TORONTO (May 27) — For more than a quarter-century, hockey fans watching the Stanley Cup final on television here in Canada have enjoyed the dulcet tones of Bob Cole, a proud native of St. John’s, Nfld. and an honored member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Cole has been behind the microphone — usually with Harry Neale — for every championship round since 1983, when the New York Islanders defeated a young, up-and-coming Edmonton team to win their fourth consecutive title. In recent years, as Cole moved into his 70s, it became known that the CBC would ultimately hand the big assignment to a younger tandem, and that transition takes place this spring with Hockey Night in Canada’s No. 1 crew of Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson calling the Cup final.
For Cole, it is nothing short of heart-break. Though he has great affection for Hughson and Simpson, the veteran play-by-play man believes he is still near the top of his game, having called the Eastern Conference final between Pittsburgh and Carolina with partner Greg Millen. To now have to step aside and head home to St. John’s is almost gut-wrenching, as Bob admitted while chatting with me earlier today at Raleigh-Durham Airport, prior to boarding a flight to Toronto.
“Yes, I’m very disappointed because I wanted to continue with the Cup final,” Cole said, emphasizing he was aware, well in advance, that he wouldn’t be broadcasting the title round this spring. “When the game ended last night [in Carolina], my instinct was to get ready for the final, as I have for many years now. So, it’s not easy for me to stop working at this juncture of the playoffs. But, other people have other plans and I’ve got to roll with the punches. Obviously, I’m a little sorry thinking that I won’t be working the Stanley Cup. That’s kind of sad, for me… but maybe it’s good for everybody else, how do I know?”
When Hughson — a marvelous broadcaster — negotiated with CBC to assume the No. 1 mantle, he insisted on the Cup final as a provision of his contract. Simpson, once a 50-goal shooter in Edmonton, had worked alongside Hughson when Rogers Sportsnet owned NHL cable rights in the late-’90s, and he left his position as an assistant coach with the Oilers to re-join his old partner. Hughson did back-up work on Vancouver Canucks broadcasts in the early-'80s and came to prominence outside B.C. at the start of the 1982-83 season when he began to call the Maple Leafs mid-week games on independent CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ont.
Cole has long been an iconic figure to hockey fans in this country. No person has enjoyed such a long streak behind the mike for Cup final games, as the championship rounds between the advent of TV in 1952, and the Islanders-Vancouver clash of 1982, were divided among legendary broadcasters such as Foster Hewitt, Danny Gallivan, Bill Hewitt, Dan Kelly and Jim Robson. Cole actually began attending the Stanley Cup final for CBC Radio, calling his first series in 1969, when the Montreal Canadiens beat the St. Louis Blues in the second year of expansion. Bob worked radio during the famed summit series in 1972 between Canada and the Soviet Union. Along with the late Fred Sgambati, he called national radio games for CBC on Sunday nights in the 1970s, when the NHL could be heard from coast-to-coast in our country. In 1977, Cole began to occasionally sub for Bill Hewitt on Saturday-night telecasts of Maple Leafs games — a role he assumed on a full-time basis when a blood disorder forced Hewitt into retirement four years later [the son of Foster Hewitt died in December 1996].
Cole’s tenure at Hockey Night in Canada spanned a glorious epoch of NHL history. He assumed the No. 1 position for the Cup final just as the incomparable Oilers of Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson and Grant Fuhr began their dynastic march toward five championships in seven seasons. He then segued into the magnificence of Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, who led Pittsburgh to consecutive titles in 1991 and 1992. Later, came the dominance of the New Jersey Devils [Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer et al] and the Detroit Red Wings of Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg — teams that combined to win seven Cup titles between 1995 and 2008.
Mixed into Cole’s work-load as our country’s premier hockey announcer were the Winter Olympic Games of 1998 [Nagano, Japan], 2002 [Salt Lake City] and 2006 [Turin, Italy] that featured players from the NHL. Cole and Neale had the privilege to broadcast Team Canada’s ‘02 gold medal triumph from the E-Center in Utah, which broke a 50-year championship drought at the Olympics for this land.
As such, it’s easy to understand why the legendary play-by-play man steps away from the top assignment of the NHL season with profound reluctance. When I asked how he’s resolving the switch in his mind, Bob responded, “Oh, I don’t know, I guess you have to take it on the chin and say, ‘Well, somebody has other plans and I’m sure they’ll be fine.’ Otherwise, it’s very disappointing for me to not do the Stanley Cup final after all these years. I’m going to miss it.”
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