It’s official. after a full week of speculation, Ron MacLean will be back next fall as host of Hockey Night in Canada.
Joining him as host, according to the Monday release from Rogers Media, is David Amber, a HNiC rinkside reporter the past five years who also spent eight years covering sports Stateside for ESPN.
Gone “to explore new creative opportunities” after two rocky seasons is George Stroumboulopoulos.
“George is an extremely versatile and creative broadcaster and we value the contributions he made to Hockey Night in Canada,” Rogers’ NHL boss and Sportsnet president Scott Moore said in the statement. “We look forward to seeing what his next great project will be.”
Panelists Elliotte Friedman, Kelly Hrudey, and Nick Kypreos will join MacLean and Amber in-studio next fall on the HNiC Saturday night games. Daren Millard will continue to host Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, alongside panelists Friedman and Doug MacLean.
Gone along with Strombo are several on-air contributors, including Glenn Healy and P.J. Stock, the latter gone along with the 5 p.m. pre-game show. Regional personalities, such as Montreal’s Chantal Desjardins, Billy Jaffe and Corey Hirsch and Leah Hextall, are also gone while Damien Cox will move off the hockey broadcasts to co-host “Prime Time Sports” with Bob McCown on radio.
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For those who are wondering, Ron MacLean will continue to host Coach’s Corner with Don Cherry in the first intermission of Game 1 on Saturday nights. Later that night, he will head to an airport and fly to one of 24 communities across the country to host Rogers Hometown Hockey with Tara Slone on Sundays. So MacLean gets it all back–hosting, Coach’s Corner and Hometown Hockey.
Read the full details here in this feature I wrote Monday for The Canadian Press.
1 Comment
What the hell does David Amber know about hockey Glenn Healy is one of the most knowledgeable guys in the business his knowledge of the players union is second to none