extending their lead, that the Jets will improve because the knowledgeable Winnipeg fan base will hold them accountable.

Uh-huh...

For those of us at HQ who watched far more Thrashers games on-the-air and in person over the life of the franchise, fans serenaded goalies and media and fans alike held the team accountable. But when an ownership group doesn't give a damn and won't spend money they don't have in the first place in order to make money, when an ownership group looks to bail on a city during a work stoppage and doesn't tell the fan base that's what they're doing, and when there's more infighting this side of "Divorce Court," it's time for someone else to take over the wheel.

The HQ is trying to restrain its cudgel in this case that we've stated over and over again, but when uninformed and ill-informed raise out of the gopher hole, we have to restate our case...

Again...

Glenn, the fans were not and never have been the problem. But this market is not and will not anymore spend money on an investment that is shown to be dead in the water by its own owners.

Would you go to a restaurant that proves over and over again that the food is stale and the owners aren't going to change the menu...? Would you go to the same mechanic that "kinda" fixes your car...???

Didn't think so... and just as restaurants close and businesses move to better locations, the same applied to our hockey franchise here in town...

Regrettably...

We're watching you...

Grapes Waits Until Night One To Speak His Peace

He put Brendan Shanahan in his cross-hairs maintaining that the sport is now a sport that has people who won't hit one another for fear of repercussion...

And, he calls out three former enforcers who claim their current behavior is a direct result of their hockey occupation...
((HT: NHL/Hockey Night in Canada/youtube))


So much for easing into the season...