Changes coming to HNIC and Fan960?

[Northendzone]

i dont mind Hanryan; however, he is not my favourite. I do respect the amount of work he has done to get to where he is, and I suspect over time he will get better and I will get more used to listening to him.

I think as viewers we all want commentators who provide some useful inside type insight that we cant always get.

i recall a few weeks ago catching part of the US broadcast of Carolina and Boston and at that point of the game carolina was down two or so goals and the color person suggested that the 'canes were a team that was built to come from behind. All i could think of is what a dumb comment. How do you build a team to come from behind. I get building a team that is fast, or physical - but to come from behind?

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I do think Singh has potential. Gord Miller was not every good initially when he started doing PBP nor was Dave Randorf. I think Singh is actually better than both of them at the same stage of their careers.

Dave Randorf never got better either.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

i dont mind Hanryan; however, he is not my favourite. I do respect the amount of work he has done to get to where he is, and I suspect over time he will get better and I will get more used to listening to him.

I think as viewers we all want commentators who provide some useful inside type insight that we cant always get.

i recall a few weeks ago catching part of the US broadcast of Carolina and Boston and at that point of the game carolina was down two or so goals and the color person suggested that the 'canes were a team that was built to come from behind. All i could think of is what a dumb comment. How do you build a team to come from behind. I get building a team that is fast, or physical - but to come from behind?

I hear that as not describing the intention to build a team aimed at coming from behind, but building a team that because of it's style is capable of coming from behind.

[browna]

Singh doesn't have near the experience as most any pbp guys who has to pay dues doing Uni/WHL/ECHL moving to AHL hockey for 5 or 10 years before getting a chance. He gets thrust into the role.

So he relies on notes and facts that he uses as a crutch to sound and appear knowledgeable. However, him jamming those background notes and facts into the game before faceoffs or while someone he wants to talk about touches the puck, literally takes away from calling the action on the ice and causes him to fall behind.

And, again the lack of experience shows painfully so when the pace the picks up in a game. He freezes and can't verbalize properly and sometimes the action sneaks up on him and he freaks out by going loud right away or loud when it doesn't warrant it.

Not his fault, because he's been given the role and has to do on the job learning...which shouldn't be the case for the 2nd national boradcast team.

Remember when they gave the keys to Rob Kerr on Snet? Very similar as far as painfully lacking the experience to call a game when the action picks up. And, they both went from 0 to 60 for loudness and urgency on the call, when experienced pbp guys would be able to feel the game and build up the excitement on a particular play or chance, not have it surprise them out of nowhere like it seems to with Singh and did Kerr. With Kerr it was Snet being cheap.

Again, thank goodness for Ball. Doesn't matter who the color person is, he makes them better...but Millen here full time would be fantastic, they were a great pair down the stretch and in R1.

[McG]

I’m imagining that one of the difficulties with the literal pbp is that hockey is so fast that it can be difficult to get words and sentences squeezed in before the play shifts.

The colour person can really help to stop the rat-a-tat machine gun calling, and that’s experience snd a good partnership. Radio in particular has to have a constant narrative, but does a visual medium?

I’m not speaking about any specific team or commentators, but sometimes it feels more natural to just let the game breathe. Maybe I’m off base a bit here but I actually enjoy the ice sounds during the game.

[activeStick]

I'm genuinely surprised that people actually think David Amber sucks or is annoying.

[memphusk]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

Dave Randorf never got better either.

Just like Paul Romanuk.

[memphusk]

Originally Posted by browna

Singh doesn't have near the experience as most any pbp guys who has to pay dues doing Uni/WHL/ECHL moving to AHL hockey for 5 or 10 years before getting a chance. He gets thrust into the role.

So he relies on notes and facts that he uses as a crutch to sound and appear knowledgeable. However, him jamming those background notes and facts into the game before faceoffs or while someone he wants to talk about touches the puck, literally takes away from calling the action on the ice and causes him to fall behind.

And, again the lack of experience shows painfully so when the pace the picks up in a game. He freezes and can't verbalize properly and sometimes the action sneaks up on him and he freaks out by going loud right away or loud when it doesn't warrant it.

Not his fault, because he's been given the role and has to do on the job learning...which shouldn't be the case for the 2nd national boradcast team.

Remember when they gave the keys to Rob Kerr on Snet? Very similar as far as painfully lacking the experience to call a game when the action picks up. And, they both went from 0 to 60 for loudness and urgency on the call, when experienced pbp guys would be able to feel the game and build up the excitement on a particular play or chance, not have it surprise them out of nowhere like it seems to with Singh and did Kerr. With Kerr it was Snet being cheap.

Again, thank goodness for Ball. Doesn't matter who the color person is, he makes them better...but Millen here full time would be fantastic, they were a great pair down the stretch and in R1.

Millen just blurts out your typical nonsense. Hes no good.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I'm genuinely surprised that people actually think David Amber sucks or is annoying.

It's his style more than anything for me...and he appears to like the Oilers as well, which just adds another NoGoodLover to the mix. We don't need that.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

Dave Randorf never got better either.

He's not the best but I think he's better now than he was earlier in his career.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

It's his style more than anything for me...and he appears to like the Oilers as well, which just adds another NoGoodLover to the mix. We don't need that.

Completely disagree if anything Amber has a love for the Flames in my opinion. I think he is great and would approve of him taking over from Maclean who is truly an Oiler lover

[Jiri Hrdina]

I think Amber serves the role well. He has natural chemistry with the panel, but unlike Ron, doesn't make it all about him. He understands the job is to keep things moving and keep them interesting, and involve everyone.
He won't be a huge star like Ron. But that's OK. Because frankly that's what makes Ron irritating. Over the years he made it more and more about himself.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Completely disagree if anything Amber has a love for the Flames in my opinion. I think he is great and would approve of him taking over from Maclean who is truly an Oiler lover

Nah, Amber is a low key Oiler fan. Not as blatant as Maclean or Hrudey but it’s there.

[nieuwy-89]

I like Amber but its almost like the panel treats him like a substitute teacher. I find Elliotte and Bieksa in particular try to talk over him, interrupt him, and subtly mock him. Its just a weird dynamic.

As much as I think its time for Ron to move on, the whole panel seems to run smoother when he is the host.

[Cole436]

I don't know why people #### on Ron so much. That man has done so much for hockey and HNIC as an institution.

His strengths were on greater display prior to the SN acquisition of the NHL broadcast. He's an incredible storyteller and a great foil to bigger personalities. HNIC used to have a certain "class" to it that's been chipped away over the years, and Ron was not an insignificant part of that prestige. Once he's gone it's the final step to it just being Sporstnet.

I don't think he's the right guy to lead a panel, but that was really never his job prior to Cherry's firing.

[GioforPM]

They crap on him because he's a smug know-it-all (without the ability to back it up) who blathers on about trivialities and name dropping. He is a terrible interviewer and gets owned yearly by Bettman. I have no idea what anyone would say Mclean has "done for hockey".

[activeStick]

I reckon most people would get owned by Bettman in an argument.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I reckon most people would get owned by Bettman in an argument.

Sure, but I think Ron walks away from those interviews thinking "crushed it".

Or they wouldn't try and argue and would do an ordinary interview.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

They crap on him because he's a smug know-it-all (without the ability to back it up) who blathers on about trivialities and name dropping. He is a terrible interviewer and gets owned yearly by Bettman. I have no idea what anyone would say Mclean has "done for hockey".

The only thing Ron has done for hockey is introduce non-sensical word salad folksy poetry to introduce a topic while everyone, and I mean legitimately everyone scratches their head to try and wrap their head around what the hell he is talking about.

That’s what Ron has “contributed” to hockey.

[CliffFletcher]

Amber is a great broadcast host. He’s knowledgable, smooth, knows how to manage the discussion, and he doesn’t make it about himself. I hope he stay in his role a long time.

And these witch hunts over supposed Oiler fans in the media are getting ridiculous. I swear a broadcaster can make three positive observations about the Flames and one about the Oilers and some people around here would still lose their minds.