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LEAFS and TV

CRL

CRL

Well-known member
Just keep asking myself every time Leafs on TV - any good commentator crews which actually like Leafs (not asking to love, sounds like those days are long gone).
CBC - Cannots lovers
SNet - Hens fan boys
TSN - Hens fan boys or just Leafs haters.

I dont get it.
Where is Joe Bowen ? why radio?
Harry Neale? I know he is Sabre now
Bob Cole?
 
Bob Cole is a self-proclaimed Habs fan.

You know, I'm really not sure any of the play by play or colour guys are Leaf fans. The only on air personality on TSN or Sportsnet that seems to be a Leafs fan is Jeff O'Neill who seems to be doing way more TSN panels these days.
 
I think lots of guys on TSN are fair too. Bobo, Dreger, Button, McLennan, Feraro, Poulin, O'Sullivan etc. All these guys have heaped praise on the Leafs now that there are actually things to praise.

O-Dog and Hayes are outright Leafs homers.
 
leafman101 said:
I think lots of guys on TSN are fair too. Bobo, Dreger, Button, McLennan, Feraro, Poulin, O'Sullivan etc. All these guys have heaped praise on the Leafs now that there are actually things to praise.

O-Dog and Hayes are outright Leafs homers.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't mind any of those TSN guys. They don't have to be Leaf fans as long as they're fair.
 
hockeylover said:
Bob Cole is a self-proclaimed Habs fan.

You know, I'm really not sure any of the play by play or colour guys are Leaf fans. The only on air personality on TSN or Sportsnet that seems to be a Leafs fan is Jeff O'Neill who seems to be doing way more TSN panels these days.
Click to expand...

at least he didnt show that on air.
 
leafman101 said:
I think lots of guys on TSN are fair too. Bobo, Dreger, Button, McLennan, Feraro, Poulin, O'Sullivan etc. All these guys have heaped praise on the Leafs now that there are actually things to praise.

O-Dog and Hayes are outright Leafs homers.
Click to expand...

O'Neill is a typical Leafs fan though. One day he wants to trade Matthews and Nylander, the next he's on his knees for them. He's a bit too wishy washy for my liking but meh, no reason to take him seriously. He's on the radio for his personality, not his knowledge.
 
leafman101 said:
I think lots of guys on TSN are fair too. Bobo, Dreger, Button, McLennan, Feraro, Poulin, O'Sullivan etc. All these guys have heaped praise on the Leafs now that there are actually things to praise.

O-Dog and Hayes are outright Leafs homers.
Click to expand...

I dont care about praising/wining by TSN panel, 10-20 min I can bare. But 2-3 hrs of horror by game crew is just to much.
 
I find Hughson just has too much of a robotic voice, him calling the game just doesn't give me the same feeling as Bob Cole did.
 
Rogers coverage is tough to watch. I agree Hughson is a terrible play-by-play guy. I don't get how he has the prime job in the biz. No emotion, no pacing. He doesn't add to the game at all. Leafs hater stuff aside, the guy just isn't good. He sounds exactly like he did in NHL 98.

Bob Cole may say the wrong names, and words that don't make sense together, but he also creates atmosphere not sucks it out of the broadcast.
 
Bowen's work during Leafs playoffs in early 2000's was something.
I was listening on the radio most of the games during those years and he manage to make each game extremely exiting and imaginary, like you watching it on TV.
 
Ya Cole is the best.

Romanuk is OK but Bowen is awesome. Millen is awful. Every goalie has always had an amazing game to that guy and it's all he talks about.

Also somebody bring back Mike Johnson.
 
Bowen is the best of the bunch. I don't get how he's shackled to radio.

Cole and Neale were a great tandem too, and just for the nostalgia I prefer Cole on our telecasts.

But it seems we're stuck with Golem 1 and Golem 2 in Hughson and Romanuk for the foreseeable future. Seriously, they look pretty much identical, and both like the keeper of the ring.
 
Cole or Bowen would be nice, for sure. I don't know why we're the only team not allowed to have some bias in our broadcasts.

But the Crappy Ex-Goalie reign of terror has to end. Healy was a start. Millen should be next. Give me actual decent players. Like Johnson. Or even O'Neill. Even better get me more legit very good ex-players like Ferraro.

Other sports don't crowd their broadcasts with ex-bit players. They're all ex stars.
 
The fact that Bowen & Ralph were dumped off television entirely pretty unceremoniously is definitely kind of a mystery. Bowen's play-by-play and Ralph's colour commentary were always entertaining and top-notch. Sure, they were total Leaf homers, but don't most other teams have home-team cheerleaders doing their local broadcasts too?

Pretty much all we're left with for TV play-by-play, both for regional & national broadcasts now are guys that flat-out Leaf haters or homers for other teams (Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, Gord Miller, Greg Millen), along with a few guys that are generally impartial, but are pretty mediocre at their jobs (Paul Romanuk, Ray Ferraro).
 
I think the colour guys all around have improved over the last couple of years, because I find Greg Millen more unbearable than ever. I can't listen to that guy talk.
 
Romanuk gotta be the worst play-by-play guy out there though ... he constantly gives wrong information

- Calls Kadri Bozak (cause 42 and 43 look the same when he doesn't have his glasses on?)

- Calls Gauthier Matthews (same thing ... 33 and 34)

- Calls a homerun pass a 'icing attempt'

- Calls a 1-timer in the slot "missed pass that hit something into the net"

- When it's crystal clear it's a penalty to team A, he calls it penalty to team B ... later corrects himself when everyone is clear from the get-go

I don't care much for play by play (better if it's quiet imo ... i mean, i can SEE just fine, don't need to tell me everything that's happening on the screen) but nothing worse than play-by-play that constantly tries to confuse viewers


As for hockey analysts that I enjoy listening to, the list pretty much starts and end with Bobo. Dreger breaks some hockey news but he's wrong as often as he's right. O'Neill is at least entertaining but you can't take him seriously. Friedman is ok. I don't care much for guys like Buttons and Ferraro, but at least they're better than Kypreos & Healy & co.
 
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