OT: RIP Bob Cole (Hockey Night in Canada)
Posting 24 hours after the fact --- and maybe he's not "worthy" of a RIP post, but to me at least, he was my favorite play-by-play announcer EVER.
Great voice, great calls, and as someone who preferred watching CBC over the American networks, the TV guy I most associated with DE-TROY-IT's Stanley Cup runs of the 1990s and 2000s.
https://nypost.com/2024/04/25/sports/bob-cole-legendary-nhl-broadcaster…
April 26th, 2024 at 12:11 PM ^
Loved Bob Cole and watching Hockey Night in Canada on CBC! I totally agree their telecasts were way better than the American national broadcasts.
Canadian broadcasts were and remain the gold standard. Cole was great. So was Bill Hewitt and my personal favorite Danny Gallivan (live from the Forum in Montreal!)
April 26th, 2024 at 12:16 PM ^
Hockey's Keith Jackson.
April 26th, 2024 at 12:17 PM ^
bruce martyn, bud lynch, and bob miller, the long-time LA kings announcer were all awesome, but so was bob cole. may they rest in peace.
April 26th, 2024 at 12:46 PM ^
I believe Bruce Martyn is still with us.
Lives in the Gaylord area from what i've heard
April 26th, 2024 at 12:19 PM ^
I didn't know he passed away! Bob Cole was a legend, he was a great play-by-play guy and had an amazing voice. RIP
April 26th, 2024 at 12:35 PM ^
Bob Cole and Harry Neale are the only two hockey announcers I have a fond memory of. Not that they were beyond reproach or that there's no other decent ones out there, but those are the two that say "hockey" to me.
Many folks don't know, but Neale was coach of the Red Wings for part of one season ---- the Dead Wings season of 1985-86 where they 2003 Detroit Tigers/2008 Detroit Lions level terrible. Last in the league in goals for and goals against, but first in the league in penalty minutes (Bob Probert a rookie and Joey Kocur in his 2nd year).
Anyway, he went to CBC immediately after that. And he truly found his second calling. GREAT sense of humor!
Neale also coached Ohio State in the early '70s, putting him in the running for my favorite Buckeye coach ever.
April 26th, 2024 at 12:35 PM ^
Bob Cole and Harry Neale
Gary Thorne and Bill Clement
Dave Strader and Mickey Redmond
The soundtrack of my childhood
April 26th, 2024 at 12:41 PM ^
Mickey Redmond..."Let's get a couple ginger ales after the game" 🥃🍺
Ron MacLean and Don Cherry in the studio. Always great entertainment.
April 26th, 2024 at 12:42 PM ^
Grew up watching Bob Cole and Harry Neale on good ol' Channel 9!! Great calls always.
Especially when De-Troy-It was playing!
Rarely lived close enough to get CBC broadcasts so didn’t see much Hockey Night in Canada.
Bruce Martyn was my favorite. Red Wings have been blessed to have great radio & TV announcers.
Dan Kelly was a great announcer who died young. Loved his opening call of broadcasts on the USA network in the 80s, “From Maine to Maui.”
I was always a big fan of Dick Irvin and Danny Gallivan on CBC. I think they only did the Habs games.
I loved it when Danny Gallivan would say, "The Savardian Spin-o-rama."
One of my favorite announcers ever. I always, always watched CBC instead of American broadcasts and he was the main reason (though guys like Chris Cuthbert are also great).
His voice, his meter, his delivery, all great. But though he did not lose his cool, there was a genuine passion for the sport that made you love what you were watching. He made you feel good about the game you watched him call, feel good about the players.
When it was the Wings, or the Leafs. Or that epic game when Mario Lemieux came back and was on a line with Jagr and they absolutely hummed on offense as Cole proclaimed, “This line is dynamite!”
He did it as good as it could be done.
One of the greatest announcers of all time in my opinion. R.I.P.
Yes! Bob Cole and Keith Jackson are on the Mt Rushmore of announcers.
Bob was a legend … for me second only to Danny Gallivan and Dan Kelly
Growing up, Bob Cole was the voice of the NHL for me. SportsChannel was the only US network carrying Stanley Cup hockey at the time, which we did not have in the Detroit city limits.
If you lived in the US and you got the Montreal games on Saturday night, instead of the Toronto games, you probably feel the same way about Dick Irvin, who's still with us.
I was pretty much guaranteed to be watching Hockey Night in Canada on CBC when I wasn’t running around with friends. Red Wings were featured quite a bit, and Bob Cole was one of the best. One of the NHL video games I owned had Bob Cole on the PBP, and it was amazing.
RIP.
Agreed on him being one of the best ever.
De-Troy-It
Loved listening to his calls. RIP, Bob.
I still prefer watching hockey on CBC, and with 4 Canadian teams in the playoffs, there's a game on CBC most every night. Love listening to them and the in-studio teams as well during intermissions.
Detroy-it vs. Sin Louis. He will be missed.
RIP Mr. Cole
those are the kind of clips that give you goose bumps.