HERE'S WHAT COULD ADD SOME LIFE INTO SPORTSNET'S DULL HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA SHOW
What would save Hockey Night in Canada from the often predictable, sometimes dull product it has on too many nights?
For one thing, an incredibly entertaining game, as was the case in the Edmonton Oilers’ overtime win in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final on Wednesday. The thriller eventually brought out the best in most of the bulky 10 on-air voices the Sportsnet broadcast foisted upon viewers.
But if the network really wants the show to restore some of its former shine, how about more Kevin Bieksa and less background noise?
You can fill studio desks with as many bodies as you want — as the current crowded iteration can be — but if intermission airtime is going to be appointment viewing rather than a snack and beverage break for the audience, it needs to be personality-driven.
Think Charles Barkley and his award-winning performances on NBA’s TNT broadcasts. Though not exactly the same role, think Peyton Manning on ESPN’s ManningCast. And in the hockey realm, perhaps, think Don Cherry at his peak popularity.
With his wit and sharp analysis, Bieksa has the personality to carry the intermissions. But the former Vancouver Canucks defenceman needs the forum and the producing to do so — and he needs host Ron MacLean to focus and bring the best out of him.
Nothing against any of the competing voices, but with five analysts and two hosts all jostling for precious seconds of air time in the first intermission, much of the resulting commentary seemed quick and forced.
Bieksa is at his best when he has a point to make, a host to set him up, and the oxygen to expand on his point. Instead, the stilted formula has MacLean introduce a topic and have each of Bieksa, Kelly Hrudey and Jennifer Botterill weigh in with a point.
Despite the limitations in Game 1, Bieksa was able to stand out as the broadcast sprawled into Thursday and nearly to a second overtime session. In the intermission prior to OT, he correctly touted Leon Draisaitl to net the game-winner, based on the way he was playing and a lighter workload. In the post-game show, he astutely analyzed a sequence of four quick passes between Corey Perry, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid that freed up room in front of the Panthers net, where Draisaitl buried the winner behind goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Even with his limitations, as it stands now, Bieksa is the closest thing Sportsnet’s hockey coverage has to a star. He took to the craft quickly and has steadily improved.
Like he was on the ice, the former defenceman isn’t afraid to poke the bear on the panel, even if it occasionally gets lost in puns and inside jokes that are too often MacLean’s verbal currency.
For our money, Bieksa and TSN’s Jeff O’Neill stand above the rest in their craft — and not by a small margin. Both are insightful. Both are able to inject personality into their analysis. They may not be at Barkley levels of entertainer, but at least they bring an element of it to their craft.
However, if Bieksa is going to flourish into the go-to voice any broadcast needs to captivate viewers, he’ll need to be allowed to do so.
GAME ON
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman may be known most for the “insider” content he brings, but he brought the sharpest analysis to the first-period goaltender interference challenge the Oilers made on a Sam Bennett collision with their goalie, Stuart Skinner. “It was a huge call in the first period of Stanley Cup final Game 1 … you know the league doesn’t want to take goals off the board,” Friedman said of the denied challenge, a pivotal early play. “Both goalies are going to tell their players if you feel contact, go back towards the crease because that’s OK.” … While clearly a fan of the physical game, Bieksa cautioned the series won’t necessarily be settled by whoever punishes the most. “It’s not just about who plays harder, but who plays smarter,” Bieksa said, noting the Oilers’ ability to score off the rush and free up space as they did on the game winner … One of our bigger beefs with the Hockey Night show is its annoying tendency to get too cute. That opening, with each member of the panel reading a movie’s name off a cue card, was a long-winded and confusing way to get to the point that the final was a sequel of last year’s matchup. “I wasn’t clever enough to piece all that together,” co-host David Amber told MacLean after the dragging bit mercifully concluded. Amber wouldn’t have been alone on that island … Having the studio crew on site for championship round games is standard operating procedure in all the sports, but it can be awkward/annoying when panels have to yell to be heard.
OILERS OUTRAGE?
The indignation of Oilers supporters when their familiar crew of Jack Michaels and analyst Louie DeBrusk were lifted for Sportsnet’s top dogs of Chris Cuthbert and Craig Simpson for the Western Conference final was both familiar and comical.
Did anyone really think that Sportsnet wasn’t going to put its top crew on the biggest series once the Leafs were eliminated? Did anyone really think the network was trying to foist more Toronto on Western Canada?
No and no are the correct answers.
Michaels and DeBrusk were never going to work beyond the second round once the Leafs were ousted.
Whether those complaints, as outlined by Postmedia’s David Staples , were a factor or not, Oilers fans did get one of their men for the final, with Edmonton’s own Gene Principe justly getting the rink reporter assignment for the final.
As for the noise around Michaels-DeBrusk giving way to Cuthbert-Simpson, it was mindful of the old Battle of Ontario playoff days when Sens fans would lose their minds Bob Cole was calling the action and the perceived slight to their team.
In Game 1 of the final, Cuthbert was what he always is — the pre-eminent play-by-play voice in this country (“He started it. He finished it. Leon Draisaitl wins Game 1 for Edmonton!”). And I thought Simpson, the former Oiler, was as sharp as he’s been all season with terrific instant analysis after each of the game’s goals.
2025-06-05T11:57:11Z