Ron MacLean returning to HNIC

[CarltonTheBear]

https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2016/06/19/ron-maclean-to-replace-strombo-on-hockey-night-in-canada-feschuk.html

George Stroumboulopoulos won?t return as host of Hockey Night in Canada next season, sources tell the Star.

His replacement will be the man he replaced. Industry insiders say Ron MacLean is expected to return to the show?s No. 1 seat just two seasons after Stroumboulopoulos was hired with much fanfare in the wake of Rogers? $5.2-billion acquisition of NHL broadcasting rights. Prior to that, MacLean occupied the job from 1986 until 2014. Since then, he has hosted Sunday night Hometown Hockey broadcasts and worked Saturdays alongside Don Cherry on Coach?s Corner. It?s expected he will continue those roles in addition to resuming the main HNIC hosting gig ? the highest-profile position in Canadian sports broadcasting.

...

With his penchant for skinny suits and a resume that included time as a MuchMusic veejay and 10 years as host of a CBC TV talk show, Stroumboulopoulos was different by design. Moore embraced the new host?s uniqueness at his 2014 unveiling: ?He?ll sort of be like that Sesame Street thing ? one of these things is not like the others ? but he?ll bring something different and his own unique take on hockey broadcasting,? Moore said.

But with ratings down, insiders say executives suggested to Stroumboulopoulos that he tweak his appearance to be less jarring to some mainstream eyes. A trip to the tailor for a more conventional wardrobe was on the list of polite requests.

I mean, I always liked MacLean better but I don't think HNIC's problems revolved around Stromo. It's all the other useless talent that he was surrounded with. Hopefully this is just the 1st of a number of changes.

Also, use Jeff Marek more for crying out loud!

 

[bustaheims]

I mean, I always liked MacLean better but I don't think HNIC's problems revolved around Stromo. It's all the other useless talent that he was surrounded with. Hopefully this is just the 1st of a number of changes.

Also, use Jeff Marek more for crying out loud!

Agreed. This is a good start towards getting things on track. Now, they're just gotta get rid of the likes of Kypreos and the rest of the Sportsnet cronies.

 

[McGarnagle]

Oh man, this is the best news I've heard all day. Strombo was unwatchable. The whole thing was a garbage fire from the first game.

Freidman was probably the best of the regulars - if they could be less reliant on past players, I'd love to see Mclean, Friedman, Marek and Scott Morrison as the standard group.

Basically, abandon "edgy", and go with insight.

 

[herman]

More Mike Johnson please.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

Joe Bowen needs to be back on TV. 

 

[Tigger]

Yeah, they could do with more Scott Morrison, Elliotte Friedman, Mike Johnson types and less general schmucks to support whoever.

 

[lamajama]

Yeah, they could do with more Scott Morrison, Elliotte Friedman, Mike Johnson types and less general schmucks to support whoever.

You don't like Mr Insider Damien Cox?

<insert barfing emoticon.....>

 

[Bender]

Oh man, this is the best news I've heard all day. Strombo was unwatchable. The whole thing was a garbage fire from the first game.

Freidman was probably the best of the regulars - if they could be less reliant on past players, I'd love to see Mclean, Friedman, Marek and Scott Morrison as the standard group.

Basically, abandon "edgy", and go with insight.

Yeah I agree with this. I don't think Hockey fans really give a crap if George thinks he's "cool" or not. I mean, I get that he's got this image that he already cultivated and I think the execs thought that's what cool looked like, but I want guys who know what they're talking about. Strombo looked like there was no way he could add anything to the conversation but he felt less than a moderator - he just couldn't hold his own in conversation with people who knew what they were talking about. All flash no finish as they say. I really couldn't stand him.

 

[Tigger]

Yeah, they could do with more Scott Morrison, Elliotte Friedman, Mike Johnson types and less general schmucks to support whoever.

You don't like Mr Insider Damien Cox?

<insert barfing emoticon.....>

I might like a half hour of McKenzie seriously deposing him, then a forever goodbye.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Marek, Johnson, Morrison, Friedman and MacLean;  that's all I need and want.  Please, please no more Healy and Kypreos...  I can't believe they didn't have Marek and Johnson around for the Cup finals, what a shame.

With the prominent rookies coming into Toronto next year, this is a big year coming up for HNIC to get their broadcasting act together.

 

[Joe S.]

No one wants to admit it, and most won't like to hear it,  but one of the main reasons this hasn't worked out for Rogers is because the leafs have been awful.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

No one wants to admit it, and most won't like to hear it,  but one of the main reasons this hasn't worked out for Rogers is because the leafs have been awful.

I think that everybody's admitted that that's played a role in the ratings being down, but I can't see how it would have anything to do with the terrible product Rogers has produced.

 

[Joe S.]

Fair enough... I wasn't really making a comment on the product...  But you're right.

 

[jdh1]

Joe Bowen needs to be back on TV.

Yes bring back Joe...I miss his voice.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Joe Bowen's awful. Hearing Bob Cole in these playoffs though did make me miss him.

 

[Captain Canuck]

One of my posts from a year and a half ago:

You can count me as one of those who has no interest in listening to Blundell do sports, as I tired of his juvenile humour long ago on the Edge.
In some ways it is like Strombo doing HNIC.
I will say both men are very good at their schtick, but they both have no business in sports media, nor do I care what they have to say on sports-related matters.
Dean go back to poop jokes and George go back to more intellectual matters.


Had Strombo pegged right from the get-go! 

 

[Kin]

In the end the newer HNIC failed not because Strombo was too much of a departure, it's that he wasn't a departure at all and didn't really add much in the way of a fresh perspective. He definitely wasn't the kind of guy who would challenge a stupid thing said by someone on the panel.

Traditionalists might be happy with the return of McLean but the show was just as bad under him. It was just "Here, boring ex-player A, you talk for 30 seconds before boring ex-player B does the same" with everyone on the panel directly tied into the NHL establishment so nothing all that interesting or challenging was being said. If everyone on the show is either an ex-player or an "insider" who relies on league sources no boats are getting rocked. Nobody is going to say "The NHL has its head up its own butt when it comes to suspensions" or "Marc Bergevin is doing a terrible job running the Habs" or whatever. It's going to be "Well, you know, when I played for Mike Keenan and things weren't going well he'd tell us to skate harder and boy did we!" and then "Some people in the public are saying Marc Bergevin isn't doing a great job but league sources say he's doing great and he smells really nice!". The show doesn't need people with more "insider information" or experience with the game. It needs compelling personalities and people, media or ex-players or whoever, who are willing to stake out interesting positions.

I get people seeing a big change to a bad product as reflexively a reason for optimism but anyone who thinks that a major problem with the show was the non-traditional cut of the suits the host was wearing probably isn't going to be making interesting choices going forward.

 

[Bender]

I think it's more a venting of how much dislike there is for strombo than optimism for having MacLean back.

 

[jdh1]

Joe Bowen's awful. Hearing Bob Cole in these playoffs though did make me miss him.

I like the fact that he's a Leaf fan and shows his passion for them on his sleeve. I don't care for the neutral broadcasters that sound like vanilla.

 

[sneakyray]

for me...it has to be the best in game guys.  Glen healy is the guy who makes it unwatchable for me.  I Really dislike jim hughson too.  If I were rogers I would go after the best guy in the hockey bussiness...Cuthbert.  Maybe they will once bob cole goes away.

paul romanuk just makes me shake my head