Television personality Ron MacLean has been a fixture on the hockey scene for decades. This feature story from The Hockey News’ April 13, 2004 edition (Volume 57, Issue 32), MacLean wrote a special guest column describing his workload as a broadcaster of NHL Stanley Cup playoff games.
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As a host, MacLean is tasked with welcoming fans, setting up segments and building an overall aura for the broadcast. And it can all come down to smaller packages of information.
“Sometimes the toughest part on-air is remembering the simplest details,” MacLean wrote. ”Especially during the first round, we’re constantly updating goals and plays from different venues. (Hockey Night In Canada) producer Chris Irwin is hollering in my ear with instructions from the control room and when executive producer Joel Darling joins in they sometimes end up drowning each other out. When we have a break I might ask if anyone caught the assist on a particular goal and everyone jumps up to help. Things can get pretty frantic.”
MacLean has been one of the most popular hockey personalities in his career, but when it comes to the memories he’s made, it’s all about the people he meets along the journey.
“(M)y lasting impressions are of meeting people in the hallways of the arena four or five hours after the games are over: John Muckler after the Oilers won the Cup in 1990, Igor Larionov after the Wings won in Washington in 1998, Bryan Murray after Detroit lost to Toronto in the 1993 quarterfinal,” MacLean said. “Those are the moments I can’t forget.”
STAYING FRESH AT PLAYOFF TIME
Vol. 57, No. 37, April 13, 2004
By Ron MacLean
One thing you need for the playoffs is a top-notch dry cleaner. I’ve found a great one in Oakville Ont., where I live, and bless their hearts they can turn it around in a day, because I’ve got four blue suits to cover me for 60 or 70 telecasts over the next two months. Don Cherry, he has probably got about 400 suits and Kelly Hrudey’s not far behind. They don’t have anything to worry about.
The first round is insane. I love it, but it’s insane. There will be at least five, possibly six, Canadian teams in the playoffs and it’s our job on Hockey Night in Canada to tell the stories of all of them and serve viewers in all the local markets. Information is pouring in from across the country, stories are breaking and it’s a challenge to give all the big events the coverage they deserve.
With overtimes and multiple games stretching across the country, you never know whether or not the telecast that begins at 7 p.m. eastern time might end at three or four in the morning. I try to stay fresh by limiting the post-telecast pops over the first two rounds. I’m not always perfect, but I do my best.
The day starts at home by logging onto the Internet to check out the morning papers. Depending on what happened the night before, I may make a couple calls between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to get the latest on injuries and any new line combinations. I often rifle through recent copies of The Hockey News to help put that night’s storylines in context. Dick Irvins excellent series of hockey books are another valuable resource. I’ll make the drive from Oakville to downtown Toronto at around 2:30 p.m., shower and change at the CBC building and watch the sports update channels. The lines to the on-site commentators are up an hour before game time and we’re ready to go.
Sometimes the toughest part on-air is remembering the simplest details. Especially during the first round we’re constantly updating goals and plays from different venues. Producer Chris Irwin is hollering in my ear with instructions from the control room and when executive producer Joel Darling joins in they sometimes end up drowning each other out. When we have a break I might ask if anyone caught the assist on a particular goal and everyone jumps up to help. Things can get pretty frantic.
The logistics of doing the “Coach’s Corner” and “Behind the Mask” segments are tough when you’re trying to stay on top of all the storylines. In my first year covering the playoffs in 1987, we tried taping “Coach’s Corner” and sending the segment out to Calgary and Winnipeg. Don had a comment on Mike Vernon, you know, “I love that guy, always love that guy” sort of thing except by the time the piece was supposed to run, Winnipeg had pumped four goals by him. So while we were doing the Toronto show, Don had to redo his Calgary piece. We did, but that was the end of that experiment.
We used to do the studio show five from the atrium of the CBC building in downtown Toronto. That was a fantastic atmosphere; everyone in the building could look down from the 10 floors above and we’d have quite a reaction when “Coach’s Corner” was over. The problem became dealing with crowds who stopped by after Blue Jays games. It was great to have their support, but we ended up spending too much time shaking hands and saying hello when our job is to watch the games. So now we’re sequestered on the sixth floor, two floors above The National anchor Peter Mansbridge. I’m glad to report there’s a truce now with Peter; he and Grapes have worked things out.
We generally do our show from the studio for the first two rounds, with the possible exception of deciding games in Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal, where we can get back to the studio the next day. The third round and the Stanley Cup final are all on-site. Being in studio has its merits you don’t get tunnel vision on the team you’re covering — but you miss so much compared to being at the rink. I’m not much for going into the dressing room, but just watching the black aces (teams’ healthy scratches) skate at morning practice, it’s amazing how many people come up to chat and the stories that are brought right to you. There’s no substitute for being at the rink.
At the end of it all, after the Stanley Cup has been presented and the on-ice interviews are over and the champagne has spilled, it doesn’t ever feel better than being in the dressing room after signing off from the final telecast. That’s when you really feel like you were part of the playoff marathon.
But my lasting impressions are of meeting people in the hallways of the arena four or five hours after the games are over: John Muckler after the Oilers won the Cup in 1990, Igor Larionov after the Wings won in Washington in 1998, Bryan Murray after Detroit lost to Toronto in the 1993 quarterfinal. Those are the moments I can’t forget.
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- Archive: TV Host Ron MacLean Penned Exclusive Feature On His Stanley Cup Workload
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