best: tony gallagher. interesting op-ed pieces. you can tell he's not a guy who just sticks his recorder into the pack along with the rest of the media searching for soundbites. he actually digs a little deeper and lurks around the perimeter.
worst: john shorthouse. a voice not suitable for play-by-play. as a center ice subscriber living out of the country i always enjoy watching canucks broadcasts when the opposition does the announcing. he really is brutal, fellow center icer's may agree.
best: tony gallagher. interesting op-ed pieces. you can tell he's not a guy who just sticks his recorder into the pack along with the rest of the media searching for soundbites. he actually digs a little deeper and lurks around the perimeter.
worst: john shorthouse. a voice not suitable for play-by-play. as a center ice subscriber living out of the country i always enjoy watching canucks broadcasts when the opposition does the announcing. he really is brutal, fellow center icer's may agree.
You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but Shorthouse is generally recognized as on of the BEST announcers in the NHL.
You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but Shorthouse is generally recognized as on of the BEST announcers in the NHL.
he's awful. it's his grover voice that grates on me and most of my friends. the guy who does the washington capitals is the best, in my opinion.
and while i'm on the topic of media guys who are overrated, i've never understood the love for in-house broadcaster john ashbridge. the new guy they've got now kicks his a$$. it also never made sense to me to have ashbridge doing vancouver giants games too... it's a developmental league, why not have a young up-and-coming announcer too.
I don't know if he deserves the title of worst, but John McKeachie was sure hard to watch.
I have known John McKeachie for over 50 years.
He was an idiot 50 years back and he has not changed. He was out of his depth selling hockey gear at Hocking and Forbes Sporting Goods when he was growing up.
He also regularly talks about a scar he he received playing sports - well the sport was a whack a mole with my youngest maternal aunt whacking him with up alongside the head with a rock when he was his usual irritating self. One day he was waxing eloquent about his "sports career" in a group I was part of and I asked him about the scar, dropped my aunt's name and his mouth continued to move but no sound came out.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Neil Macrae vs. Big Al Davidson, have a read. Big Al Davidson was his role model. He mentored MacRae who in turn knifed him with a trumped up criminal charge getting Big Al pink slipped. Last laugh to Big Al he won his wrongful dismissal suit.
Jim Robson, John Shorthouse, and Tom Larscheid (yes, him too) make me happy to be a Canuck fan. You can legitimately feel passion for the team oozing out of those guys, and it has to be real.
Jim Hughson's technically perfect, but I wouldn't go further than that.
(this era's version of) Dan Russel is a total ***-hat.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Neil Macrae vs. Big Al Davidson, have a read. Big Al Davidson was his role model. He mentored MacRae who in turn knifed him with a trumped up criminal charge getting Big Al pink slipped. Last laugh to Big Al he won his wrongful dismissal suit.
We've been over this story many times. Big Al was no saint.. in fact, he was a complete and utter tool. Not saying he deserved to lose his job, but he was hardly an upstanding citizen.
We've been over this story many times. Big Al was no saint.. in fact, he was a complete and utter tool.
And your point would be?
Macrae used a trumped up charge and was called on it by the judge. The judge was clear that Davidson was not a saint but what Macrae and CKNW did was way beyond the pale.
Rick Dhaliwal always sounded like he was yelling through the radio. Reminded me of Garrett Morris doing the captions for the deaf on Saurday Night Live.
My favourites are Rick Ball, Ray Ferraro and Shorthouse.
For Shorthouse's part, I find his voice...comforting. Comforting in the same way that Peter Mansbridge's voice comforting. When the economy is crumbling and things look bleak, I feel better getting the news from Mansbridge. Similarly, Shorthouse makes the issues with the Canucks seem less daunting.
best: tony gallagher. interesting op-ed pieces. you can tell he's not a guy who just sticks his recorder into the pack along with the rest of the media searching for soundbites. he actually digs a little deeper and lurks around the perimeter.
As little as I like Gallagher, I can't think of a predicate that better describes him.
I enjoy all parts of the morning show on the team "scotty and company" Ferraro is the best, but chapman, botch, and scotty all contribute interesting outlooks.
I always listen to Bmac and taylor when I'm driving during the afternoon show. I've always enjoyed donny taylor and bmac is a much more level headed easier to listen to host then pratt ever was.
I think the canucks fans have been spoiled thru the years with robson, hughson, and shorty. unfortunately I don't see kenward following up that list.
Russell is by far the worst, and it's not because he's not a cheerleader for the Canucks but because his bitterness and jealousy shines through whenever he talks about the team. He's not a professional.
Agree 100%
When he started in the business he was a complete fanboi apologist for the Canucks. After CKNW lost the broadcasts and he didn't get his coveted play by play job he has turned bitter. He and his side kick Brook Ward sound like a couple of old women venting about life.
I can't take a guy too serious when he hasn't played a sport in his life yet he thinks he is some kind of expert.
He was an idiot 50 years back and he has not changed. He was out of his depth selling hockey gear at Hocking and Forbes Sporting Goods when he was growing up.
He also regularly talks about a scar he he received playing sports - well the sport was a whack a mole with my youngest maternal aunt whacking him with up alongside the head with a rock when he was his usual irritating self. One day he was waxing eloquent about his "sports career" in a group I was part of and I asked him about the scar, dropped my aunt's name and his mouth continued to move but no sound came out.
In Vancouver we used to have a trifecta -
Neil Macrae
John McKeachie
Dave Pratt
Pomposity and idiocy all in neat little packages.
Well said. I have had a 'run-in' with McKeachie in the past. This guy is a pompous ass. Apparently he is not allowed in the Press Box at Rogers Arena for being a tool with RA staff.
The guy I absolutely cannot stand is Moj. This is a guy who should never get near a microphone ever again. Super Bowl...blah blah blah....Football...blah blah blah....telling all a sundry who will listen about his disappointing 85 on a golf course (must have been Stanley Park Pitch and Putt).
My favourites are Rick Ball, Ray Ferraro and Shorthouse.
For Shorthouse's part, I find his voice...comforting. Comforting in the same way that Peter Mansbridge's voice comforting. When the economy is crumbling and things look bleak, I feel better getting the news from Mansbridge. Similarly, Shorthouse makes the issues with the Canucks seem less daunting.
Shorthouse--for me--is a bit of a dichotomy. He really has a way of nailing the big moments (Burrows and Bieksa's OT series-clinchers during the Cup run last year are great examples). But he also has a way of being somewhat monotonous during games that can put me right to sleep.
That said, he's extremely knowledgeable and definitely a great hockey mind. Glad we have him in Vancouver.
Dan Russell never really irked me; my clearest memory of him was somewhere around 2003 where someone called in to start ripping on Trevor Linden and saying how he should retire (I believe he had 19 goals and 41 points in 72 games that year...best season in several years) and Russell tore him to pieces.
Granted, Russell is an exceptionally bitter guy whose career could literally be heard crashing in flames when CKNW lost the radio rights for the Canucks to TEAM 1040. But I can also say I haven't listened to CKNW once since the Canucks jumped ship.
I find Shorty tedious. A bit like that stodgy old batchelor uncle that is always correcting your diction and boring the family to tears when he brings over his stamp collection.
Sheldon...that is really going back a bit! Maurier and All-Star Wresting were an awesome combo!
Ah yes, All-Star Wrestling was a blast. I still occasionally like to whistle the old theme song "The Kingpin March" a I trudge along the wet sidewalks of Vancouver.
