Shae-Lynn Bourne partners with Anson Carter on Battle of the Blades
Will they ever learn? When the call goes out to former NHL players to lace up a pair of figure skates and compete on Battle of the Blades, they inevitably think, “Sure, how hard can it be?” As they...
View ArticleBattle of the Blades rocks out in Season 4 premiere
It’s nice to be back amongst friends, isn’t it? After a two-year absence, Battle of the Blades returns, pairing up retired NHL players with figure skaters. It’s like adding cheese curds to fries and...
View ArticleDon Cherry on future: ‘Do I have a job?’
TORONTO – Don Cherry knows as much about his future on Hockey Night in Canada, as his fans – nothing. The high-profile hockey commentator’s employment status is in doubt after Rogers took control of...
View ArticleRogers’ $5.2-billion TV deal turns hockey upside down
It’s hard to knock 5.2 billion dollars — somehow that number always sounds better in Mike Myers’s Doctor Evil voice — out of the headline. But to these eyes, it was the invisible print on the...
View ArticleWhat happens to TSN hockey talking heads in light of Rogers NHL deal?
Ever since TSN first crackled onto the airwaves way back in the media stone ages of 1984, it has achieved its goal of dominating the Canadian sports media landscape. But with Tuesday’s blockbuster...
View ArticleTV weekend: The Walking Dead airs winter finale; Leafs vs. Habs on Hockey...
A pall of gloom has settled over the ever-dwindling band of post-apocalyptic survivors in The Walking Dead, as the improbably popular thriller reaches its midseason finale this weekend. An old enemy is...
View ArticleWATCH: HNIC’s Don Cherry tells Rogers: ‘Don’t try to ruin it, just leave it...
The news this week that Rogers Communications is buying all of the NHL hockey on Canadian TV for the next 12 years, Don Cherry’s name came up in all the fallout. And on Saturday night, Cherry told...
View ArticleThe many, many colours of Don Cherry
There are infographics that add colour to a story. And then there is this. We all know the suits Don Cherry wears during Coach’s Corner are legendary … and, quite frankly, loud as hell. Well, somebody...
View ArticleTop 10 GIFs of 2013
Even though GIF was named word of the year in 2012, it really came into its own in 2013. Many of our most important cultural moments now get converted into animated images, little time capsules forever...
View ArticleGeorge Stroumboulopoulos confirmed as the new host of Hockey Night in Canada
Rogers Media confirmed at 11:30 a.m. ET Friday what the Canadian sports media world was discussing since it was first tweeted by Bob McKenzie of TSN on Sunday night: George Stroumboulopoulos will join...
View ArticleStrombo can’t hurt hodgepodge HNIC cast
Sight unseen, George Stroumboulopoulos can’t hurt. That’s another way of saying that I have never watched Hockey Night in Canada’s soon-to-be new host on TV, except for CBC promos of his talk show...
View ArticleHNIC host Ron MacLean apologizes for French referee comments
TORONTO — Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean has apologized for setting off a social media firestorm following the Montreal-Tampa Bay game. During the Canadiens 4-3 win over the Lightning, MacLean...
View ArticleCBC raps MacLean’s fair critique
One of the happy side effects of the Rogers Sportsnet takeover of most of the meaningful hockey television in Canada for the next 12 years is that it is not the CBC. That means it might not have to be...
View ArticleCherry comes to MacLean’s defence on Twitter over French referee controversy
TORONTO — Don Cherry has come to the defence of “Coach’s Corner” broadcast partner Ron MacLean on Twitter after comments by MacLean on a “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcast concerning a French referee...
View ArticleRogers unveils $4.5 million new home for hockey telecasts
In home renovation terms, it goes way, way beyond merely adding a fresh coat of paint or two. Let’s just say the folks at Rogers have gone much more than the extra mile in transforming a studio at the...
View ArticleScott Stinson: Rogers version of Hockey Night a tricky balance of old, new
There was an adulterous vibe to the unveiling of the flashy new studio that Rogers will use as the home of its NHL broadcasts for at least the next four years. We were on the 10th floor of the CBC’s...
View ArticleRogers makes mark with new high-tech NHL broadcast
“The real home of hockey is where everyone is watching it.” That message was declared early on Wednesday night’s first NHL regular season broadcast under the new 12-year, $5.2 billion Rogers’ broadcast...
View ArticleHockey Night in Canada the real test for Rogers’ new NHL world
As that old Canadian road hockey phrase goes, it’s game on … finally. The puck has dropped, at last, for Rogers Media, which has officially embarked on the NHL journey that will set the company back...
View ArticleScott Stinson: Rogers’ Saturday NHL telecast shows the hit CBC took
After Rogers announced its blockbuster 12-year acquisition of Canadian NHL rights in November, one of the questions that dominated the proceedings, this being Canada, was: What of Don Cherry? The...
View ArticleDon Cherry still happy on Coach’s Corner but sees less of Ron MacLean these days
At 80, Don Cherry still hasn’t run out of stories, as his new book “Straight Up & Personal” shows. But he doesn’t get to share them with Ron MacLean as much these days. The two are spending less...
View ArticleIs it time for CBC's Don Cherry to leave Coach's Corner?
The original good Canadian kid himself has been the subject of lots of talk lately, suggesting the CBC’s most listened to talking head might want to think about retirement. The latest kerfuffle...
View ArticleCBC’s Hockey Night in Canada to celebrate 60th anniversary
This fall is Hockey Night in Canada‘s 60th anniversary — and the CBC plans to celebrate. For starters, the public broadcaster will host eight concerts in cities across Canada, according to a listing on...
View ArticleHockey Night in Canada to double the Cherry in 60th Season
TORONTO — The 60th season of Hockey Night in Canada kicks off this weekend with twice as much Grapes and plans for a cross-country tour. The long-delayed return of the Saturday night staple will...
View ArticleDon Cherry kisses Toronto Maple Leafs’ Nazem Kadri
Well, CBC gave viewers across Canada another reason to hate them. The post-game love-in between Don Cherry and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri is the stuff Leafs’ fans eat up and fodder for the...
View ArticleDon Cherry rants about women in men’s locker rooms
TORONTO — Don Cherry says the men’s locker-room is no place for a woman. The outspoken CBC hockey broadcaster made the comments during his weekly Coach’s Corner segment of “Hockey Night in Canada” on...
View ArticleDon Cherry still thinks women shouldn’t be in men’s locker-rooms
TORONTO — Don Cherry hasn’t changed his mind — he still doesn’t believe women should be in men’s locker-rooms. The CBC hockey commentator reiterated his opinion Wednesday during his Coach’s Corner...
View ArticleDon Cherry responds to social media backlash over his seal meat comments
TORONTO — Don Cherry has responded to the furor that erupted on social media after he called his Coach’s Corner co-host Ron MacLean a “savage” and a “barbarian” for eating seal meat. “Evidently I upset...
View ArticleCBC still showing NHL playoffs but now shut out of ad revenue
TORONTO — Ask Scott Moore if he’s in an NHL playoff pool and he laughs. Yes, the president of Sportsnet and NHL at Rogers Media is in a hockey pool. “It’s worth millions of dollars in advertising,” he...
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