Folks in the HNIC thread put the knock on announcers quite a bit, so lets get it out in the open once and for all...

Who is/was the best HNIC play by play announcer of all time?

Some on the list may or may not be familiar, so you might have to ask your dad. ;)

For me it will always be The Professor: Danny Gallivan... "...with a Savardian spinarama he lets loose a cannonading blast that Palmateer's glove could not intercept..."

Ditto !!

for the SRC no contest René Lecavalier

JC

Without question...it has to be Danny.

He was exciting, with his Savardian Spinarama and his totally biased love of the Habs.

How's this...

Here they come, the Montreal Canadiens, the greatest team in ice hockey, led by Big Jean Beliveau :)

He was music to the ears...on Saturday nights.

for the SRC no contest René Lecavalier

JCSorry, this is about HNIC, not SDH.

i remember as a kid watching the habs and listening to dick irvin...still think he was the best (that I heard).

Maybe sports journalism schools should pull Danny's old tapes from the archives and use them as primary sources for teaching excellent play-by-play. :) I totally agree about the sense of excitement he could convey about otherwise mundane matchups.

Geez this has got me remembering other old names/faces from the Montreal Forum on HNIC: Roger Doucette singing the National Anthem; Claude Mouton, the PA Announcer who used to say "... and da turd star..."; Ted Darling; Donny Marshall, Mickey Redmond...

Toronto names/faces on HNIC too: Ward Cornell, Brian McFarlane, Dave Hodge, Bob Goldham, Stafford Smythe, and of course Howie Meeker...

Yup...now you have me remembering all those names...Ward Cornell...what a hoot...and Roger Doucette...singing any internation anthem was truely inspirational...remember him singing the Russian anthem in the 70's...it was simply outstanding...he was to National Anthems...what Michael Buffer is to boxing and what Danny Gallivan and Howard Cosell were to announcing live sports events.

Cheers to them and their families for being a small part of ours!

Wait a minute...back it up...now hold it right there...Merry Christmas to everyone on DHC :)

This is a TO centric list. What about Jim Robson? I grew up listening to him and I think he would be one of the best, not the best...

This is a TO centric list. What about Jim Robson?You showed up too late. Out of respect for Jim Robson, whom I also liked but not as much as Danny Gallivan, I saw that nobody was voting for him and didn't want that to reflect poorly on him, so I removed his name from the poll. Send me a PM if you would like to vote for him and I'll put his name back up.

TO-centric?!!! Danny Gallivan was a transplanted Haligonian in Montreal!

Don't you know (he's the best announcer that ever worked on a broadcast)lol (Tongue firmly in cheeck)
He created his own word you know "HOLY MACKINAW"

This is about HNIC announcers. Bowen is a Leafs TV announcer from what I've read.

Stopitrightthere, stopitrightthere.

Okay kids watching out there, ALWAYS remember - never put the puck up the middle. Safe, off the fence and out the zone. Now let it go for a while guys... backitup. Okay, there! ...

How I miss Howie Meeker.

I only ever saw/heard Jim Robson as the Canuck's PbP guy but he's high on my list. After all I grew up listening to him. For the purposes of the poll - I think Bob Cole's style is quite nice.

Getting off topic - I love PbP guys who are terse. Pat Summerall comes to mind, as do all those Brit guys broadcasting World Cup.

Stopitrightthere, stopitrightthere. Followed by something like "...hee hee hee...here's where Sittler slides it over to Errol Thompson and with a backhand he really puts the hoop around the barrel!.. hee hee hee... that's the way its done, kids!"

I put Jim Robson's name back up, and I want readers to know that he would be showing at least 2 votes by now.

Robson gets my vote...it's all in what you're used to hearing. Hughson is very high for me as well for that reason. Can't stand Cole - but he was somewhat better in his younger years...Cuthbert is very good and I can't believe CBC tossed him. There are a few on the list I haven't heard obviously due to my age (early 30s)...but one thing I do know - Jim Robson cannot have less votes than Don Whitman :) (I guess technically Robson has 3 now and Whitman 1)

Danny Gallivan was the greatest, bar none. Foster Hewitt was a close second though. I miss those days of alternating HNIC. If we did that today perhaps we could showcase the local CBC talent in all Canadian cities. I know, not realistic. for what its worth, of all current play by play men, I think Chris Cuthbert is the only one with the potential to match Gallivan.

i remember as a kid watching the habs and listening to dick irvin...still think he was the best (that I heard).But Dick wasn't the play by play guy. Gallivan did play by play and Irvin did colour.