When Bob Cole is mentioned in a column, we get mail.
Some of it praises Cole and some doesn't, but the input is always substantial.
There is no middle ground when it comes to the senior play-by-play voice of Hockey Night in Canada.
He is either liked, a lot, or not.
In an interview this week, we asked Cole how he felt about the criticism.
“When you pick up the paper, and you get ripped, well, okay, you have to live with it,” he said. “But you have to keep saying to yourself, well, maybe the whole world isn't thinking this way. Then you get reassured when you meet hockey fans and they're so kind to you. That makes you feel good.”
Despite criticisms that he misidentifies players too often, Cole's work this season has received kudos from people in the business.
A television executive unaffiliated with Hockey Night said: “I think he's had a rebound year. You don't get that extra level of information from Cole that you get from a Jim Hughson [of Hockey Night] or Chris Cuthbert [TSN]. But overall, the CBC should be pleased with his work.”
Cole's strengths include a terrific voice and strong hockey instincts.
He's also an unconventional play caller, in the sense that he tells a story rather than describes in detail the action on the ice. That, more than anything, is what polarizes viewers.
When Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Kovalev controlled the puck in the Philadelphia Flyers' zone during a recent playoff game, Cole declared, “The Flyers want Kovalev to shoot.”
He didn't know that, but that was the story he was telling.
John Shannon, the NHL's senior vice-president of broadcasting and a former head of Hockey Night, said Cole's ability to anticipate a play and then use his voice to heighten the moment separate him from other playcallers.
“He has the greatest sense of anticipation of anybody I've ever worked with,” he said. “And his voice is theatrical. It will tell you what might happen and it will certainly tell you when it does.”
Hockey Night executive producer Sherali Najak describes Cole as very focused – he is nervous before each game – but affable and well-liked.
“Off the air, he doesn't shut it down,” Najak said. “He likes to hang out with the crew. He's authentic and he's a class act.”
It has been suggested Cole's workload will be reduced next season. He's about 75, although that's a subject he would rather not discuss.
“I hate my age getting in the paper,” he said. “I'm 69, but I don't tell anybody that. And I don't think I'll ever hit 70, I hope.”
He's adamant about wanting to continue with a full workload next season.
“I hope I'm just as busy as ever,” he said. “I made it known I don't want to stop. I'm a pretty good critic of myself. And if I can't do it, I wouldn't think of continuing. That wouldn't be fair to my fans, or my family or me or anybody.
“I've been a lucky guy,” he added. “I've got the best job in the world, because this is what I've always wanted to do since I was a little boy.”
Euro 2008 on TV
A co-production by TSN and Rogers Sportsnet will provide viewers with comprehensive coverage of Euro 2008, the European soccer championship in Austria and Switzerland, beginning June 7.
As with the World Cup in 2006, the two networks will share the telecasts and use the same analysts, Dick Howard and Craig Forrest, for the studio shows. Vic Rauter will anchor TSN's telecasts; Gerry Dobson will do the same for Sportsnet.
The play-by-play will be handled by British announcers Tony Jones, John Helm, Dave Woods and Steve Barnyard.
All 31 games will be aired live, available in HDTV, and almost all will be repeated in prime time. As a rule, the network that doesn't air the live game during the day will carry the prime-time repeat.
RDS will provide complete French-language coverage. Rogers's Omni Television will air 22 games, including the playoffs and final, in Italian, Portuguese, Cantonese, Polish and Greek.
A Euro 2008 webpage, accessed through the TSN and Sportsnet websites, will provide additional video and information.
- The CBC has added an interactive service called the Hockey Night in Canada Playoff Tracker to its playoff coverage. It's available at cbcsports.ca. Participants can make predictions and answer trivia and poll questions. The technology is produced by LiveHive Systems in Waterloo, Ont.
