from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,
When Rogers Communications Inc. wrested the Canadian national broadcast rights away from the CBC and TSN before this season, MacLean was replaced as the main Hockey Night In Canada host by George Stroumboulopoulos. MacLean retained his role with Cherry, but his host duties were confined to Rogers Hometown Hockey broadcasts on Sunday nights on the Sportsnet and City networks. Hometown Hockey wrapped for the season last Sunday.
Rogers broadcast staff has not been told formally what the plans are for the playoffs, but MacLean said he does not expect to be doing anything other than Coach’s Corner despite the fact Rogers will be showing all eight first-round series on CBC and on its own various networks. And that’s fine with MacLean.
“Oh, I’m happy,” he said Monday. “I think it will be good for Grapes [Cherry] to do Coach’s Corner every night.”
However, Canadian viewers may not be happy seeing MacLean in a reduced role as a host. Last November, an Angus Reid poll found that 74 per cent of 1,504 respondents felt MacLean’s lesser role on HNIC hurt the show’s brand.
Create an Account
In order to leave a comment, please create an account.