Bob Cole | |
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 Bob Cole pictured before a playoff game on May 22, 2012 | |
| Born | Robert Cecil Cole June 24, 1933 |
| Occupation | Retired hockey announcer for Hockey Night in Canada |
| Years active | 1969–2019 |
Robert Cecil Cole CM (born June 24, 1933) is a Canadian former sports television announcer who has worked for CBC and Sportsnet and former competitive curler. [1] He is known primarily for his work on Hockey Night in Canada .
A knee injury suffered from playing soccer put Cole in the hospital for approximately six months as a youth. It was during this time that he would listen to Foster Hewitt calling games on the radio and developed an interest in becoming a sports announcer. [2] In 1956, Cole made an impromptu visit to Hewitt's office to present him with an audition tape. To Cole's surprise, Hewitt welcomed him in, listened to his tape, and talked with him for two hours. [2]
Cole began broadcasting hockey on VOCM radio in St. John's, Newfoundland, then CBC Radio in 1969 and moved to television in 1973 when Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) expanded its coverage. Cole was the lead play-by-play announcer for HNIC on CBC, usually working Toronto Maple Leafs games, from 1980 to 2008. Aside from the Leafs broadcasts, he was also a staple for HNIC during the annual Stanley Cup playoffs. He broadcast at least one game in every Stanley Cup Finals from 1980 until 2008, after which he was replaced by Jim Hughson. [3] [4] His voice was also heard by a United States television audience whenever that country's carrier at the time – Hughes, USA, SportsChannel America or NBCSN – simulcast an HNIC game that he was calling.
In November 2013, Rogers Communications reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national television and digital rightsholder for the NHL in Canada, beginning with the 2014–15 season. Although now at the age of 82, Cole told the Toronto Sun that he wanted Rogers to call and tell him if he would be a part of their hockey coverage: "I still feel the same as when I was 50. I still love what I'm doing. I just want to do games." [5] Cole later stated, "I'd like to keep going. I feel good. I love the game. I still get passionate. I still get butterflies." [6] In June 2014, Rogers confirmed that Cole would be part of their play-by-play team." [7]
Sportsnet did not give any on-air assignments to Cole during the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. [8] On September 27, 2018, Sportsnet announced that he would be calling his 50th and last season with Hockey Night in Canada and a limited schedule of games in the upcoming season. [9]
On February 6, 2019, he received a video tribute and a standing ovation, during the Toronto Maple Leafs - Ottawa Senators game, on the occasion of calling his last game in Toronto, with his final play-by-play broadcast being the game being the Toronto Maple Leafs-Montreal Canadiens game on April 6 at Bell Centre. [10] [11] [12] [13] That night, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 6-5 in a shootout. This game also happened to hold historical significance, as Canadiens forward Ryan Poehling scored a hat trick and a shootout goal in what was his first NHL game. [14] Cole's broadcasting career spanned 50 years. [15] [16] [17]
Cole's work during CBC's broadcasts of the Olympic games have also become memorable among legions of Canadians. His call on the final shot of the shootout in the semi-final game of the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano between Canada and the Czech Republic represented Canada's then-ongoing failure at the games and haunted fans for the next four years. With Canada scoreless in the shootout and Brendan Shanahan representing their last chance, Cole said in a panicked voice as Shanahan skated in towards Czech goalie Dominik Hasek, "He's gotta score, that's all!" But Shanahan was stopped by Hasek, prompting Cole to dejectedly say "No, he can't do it."
At the gold medal game of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City between Canada and the United States, Cole's animated call of Joe Sakic's second goal of the game is also one of his more memorable moments. Also, when Jarome Iginla scored Canada's fourth goal of the game, with four minutes remaining in the third period, Cole was so excited when the goal was scored he yelled out "GORE!" (a hybrid of "goal" and "score"), and then proceeded to call out "Goal, Canada! Goal! Wow! A lot of Canadian fans here! The place goes crazy here in Salt Lake City, and I guess coast to coast in Canada, and all around the world!" When Sakic scored Canada's fifth goal with 1:20 remaining, Cole yelled out "Scores! Joe Sakic scores! And that makes it 5-2 Canada! Surely, that's gotta be it!" As the final seconds of the game ticked away, and as the crowd broke out in perfect unison singing "O Canada", Cole said, "Now after 50 years, it's time for Canada to stand up and cheer. Stand up and cheer everybody! The Olympics Salt Lake City, 2002, men's ice hockey, gold medal: Canada!"
With an average Canadian audience of 10.6 million viewers, that game was the most-watched CBC Sports program, beating the previous record of 4.957 million viewers for Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals (the final game of the 1972 Summit Series between an NHL all-star team and the Soviet Union, which had been the most-watched sports program Canadian television history, was simulcast on CBC and CTV while Cole called the game on CBC Radio), in which the New York Rangers won their first Stanley Cup in 54 years, beating the Vancouver Canucks, another moment Cole himself called: "Here comes the faceoff and blare it Manhattan! The New York Rangers have done it here on a hot June night in New York! The Rangers are Stanley Cup Champions!" [18]
Cole's long-time colour commentator on HNIC was Harry Neale, who first teamed up in the 1986–87 season. From 1987 to 2007, the pair together called 20 Stanley Cup Finals, the 1998, 2002, 2006 Winter Olympics, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, and 2004 World Cup of Hockey for CBC. Prior to that, his usual partners included Gary Dornhoefer, Mickey Redmond, or John Davidson. Dick Irvin Jr. also often joined his broadcast team as a third man in the booth for big games. Since the departure of both Neale and Irvin, Jr., his usual color commentators were either Garry Galley and/or Greg Millen.
Prior to his career in broadcasting, Cole was a successful curler, playing in the 1971 and 1975 Briers as the skip for the Newfoundland team. He also played in the 1965 and 1973 Canadian mixed championship.
In 2007, Cole captured his first Gemini Award in the area of Sports Play-by-Play.
Cole was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996 as the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for broadcasting excellence. [19]
In 2022, he was named the recipient of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards. [20]
Cole received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's in 2002.
In early 2016, Cole had a cameo at the end of Simple Plan's album Taking One for the Team , calling a fictional hockey game involving the band; he concluded the call with, "Oh my goodness, can you believe it? Just like that, Simple Plan have won the game!". [21]
On September 23, 2016, Cole was appointed to the Order of Canada. [22]
Cole's voice could be heard in the CBC 2013 TV film The Magic Hockey Skates (based on the book of the same name).
From 2010 to 2014, Cole was the Voice of the Republic on the CBC TV series Republic of Doyle .
CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the Hockey Night in Canada brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its history in various platforms.
Jim Hughson is a retired Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of the National Hockey League. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for the NHL on Sportsnet from 2014 to 2021 and Hockey Night in Canada from 2008 to 2021. His career spanned 42 years.
The 1956–57 NHL season was the 40th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive season, defeating the Boston Bruins four games to one in the best-of-seven final series. The final game was won with a clutch goal from Montreal defenceman Tom Johnson that clinched the Stanley Cup championship for the Canadiens 3–2.
Jim Robson OBC is a former radio and television broadcaster who was the play-by-play announcer of the Vancouver Canucks' games from 1970 to 1999.
Dave Hodge is a Canadian sports announcer. Hodge worked for TSN, the CBC and CFRB 1010 radio in Toronto.
Gregory H. Millen is a Canadian hockey commentator-analyst and a former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 14 seasons for six teams in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently a colour commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and the NHL on Sportsnet, primarily covering the Calgary Flames.
Craig Andrew Simpson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers and the Buffalo Sabres. He is currently the lead colour commentator with Sportsnet for Hockey Night in Canada and Toronto Maple Leafs' Sportsnet regional broadcasts.
TSN Hockey is the blanket title used by TSN's broadcasts of the National Hockey League.
Paul Romanuk is a Toronto sportscaster and writer. He was born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Chris Cuthbert is a Canadian sportscaster. He currently serves as the lead play-by-play commentator with CBC Sports/Sportsnet for Hockey Night in Canada, and calls most national and regional games for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the network. Formerly, he worked for TSN, NBC, and CBC Sports in a multitude of roles. He and Glen Suitor were the lead broadcast team for the CFL on TSN from 2008 to 2019 before Cuthbert gave that lead play-by-play role to Rod Smith.
The Canadiens–Maple Leafs rivalry is an ice hockey rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, two professional ice hockey clubs in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Canadiens and Maple Leafs are the league's oldest teams, with the former established in 1909 and the latter in 1917. Both clubs compete in the Atlantic Division of the NHL's Eastern Conference.
NHL on Sportsnet is the blanket title for presentations of the National Hockey League broadcast held by a Canadian media corporation, Rogers Communications, showing on its television channel Sportsnet and other networks owned by or affiliated with its Rogers Media division, as well as the Sportsnet Radio chain. Sportsnet previously held the national cable rights for NHL regular season and playoff games from 1998 to 2002. In November 2013, Rogers reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national television and digital rightsholder for the NHL in Canada, beating out both CBC Sports and TSN.
The 2014–15 NHL season was the 98th season of operation of the National Hockey League (NHL).
The National Hockey League (NHL) is shown on national television in the United States and Canada. With 25 teams in the U.S. and 7 in Canada, the NHL is the only one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada that maintains separate national broadcasters in each country, each producing separate telecasts of a slate of regular season games, playoff games, and the Stanley Cup Finals.
Since 2000, the CBC has aired an annual special Hockey Day in Canada broadcast to celebrate the game in Canada. The broadcast includes hockey-related features all afternoon, leading up to a tripleheader of NHL action featuring the seven Canadian teams. One exception was the 2008 edition that featured four games including two American teams along with the six Canadian teams; this was due to the NHL's schedule format at the time, as there was no inter-conference games between Canadian teams. Lead commentators, Don Cherry and Ron MacLean broadcast from a remote area. The broadcast includes live broadcast segments from smaller communities right across the country and features panel discussions on issues facing "Canada's game" at both the minor and pro levels. The day is usually in mid-February, but was broadcast in early January in 2002 and 2006 due to the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2006 Winter Olympics, respectively; the 2007 event was also held in January, though no sporting events key to Canada were scheduled.
On April 19, 2011, after ESPN, Turner Sports, and Fox Sports placed bids, NBC Sports announced it had reached a ten-year extension to its U.S. television contract with the NHL worth nearly $2 billion over the tenure of the contract. The contract would cover games on both NBC and sister cable channel Versus, which became part of the NBC Sports family as the result of Versus parent Comcast's controlling purchase of NBC Universal earlier in 2011.
Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey is the branding used for Sportsnet’s flagship broadcasts of National Hockey League games on Wednesday nights. In November 2013, Rogers reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national television and digital rightsholder for the NHL in Canada, beating out broadcasters CBC Sports and TSN for the rights.
A record-busting average of 8.7 million Canadians watched on television as the men's hockey team snatched gold from the United States in Salt Lake City...The audience actually peaked at 10.6 million, the CBC said Monday...CBC says that prior to Sunday, its highest-rated sports show was Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup between the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks, which attracted an average of 4.97 million viewers.
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