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Changes to Hockey Night in Canada will come sooner than later, according to insiders, the biggest of which will involve announcer Jim Hughson and analyst Greg Millen taking over as the top play-by-play team.
The return of Bob Cole and Harry Neale appears probable, but in a reduced role. Neale said yesterday he's awaiting final word about his status.
"I don't know for sure, so I better not say," he said. "But it appears I won't be doing as many games.
"I've had a brief conversation [with Hockey Night producers], but haven't gotten into any details with Scott Moore [the head of CBC Sports]. But I expect to hear from him before too long."
Related Information
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ottawa Senators
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Sidney Crosby
- Scott Moore
Cole's agent, Elliott Kerr of the Landmark Sport Group in Toronto, said he anticipated Cole's returning.
"CBC Sports has told me they would like him back," Kerr wrote in an e-mail message.
Hughson and Millen have called the second game of the Saturday night doubleheader for the past two years. That they will succeed Cole and Neale as the lead team is significant. After all, "major change," as one insider called it, doesn't happen often at Hockey Night.
As broadcasters of the Stanley Cup final for more than 20 years and the Olympic tournaments since 1998, Cole and Neale are more than just play-by-play voices. They're featured players on the most watched sports telecast in Canada and are cultural figures.
Cole, 74, started calling hockey on CBC Radio in 1968. Neale, 70, a former National Hockey League coach and general manager, joined Hockey Night in 1986.
Still popular but on the downside of long careers, Cole and Neale have reached the stage where less demanding roles seem likely.
Another change at Hockey Night will probably involve the Toronto Maple Leafs, who in the past were consistently given national distribution on Saturday nights.
Insiders say Hockey Night will increase the national exposure of the Montreal Canadiens and particularly the Ottawa Senators on the opening game of the doubleheader.
"I'm not sure it makes sense to give a Leafs-Tampa Bay Lightning game distribution countrywide just because it's the Leafs," a source close to Hockey Night said, "particularly if you've got Sidney Crosby [of the Pittsburgh Penguins] playing Montreal or Ottawa."
What's more, Hughson and Millen will probably be assigned the best game on Saturday night and not automatically the matchup involving the Leafs.
"If the most interesting game is Vancouver playing Calgary, that's the one Hughson and Millen should go to," a source said.
Another issue for Hockey Night is the quality of the Leafs' team. Insiders suggest there's a concern about the limited success the team is likely to achieve in the next several years. Most hockey experts rank the Leafs as the weakest among the six Canadian NHL teams. The probability of the Leafs making the playoffs any time soon is questionable at best. Hockey Night will seek to showcase Canadian teams with a better chance of advancing to the postseason.
Arguably, the CBC paid a price this past spring for consistently giving Toronto precedence over Ottawa on the schedule. The Senators, rarely seen nationally during the winter, drew poorly in the playoffs compared with Canadian teams in previous years. The feeling is the Senators would have drawn larger audiences if Canadian viewers had been given more of an opportunity to see them in the regular season.
The Leafs would still receive a large amount of national distribution, but not as much as in the past.
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