Rick Ball | |
---|---|
Nationality | Canadian |
Alma mater | British Columbia Institute of Technology |
Occupation | Sportscaster |
Rick Ball is a Canadian sportscaster who currently works as a hockey play-by-play announcer on Chicago Sports Network's Chicago Blackhawks broadcasts. Ball worked the Stanley Cup Playoffs for TNT in 2023.
A British Columbia Institute of Technology graduate, Ball began his radio career in 1993 in his native Kelowna. [1] [2] From 1995 to 2000 he was the play-by-play announcer for the Kelowna Rockets. [3] He then worked for CFAX in Victoria, British Columbia. [1] In 2001 he filled in for Jim Hughson on ten of VTV’s Vancouver Canucks broadcasts. [3] That same year he joined The Team 1040 in Vancouver, where he hosted the noon-to-3 p.m. show. [1] [4] In 2004, The Team acquired the rights to the BC Lions and Ball was named the new play-by-play voice. [2] In 2008, Ball and Joe Kenward were chosen as fill-in voices for lead Canucks announcer John Shorthouse. [4] In 2011, the CBC chose Ball to call Winnipeg Jets games for Hockey Night In Canada. [5] In 2013 he became the main western play-by-play voice for Hockey Night in Canada. [1] In 2014, Ball left Vancouver to become Sportsnet's regional television announcer for the Calgary Flames. [6] Ball will join Chicago Sports Network as the television play-by-play broadcaster of the Chicago Blackhawks in October 2024. [7]
Marc Joseph John Crawford is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the ZSC Lions of the National League (NL). He played as a forward for the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League (NHL). Crawford won the Stanley Cup in 1996 as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL. He has also been the head coach of the Quebec Nordiques, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, and interim head coach of the Ottawa Senators. He has also coached at the international level, as head coach of Team Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Crawford has won the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as coach of the year in the American Hockey League and the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in the NHL.
Edward Walter Olczyk Jr. is an American former center in the National Hockey League for 16 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won the Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1994. Olczyk was also the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from June 2003 to December 2005.
Pacific Coliseum, known to locals as "The Coliseum" or the "Rink on Renfrew," is an indoor arena located at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its main use has been for ice hockey and the arena has been the home for several ice hockey teams.
The 1990 NHL Entry Draft was the 28th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted by the Vancouver Canucks at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 16, 1990. It is remembered as one of the deeper drafts in NHL history, with fourteen of the twenty-one first round picks going on to careers of at least 500 NHL games.
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.
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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.
Kevin Francesco Bieksa is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Bieksa started and played most of his career with the Vancouver Canucks and later played for the Anaheim Ducks. After a three-year career in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) with the Burlington Cougars, Bieksa was awarded a scholarship to Bowling Green State University. He was a one-time All-CCHA honourable mention during his four-year tenure with the Falcons of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). He graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree (B.A.) in finance, and was a two-time CCHA All-Academic honourable mention in 2003 and 2004. Bieksa now co-hosts Hockey Night in Canada.
Alexandre Ménard-Burrows is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the assistant coach for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. Playing as left winger he spent the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing for the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators. He was known for playing in the style of an agitator before developing into a skilled, top line fixture. He is also regarded for his remarkable ascension to the NHL from being an undrafted player in the ECHL. After a two-year career in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), he played in the minor leagues for three seasons. He was signed by the Vancouver Canucks in 2005 from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Burrows established himself as a checking forward with the Canucks in his first three NHL seasons before emerging as a scorer with four consecutive 25-plus-goal seasons from 2008–09 to 2011–12.
Michael "Dale" Tallon is a Canadian ice hockey executive and former player. He played in the NHL for ten years as a defenceman for the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Black Hawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Following his retirement as a player, Tallon began a broadcasting career with the Blackhawks lasting 16 years. In 1998, he joined the front office as director of player personnel before working his way up to general manager. Serving in the latter capacity from 2005 to 2009, he helped rebuild the team into a Stanley Cup winner in 2010, at which point he had been demoted to assistant general manager. In May 2010, he was named general manager for the Panthers for the 2010–11 NHL season, serving in that position until August 2020. He returned to the Canucks organization in 2022 as a scout and senior adviser. Tallon is also a distinguished golfer, having won the 1969 Canadian Junior Golf Championship and participated in the Canadian PGA Tour.
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Tom Larscheid is a former Vancouver-based radio sports broadcaster and football player. After a career playing college and CFL football, he was the colour commentator for the CFL's BC Lions and the NHL's Vancouver Canucks for many years. After 45 years in broadcasting and covering the Canucks for 27 seasons, he did his last game on October 9, 2010 for the 2010-11 season opener.
Glen MacLeod Cochrane was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, and Edmonton Oilers. He was best known for his time with the Flyers, providing toughness and carrying on the tough Flyer tradition embodied by the likes of Dave Schultz and Dave Brown. Cochrane was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, but grew up in Cranbrook, British Columbia.
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