Jim Hughson has finally made his decision that we were all waiting for, and it wasn’t to put John Garrett in a straight jacket for the next Canucks Sportsnet Broadcast. Hughson has made the choice to stick with Hockey Night in Canada, and say good-bye to his Sportsnet Pacific duties.
A barometer by which all play-by-play broadcasters should be measured, Hughson has signed a six year deal with the CBC, and will be Bob Cole’s successor as soon as Cole dies, checks into Shady Acres Mental Institution, or decides to retire. In all likelihood, Hughson will be knighted as the main voice of HNIC within the next season or two.
Hughson’s current deal has him only working the first three rounds of the playoffs, with Cole calling the Cup finals. Obviously this will change once he is the lead man, and will also see him call Jays games on CBC this summer. The extensive travel schedule was a main concern for Hughson, with HNIC being on Saturdays and the Canucks frequently playing on Fridays and Sundays. Lucky for us, Hughson will still be calling a lot of Canucks games on CBC.
Rumoured to fill the void on Sportsnet are John (Shorty) Shorthouse, Kevin Quinn, Don Taylor, and Dan Murphy. Shorthouse is the only non-Sportsnet candidate and currently calls Canucks games on the radio. To say he is a homer is a huge understatement. Next time you catch a Canucks game on Pay Per View (they are simulcasted with the radio) – you’ll be asking for a refund within five minutes. He’s the only one that thought Mattias Ohlund’s slash on Mikko Koivu was a friendly love tap. Quinn is ok, but can get on your nerves quite easily. If I have to hear “Andrew Cogliano…OVERTIME WINNER!” one more time I may move out of Sportsnet West’s broadcast region just to avoid hearing him. As you all know Don Taylor does the late Pacific broadcasts of Sportsnet Connected, and tries to be funny, sometimes too hard. I can’t see him landing this gig. Finally, could Dan Murphy pull a Roger Millions and turn his reporting career into a play-by-play job? Don’t count on it. My biggest thought is will John Garrett, Hughson’s longtime Sportsnet sidekick and colour guy, be involved in the interview process? Now that I would need to see. Somehow I highly doubt that the interview will be as rigorous as one for Med School. Just a hunch. Guaranteed if I showed up with a 6-pack of MGD and a box of Timbits I could get the job.
While were on the topic of broadcasters, check out Illegal Curve’s poll on the right side of this page. If Pierre McGuire gets over three votes, I’m sending our editor a Trojan Horse Virus.
