from Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com,
Jim Hughson crouched in front of Foster Hewitt's plaque at the Hockey Hall of Fame earlier this month and asked a question many of his peers have pondered for decades.
How did Hewitt, the man who pioneered hockey play-by-play, come up with the famous phrase, 'He shoots, he scores?' It's a phrase Hughson, the lead announcer on 'Hockey Night in Canada' uses to this day.
Hewitt became a groundbreaker in hockey broadcasting when he called his first game on the radio in 1923. He would become the voice of the sport for the next half century, primarily on Toronto Maple Leafs games.
"I always wish I'd been at that rink with him the day that he did that first broadcast," Hughson said of Hewitt, who died in 1985. "Because I wonder if he was thinking beforehand: 'What am I going to say when the puck goes into the net?'
"How did he come up with that? Did he talk to his family and say, 'Should it be, He shoots, he scores? Or should it be, A shot and a goal?'
"I would have loved to have that conversation with him."
Hughson will never have that opportunity, yet he still pays homage to the broadcasting great every Saturday night during the NHL season by using those same four words.
It's yet another reason why Hughson is so deeply honored to be the recipient of the 2019 Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, presented by the Hockey Hall of Fame to members of the radio and television industry who make outstanding contributions to their profession and the game of hockey during their broadcasting career.
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