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Here's an interesting read about the 30 PBP teams and how the fans rank them. I'm honestly surprised at how low Montreal is - I like John Bartlett calling the games. I'm also surprised at how low Columbus is - I like their commentator as well. On the other side, Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver, and the Islanders are too high for my liking.

http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/the-nhl-local-tv-announcer-rankings.html

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Here's an interesting read about the 30 PBP teams and how the fans rank them. I'm honestly surprised at how low Montreal is - I like John Bartlett calling the games. I'm also surprised at how low Columbus is - I like their commentator as well. On the other side, Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver, and the Islanders are too high for my liking.

http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/the-nhl-local-tv-announcer-rankings.html

Bartlett has a great voice. He is a very good play by play guy. York not so much but he is ok

I just watched the entire Edwards compilation. That guy is insane. There is something wrong with him.

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Bartlett has a great voice. He is a very good play by play guy. York not so much but he is ok

I just watched the entire Edwards compilation. That guy is insane. There is something wrong with him.

York struggles to say the least.

John Garrett is just horrible colour guy (I know who he will pick to win the cup in 2018..Canucks) and I actually prefer listening to Jack Edwards than that maroon.

Gord Miller, Ray Ferrero both my favourites I would say (not knowing most of others) and that Doc guy on NBC (who works with McGuire)

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Ball and hrudy are under rated on here and I'm gonna draw some hate but I like Emrick and Mcguire too.

Mcguire is a bit of an oddball, but yea theres a humorous charm about him.

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Ball and hrudy are under rated on here and I'm gonna draw some hate but I like Emrick and Mcguire too.

Rick Ball is another good one. If I'm running the show at Sportsnet and trying to 'develop' a new wave of play-by-play guys, I'm having Ball and John Bartlett more prominently featured on HNIC. Of their various regional guys, those are really the only two to me that could be a national guy down the road.

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I like Cuthbert too. I can't remember which team it was but I watched a few playoff games on NBC because Cuthbert was calling them.

I like him as play by play guy, best in the business imho.

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I'm no expert, really only listening to the national guys, along with the Canucks crew and the RDS crew.

But heck, ignorance has never stopped me from pitching in in the past :nuts:

Bob Cole: tremendous sense of occasion and anticipation. Horrible, of course, at actually calling the specifics of the play (i.e., who has the puck, etc.). He really became demonized back when CBC was in its 'All Leafs All the Time' mode - I for one associated him with the Leafs for years and consequently loathed him for it - and probably deserves more respect than he gets.

Ray Ferraro: my favourite commentator by some distance. Much better on radio, where he has more time to let his humour and spiky personality express themselves; but he truly brings a 'player's perspective' and does so honestly. :thumbs_up: Smart and reliably insightful.

Mike Johnson: very underrated colour man. He's a blander version of Ferraro, and also has lots of useful insights from his 'player' days IMHO.

Paul Romanuk: adequate. If his voice weren't irritating, he'd be more respected than he is.

Chris Cuthbert: another goofy-voiced announcer - what's with guys with weird voices going into play-by-play broadcasting? (Dick Irvin is the all-time champ of weird-voiced announcers). Cuthbert is fine if you can take the reedy tones.

Rich Ball: total pro.

Jim Hughson: best in the biz. Many's the time my brother and I amused ourselves by referencing his patented "Nice saaaave"

I love the excitement of John Shorthouse's call here:

He's decent.

Pierre Macguire: I LOVED him when he first rose to national prominence. Couldn't believe the depth of insight he supplied and the bluntness of his assessments. Over the years his act has degenerated into something of a cartoon.

Pierre Houde: always liked his gentlemanly suavity. Great timing too. A legend. 'Et c'est le BUUUUUUUUUUT!!!!' That said, this clip is absolutely hilarious and surely explains why the slightly buffoonish Yvon Pednault found himself marginalized by RDS:

Those are the ones that come to mind for me.

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Nobody gets me into a hockey game like Bob Cole despite being senile for the last decade.

Cole has a an amazing voice. For me, his is the voice of the nhl. It's pretty amazing that at 80, he is still calling games. He has slowed down and makes a lot of mistakes, but I don't care. Love that voice.

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I don't who it was, but my all time least favorite for announcing goals was a guy the Bulldogs had. I don't remember his name but every single goal was the exact same "and he scooooooooooooooooooores!" In a very strange somewhat whiney tone. Used to mute watching highlights .

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I don't who it was, but my all time least favorite for announcing goals was a guy the Bulldogs had. I don't remember his name but every single goal was the exact same "and he scooooooooooooooooooores!" In a very strange somewhat whiney tone. Used to mute watching highlights .

You're thinking of Derek Wills. He's now the PBP voice for Calgary on the radio. He also has really calmed down his goal calls.

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You're thinking of Derek Wills. He's now the PBP voice for Calgary on the radio. He also has really calmed down his goal calls.

Yep Wills would be the guy! Glad he calmed down on the goal calls cause it was the only part that annoyed me hahah

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Pretty indifferent about York, but I love John Bartlett on the pbp. I hate national broadcasts when others call the game. My favorite pbp guy since Gary Thorne on ESPN.

Rimer is ok and Shelley is getting better, but their real problem is that the Jackets mandate their announcers to be bad homers. I'm sure I have brought it up before, but the first time they made the playoffs, the team mandated that the announcers not bring up that fact, even though it was such a milestone for the franchise. A very well like sideline reporter brought it up anyway and they fired him for it.

I'm also in the minority of those who like Pierre McGuire. I find him to be interesting and enthusiastic on the color.

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I'm tired of Hughson. His voice just doesn't convey the excitement of Cole or Cuthbert, and it doesn't help that he's paired with a couple boobs.

In French, the TVA crew is awful in any way you can name. Don't know what will happen once good old reliable Pierre Houde calls it quits.

I watched a game with the local Islanders crew and they were pretty good, had some sweet accents and were knowledgeable.

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  • 1 month later...

Though not a commentator its looks like George Stroumboulopoulos wont be back as Host of HNIC next year and will be replaced by former host Ron MacLean.

https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2016/06/19/ron-maclean-to-replace-strombo-on-hockey-night-in-canada-feschuk.html

I like the move as Strombo never felt right in the position and I always felt like MacLean got shafted in the whole Rogers takeover.

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They better be smart enough to realize that the host wasn't the only thing people didn't like with the broadcast. I'd like to see Strombo stay in some capacity actually as he's a much better interviewer; he can still be part of the fix for Sportsnet moving forward in my opinion.

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I'd like to see Strombo stay in some capacity actually as he's a much better interviewer; he can still be part of the fix for Sportsnet moving forward in my opinion.

Strombo is on a five-year deal so it makes sense financially for him to stay around. Agreed that his interview skills are top notch and they should work that into the show in some way. The second intermission in my opinion is something that needs work. Maybe give him a slot there. Wish they never got rid of the hot stove as I quite enjoyed it.

The interviews that MacLean made quite interesting were when he would interview Gary Bettman. MacLean was great at getting under his skin and actually led to Bettman boycotting CBC. Could be a reason behind MacLean being replaced in the first place.

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