NHL Notebook: Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole has passed away
9 days ago
This is going to be a sad NHL Notebook, as a legendary figure in the hockey community passed away on Thursday.
Before we dive into any of the other news portions, let’s use this time to remember Bob Cole, the greatest of all time in the broadcasting game. At age 90, Cole passed away surrounded by family.
He was the voice of Hockey Night in Canada for many of us, starting his broadcasting career in 1969 before starting his HNIC tenure in 1973. He retired in 2019, leaving us with 46 years of memories.
Cole called the Vancouver Canucks first run to the Stanley Cup finals all the way back in 1994, when the British Columbian team fell just one win shy of winning their first Stanley Cup.
The legendary broadcaster called Lanny McDonald’s final playoff goal during the Calgary Flames’ 1989 playoff run, where they won their only cup.
Of course, you have the call of Fernando Pisani’s short-handed overtime playoff goal in Game 5 to send the game back to Edmonton
Even the Toronto Maple Leafs got a little bit of Bob Cole love, as in Game 6 on the brink of elimination, former Leafs captain Mats Sundin buried the game-tying goal with just 22 seconds to spare.
Towards the end of his career, Cole was calling more Ottawa Senators games, but even they went on a run during the 2017 playoffs, which included this fantastic call as they defeated the Boston Bruins in overtime.
As you can imagine, Cole was on the call the last time a Canadian team won a Stanley Cup, all the way back in 1993. Here’s his call of Eric Desjardin’s overtime winner in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals.
Although the Winnipeg Jets 2.0 were only around for eight seasons, that didn’t stop the team’s fans from giving him a huge standing ovation in what would be his final game called in the city in 2019.
For any Canadian team’s fan base, Cole was the guy at some point or another through several generations, he even called the most famous goal in hockey history!
Rest easy Bob Cole, you will be missed.
William Nylander dealing with migraines
The Toronto Maple Leafs forward played all 82 games for the Leafs but has missed the first three games of their first-round series against the Boston Bruins. Elliotte Freidman reported on Thursday morning that it was due to migraines.
From firsthand experience, migraines are not fun, and Friedman reported that they were so severe that the team tested to see if he suffered a concussion. The Leafs are really missing the 27-year-old, who scored 40 goals and a career-high 98 points in 82 games this season. It’s even more evident on the power play, as the Leafs are currently rocking a 9.1 PP%, the third worst in the league.
Hopefully for the Leafs, Nylander can return on Saturday and give the team a real shot in the arm.
Amazon Prime to host Canada’s Monday games starting in 2024-25
Who doesn’t love needing to buy another streaming service to watch hockey? On Thursday morning, it was announced that Sportsnet will be selling their “Monday Night Hockey” rights to Amazon, which will now be named “Prime Monday Night Hockey.”
Prime is a rather useful and cheap option, but by the same token, individuals with cable will now have to spend around $15 a month just to watch hockey on Mondays if their team is playing. It’s not really a great look.
The Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation
As you may know, the Arizona Coyotes have been sold to Ryan Smith and will move to Salt Lake City, Utah, beginning in the 2024-25 season. It’s hard to consider hockey in Arizona a success, but it was.
For example, one of the game’s best players is from Scottsdale, Arizona, as Auston Matthews calls it his hometown. His teammate, Matthew Knies, is also from the state, as is Josh Doan, Shane Doan’s son.
The team may be leaving (and could be back within five years if an arena is built), but a group led by Lyndsey Fry is hoping to keep youth hockey alive in the state. She, along with former players such as Jason Demers, Darcy Hordichuk, and Michael Graner, created The Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation.
In short, this foundation’s goal is to create a program to develop hockey in Arizona even if the National Hockey League team leaves the state. Hopefully, the state can continue to produce NHL players, and this program is a step in that direction.
Jay Woodcroft to coach at World Hockey Championship
After an abysmal 2-9-1 start to the season, with the final loss being against the awful San Jose Sharks, the Oilers decided to take action and fire Jay Woodcroft after a win against the Seattle Kraken.
Over 133 regular season games, the team had a 79-41-13 record and a 14-14 record in the playoffs, which saw the team produce a Conference Final berth and a second-round exit in 2023.
Well, Jim Matheson reported on Thursday afternoon that Woodcroft would be an assistant coach to Andre Tourigny for Canada during the IIHF World Championships this upcoming May.
Woodcroft didn’t deserve to be fired, and hopefully he’ll be behind the bench of an NHL in the near future.
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