 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2017) |
This is a list of Canadian Stanley Cup Finals television announcers.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2017) |
This is a list of Canadian Stanley Cup Finals television announcers.
| Announcer | Years | Network(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Cuthbert | 2021-present | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Bob Cole | 1980-2008 | CBC |
| Danny Gallivan | 1953-1960; 1965-1979 | CBC |
| Bill Hewitt | 1959-1964; 1967; 1970; 1972; 1974 | CBC |
| Jim Hughson | 2009-2020 | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Dan Kelly | 1978-1980; 1985-1988 | CBC |
| CTV | ||
| Canwest/Global | ||
| Jim Robson | 1975; 1980; 1982-1983 | CBC |
| Don Wittman | 1985-1986 | CBC |
| Announcer | Years | Network(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Keith Dancy | 1964-1966 | CBC |
| John Davidson | 1985-1988 | CBC |
| Canwest/Global | ||
| Gary Dornhoefer | 1979-1985 | CBC |
| Bob Goldham | 1970, 1972 | CBC |
| Foster Hewitt | 1959-1960 | CBC |
| Dick Irvin Jr. | 1967-1980; 1982; 1984; 1986; 1989; 1991-1994 | CBC |
| Brian McFarlane | 1967; 1970; 1972; 1974 | CBC |
| Greg Millen | 2007-2008 | CBC |
| Harry Neale | 1987-2007 | CBC |
| Brad Park | 1985-1986 | CTV |
| Mickey Redmond | 1981-1984, 1986 | CBC |
| Ron Reusch | 1985-1986 | CTV |
| Frank Selke Jr. | 1958-1960 | CBC |
| Craig Simpson | 2009-present | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Announcer | Years | Network(s) |
|---|---|---|
| David Amber | 2020-present | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Mike Anscombe | 1974 | CBC |
| Steve Armitage | 1982 (in Vancouver) | CBC |
| Ward Cornell | 1959-1971 | CBC |
| Ted Darling | 1969-1970 | CBC |
| Johnny Esaw | 1960 | CBC |
| Tom Foley | 1958-1959 | CBC |
| Dave Hodge | 1972-1986 | CBC |
| CTV | ||
| Dick Irvin Jr. | 1977-1979 (in Montreal) | CBC |
| Dan Kelly | 1968, 1978-1979 (in Montreal) | CBC |
| Ron MacLean | 1987-present | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Brian McFarlane | 1971-1973, 1975 | CBC |
| CTV | ||
| Dan Matheson | 1985-1986 | CTV |
| Scott Oake | 2008 | CBC |
| Dave Reynolds | 1975-1977 | CBC |
| Ted Reynolds | 1973 | CBC |
| Scott Russell | 1997 | CBC |
| Frank Selke Jr. | 1961-1967 | CBC |
| George Stroumboulopoulos | 2015-2016 | CBC/Sportsnet |
| John Wells | 1983-1984 (in Edmonton) | CBC |
| Scott Young | 1959 | CBC |
| Announcer | Years | Network(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin Bieksa | 2020-present | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Jennifer Botterill | 2022-present | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Brian Burke | 2020 | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Don Cherry | 1981-2019 | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Cassie Campbell-Pascall | 2020-2021 | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Elliotte Friedman | 2013-present | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Kelly Hrudey | 1997, 2006-present | CBC |
| Nick Kypreos | 2015-2019 | CBC/Sportsnet |
| Howie Meeker | 1976, 1979-1981, 1983-1984 | CBC |
| Brad Park | 1985-1986 | CTV |
| Frank J. Selke | 1963-1967 | CBC |
| Craig Simpson | 2008 | CBC |
| Anthony Stewart | 2020 | CBC/Sportsnet |
| P.J. Stock | 2009-2014 | CBC/Sportsnet |
CBC's coverage of Games 3, 4 and 5 of the 1954 Stanley Cup Finals were joined in progress at 9:30 p.m. (approximately one hour after start time). Meanwhile, CBC joined Game 6 in at 10 p.m. (again, one hour after start time). Game 7 was carried Dominion wide (nationwide) from opening the face off at 9 p.m. Since Game 7 was played on Good Friday night, there were no commercials (Imperial Oil was the sponsor).
The 1961 Stanley Cup Finals were almost not televised in Canada at all. At that time, the CBC only had rights to the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs' games; home games only during the season and all games in the playoffs. However, with both the Canadiens and Maple Leafs eliminated in the semi-finals, the CBC's worst nightmare became reality. The CBC had to conceive a way to carry the Finals between the Chicago Black Hawks-Detroit Red Wings or face public revolt. According to lore, the CBC found a way to link their Windsor viewers as having a vested interest in the Finals with the across the river Red Wings. Thus, CBC was able to carry the series after inking special contracts with the Red Wings and Black Hawks as a service to the Windsor market. From Windsor, CBC linked the signal to Toronto and they relayed the coverage Dominion-wide. From there, Canadians were able to see the Finals with nary a glitch in the coverage.
To accommodate the American TV coverage on NBC (1966 marked the first time that a Stanley Cup Finals game was to be nationally broadcast on American network television), Game 1 of the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals was shifted to a Sunday afternoon. This in return, was the first time ever that a National Hockey League game was played on a Sunday afternoon in Montreal. While Games 1 and 4 of the NBC broadcasts were televised in color, CBC carried these games and all other games in black and white.
The most commonly seen video clip of Bobby Orr's famous overtime goal ("The Flight") in Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals is the American version broadcast on CBS as called by Dan Kelly. This archival clip can be considered a rarity, since about 98% of the time, any surviving kinescopes or videotapes of the actual telecasts of hockey games from this era usually emanate from CBC's coverage. According to Dick Irvin Jr.'s book My 26 Stanley Cups (Irvin was in the CBC booth with Danny Gallivan during the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals), he was always curious why even the CBC prototypically uses the CBS replay of the Bobby Orr goal (with Dan Kelly's commentary) instead of Gallivan's call. The explanation that Irvin received was that the CBC's master tape of the game (along with others) was thrown away in order clear shelf space at the network.
In 1972, Hockey Night in Canada moved all playoff coverage from CBC to CTV to avoid conflict with the lengthy NABET strike [1] against the CBC. Eventually, MacLaren Advertising, in conjunction with Molson Breweries and Imperial Oil/Esso, who actually owned the rights to Hockey Night in Canada (not CBC) decided to give the playoff telecast rights to CTV. Initially, it was on a game by game basis in the quarterfinals (Game 1 of the Boston-Toronto series was seen on CFTO Toronto in full while other CTV affiliates, but not all joined the game in progress. Game 1 of the New York Rangers–Montreal series was seen only on CFCF Montreal while Game 4 not televised due to a lockout of technicians at the Montreal Forum), and then the full semifinals and Stanley Cup Finals. Because CTV did not have 100% penetration in Canada at this time, they asked CBC (who ultimately refused) to allow whatever one of their affiliates were the sole network in that market to show the playoffs. As a result, the 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs were not seen in some of the smaller Canadian markets unless said markets were close enough to the United States border to pick up the signal of a CBS affiliate that carried Games, 1, 4, or 6 (Games 2, 3 and 5 were not nationally broadcast in the United States).
In 1980, Bob Cole, Dan Kelly and Jim Robson shared play-by-play duties for CBC's coverage. Cole did play-by-play for the first half of Games 1 and 2. Meanwhile, Kelly did play-by-play for the second half Games 1–5 (Kelly also did call the overtime period of Game 1). Finally, Robson did play-by-play for first half of Games 3 and 4 and Game 6 entirely. Except for Game 5, Kelly did play-by-play for the first period and first half Games 5, and Jim Robson play-by-play for the rest of Game 5. In essence this meant that Bob Cole or Jim Robson would do play-by-play for the first period and the first half of the second period. Therefore, at the closest stoppage of play near the 10 minute mark of the second period, Cole or Robson handed off the call to Kelly for the rest of the game.
In 1985, CBC televised Games 1 and 2 nationally while Games 3–5 were televised in Edmonton only. CTV televised Games 3–5 nationally while games were blacked out in Edmonton. Dan Kelly, Ron Reusch, and Brad Park called the games on CTV. In 1986, CBC only televised Games 1 and 2 in Montreal and Calgary. CBC televised Games 3–5 nationally. When CTV televised Games 1 and 2, [2] both games were blacked out in Montreal and Calgary. Like in the year prior, Dan Kelly, Ron Reusch, and Brad Park called the games for CTV.
Unlike the split CTV/CBC coverage of 1984–85 and 1985–86, the Canwest-Global telecasts from 1986–87-1987–88 were network exclusive, except for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals if they were necessary. When CBC and Global televised Game 7 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals, [3] [4] they used separate production facilities and separate on-air talent.
Sportsnet gained the national broadcast rights starting in 2014–15. Under a sub-licensing agreement since the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals, the CBC broadcast has been produced by Sportsnet; all Stanley Cup Finals games have been also simulcast on Sportsnet since 2017.
| Announcer | Years | Network(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Garneau | 1986-1990 | SRC |
| Pierre Houde | 2003-2014 | RDS |
| SRC | ||
| René Lecavalier | 1953-1985 | SRC |
| Jacques Moreau | 1973 | TVA |
| Claude Quenneville | 1991-2002 | SRC |
| Félix Séguin | 2015-present | TVA |
| Announcer | Years | Network(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Jean-Maurice Bailly | 1953-1970 | SRC |
| Michel Bergeron | 1999-2002 | SRC |
| Benoît Brunet | 2009-2011 | RDS |
| Marc Denis | 2012-2014 | RDS |
| Patrick Lalime | 2015-present | TVS |
| Yvon Pedneault | 2003-2008 | RDS |
| Gilles Tremblay | 1971-1998 | SRC |
| TVA | ||
| Mario Tremblay | 1986 | SRC |
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.
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was required to divest its stake in the network following its 2001 acquisition of competing network TSN. Rogers then became the sole owner of Sportsnet in 2004 after it bought the remaining minority stake that was held by Fox.
Robert Cecil Cole is a Canadian former sports television announcer who has worked for CBC and Sportsnet and former competitive curler. He is known primarily for his work on Hockey Night in Canada.
TSN Hockey is the blanket title used by TSN's broadcasts of the National Hockey League.
NHL on CTV is the name of a former television program that broadcast National Hockey League games on the CTV Television Network.
CTV Sports was the division of the CTV Television Network responsible for sports broadcasting. The division existed in its own right from 1961 to 2001; between 1998 and 2001, CTV Sports also operated a cable sports network, CTV Sportsnet, now owned by Rogers Media and known simply as Sportsnet.
Chris Cuthbert is a Canadian sportscaster. He is the lead play-by-play commentator for NHL on Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada, since 2021. Formerly, he worked for TSN, NBC, and CBC Sports in a multitude of roles.
NHL on Global was the de facto name of a television program that broadcast National Hockey League games on the Global Television Network. The program aired during the 1987 and 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs under the titles Stanley Cup '87 and Stanley Cup '88 respectively.
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 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.
From 1965 through 1975, in addition to the Saturday night game on CBC, Hockey Night in Canada also produced and broadcast a Wednesday night game on CTV, CBC's privately owned competitor; beginning in the 1975–76 NHL season, these midweek games would begin to be broadcast by local stations.
From 1965 through 1975, in addition to the Saturday night game on CBC, Hockey Night in Canada also produced and broadcast a Wednesday night game on CTV, CBC's privately owned competitor; beginning in the 1975–76 NHL season, these midweek games began to broadcast by local stations. In 1970–71, the Vancouver Canucks joined the NHL, meaning that there were now three possible venues for an HNIC telecast.
During the 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons, four more Canadian teams, the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, and Calgary Flames, joined the NHL. The Oilers and Flames were featured frequently as the two teams were contenders the 1980s; in contrast, as the Nordiques were owned by Carling-O'Keefe, a rival to the show's sponsor Molson and whose English-speaking fanbase was very small, the Nords were rarely broadcast, and never from Quebec City during the regular-season.
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.
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.
Stanley Cup awarded on challenge basis 1893–1914, by prearranged inter-league competitions 1915–1926, to NHL playoff champion since 1927 | ||
| 1890s–1900s |  | |
| 1910s–1920s | ||
| 1930s–1940s | ||
| 1950s–1960s | ||
| 1970s–1980s | ||
| 1990s–2000s | ||
| 2010s–2020s | ||
Series not held in 2005 due to an unresolved lockout | ||
| See also | ||
