Possible host change for Hockey Night in Canada and more in this morning’s collection of notable NHL headlines.
Ron MacLean (left) will reportedly replace George Stroumboulopoulos as host of Hockey Night in Canada next season.
TORONTO STAR: Sources claims George Stroumboulopoulos won’t be returning next season as host of Hockey Night in Canada. His replacement will reportedly be Ron MacLean, the man he replaced in 2014.
THE CANADIAN PRESS (VIA OTTAWA SUN): MacLean claims there’s nothing official regarding the report he’ll return as host of HNiC, though he did acknowledge “there’s a few balls in the air and things like that.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This could be a classic example of “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” For years, there were calls for a shake-up of Hockey Night in Canada by some pundits and fans who felt it was showing signs of age. Stroumboulopoulos was brought in to help lure younger viewers, but the move obviously failed.
It’s unfair to tar “Stroumbo” as the scapegoat for the declining ratings, especially in this year’s playoffs when there wasn’t a Canadian team in the postseason. Still, he seemed ill-suited for the role of HNiC host.
The fault lies with Rogers Sportsnet. The network made too many changes too quickly, such as eliminating the popular show-opening videos of Tim Thompson, employing far too many talking heads and, of course, replacing the popular MacLean.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: The Blackhawks signed North Dakota center Nick Schmaltz to a three-year entry-level contract.
NBC SPORTS: The Florida Panthers signed Boston College junior Ian McCoshen to an entry-level contract.
TORONTO SUN: The Maple Leafs will hold part of their training camp this fall in Halifax.
OTTAWA SUN: The Senators released their preseason schedule.
Shoe horning a hipster from Toronto in to a national sports broadcast he had no control over and no particular great knowledge or insight into was not making the broadcast “younger”.
Get rid of the rest of the cast and bring n the god folks from tsn.
TSN was smart enough to lock all the good people up to nice long term contracts. The NHL choosing to leave TSN was a serious mistake. All they could see was the green. No Network has done more to improve how the game is delivered to fans than the NHL. They are the best & not getting to watch them 365 days a year doing national broadcasts blows. You just have to get your fill of them in other ways.
should read to fans than the NHL with TSN.
Id say just fire some of the cast and leave good enough alone…too many talking heads as Lyle said it could do with a few less not just different faces. One or 2 relatable people in the studio and a couple of decent play by play people for tthe game get rid of the army of ex players who all some seem to be at different stages of CTE while the others are at the very least high school drop outs.
The part about the Sportsnet’s national & Hockey Night in Canada panel stuff is they talk over 1 & other constantly. It irritates me. Roberts rules please. TSN gives each commentator a chance to speak then Duthie allows a quick snippet of rebuttal from the remainder cuts them off & moves on to the next subject. Professional, insightful, well orchestrated & believable.
Tsn has its hiccups too, granted better than sportsnet. I watch European football and the telecast are much more subdued less people and panels and seem to concentrate on the game more than the gameshow atmosphere of hockey broadcasts that seem to be not working in their current state….heres a thought why not try something different, that is proven to work. Soccer’s ratings continue to climb in North America.
Funny though I agree Maclean is far superior to George Strombo…. I never minded George. He was there to ask questions and conduct interviews. Fine by me. However it was the fancy set, loads of smart boards and bizarre skits like when they demonstrate goalie stances on stage in their suits. Kypreos always looked like he wanted to check one of the other cast members and look tough. Simpler is sometimes better and every time I watch hockey night in Canada I am reminded of “The Next Generation’s” U.S.S. Enterprise’s deflector dish.
I can’t help but wonder if they’d have eased Strombo into the role, if things may have gone very differently. For example why up and pull Ron out which ticked viewers off who are used to and enjoy the status quo? They should have left him in place and had Strombo as one of the talking heads. Let him get some credibility with the viewers. Over a couple of years, shift him more to a host role and if he can connect with viewers, they’ll accept him. Dumping him randomly just turned people off and it is no surprise that he couldn’t make up for that.