from John Gushue of CBC,
Bob Cole, whose voice and lively language were the Saturday night soundtrack to hockey games over a broadcasting career that spanned more than half a century, has died.
Cole, who was 90, died Wednesday night in St. John's surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, said.
"Thank you for decades of love for his work, love of Newfoundland and love of hockey," Megan Cole told CBC News on Thursday.
Cole said her father had been healthy "up until the very end."
Great Video Paul, thank you for sharing.Bob was definitely a true fan of the game, just like Ernie Hartwell or Bruce Martin. That is why they are considered greats of their craft.
Yes, he was a joy to listen to during a game. Another great announcer gone. So sad. 😞
Oh no. May favorite televised hockey announcer ever. RIP Bob. Thank you for making Hockey Night in Canada so special.
My one brief encounter with Bob Cole.
I'm at the Renaissance Center in Detroit during the 1997 SCF.
There is a media bus taking media to the Joe so I hop on it and lo and behold, Bob Cole is already on the bus. No one else on the bus but the two of us. The bus takes off for the three minute ride and I am thinking, should I introduce myself to him or just leave him alone.
I sit in a seat across from him, introduce myself, he looks up and says nice to meet you and looks down at his game preparation notes.
That's it.
Bob Cole truly excelled at his craft. Goddamn was he ever good. Hearing his calls still reminds me of my very early years as a hockey fan in the late 80s. He was professional, classy and his voice is timeless. We lost a great one. Rest well, sir.
Yzerman scores, Da-troy-it wins the game.
Classic call by Bob, but look closely, and Stevie takes the puck away from Gretzky, then scores.
Ken Daniels, Bob Cole, Cuthbert and Scott Russell.
from Stephen Brunt of Sportsnet,
He grew up in St. Johns, where his father was the warden of Her Majestys Penitentiary, and was an excellent all-around athlete at Bishop Feild School, one of the citys hallowed halls of learning. Though Canadians would come to know him as the voice of their national game, over the course of his long life Cole would also skip a rink at the Brier, row and serve as a coxswain in the Royal St. Johns Regatta, distinguish himself in football and baseball and hockey, and play a pretty decent game of golf.
But before most of those accomplishments, he hurt his leg playing soccer, and the complications that ensued left him laid up for weeks. Confined to his bed, he listened to hockey on the radio from far-away Maple Leaf Gardens, with cards bearing the faces of his heroes laid out in front of him as though they were on the ice.
The voice he heard was Foster Hewitts, who always mentioned the fans in Newfoundland in his famous opening. When he was alone, Cole would mimic Hewitt, calling the games in his style which was the only style, since he all but invented hockey play-by-play. When he got back to school, Cole would do it again for his pals, recreating the action from Saturday night, much to their delight.
The path from there to Hewitts Gardens gondola, to the Montreal Forum, to the Luzhniki Ice Palace and to pretty much everywhere else that big-time hockey is played was unlikely and meandering and helped along by strokes of luck, coincidences, and no small amount of chutzpah.
But at the core of it was his talent. Bob Cole, like his mentor Hewitt and his friend Danny Gallivan, possessed the innate ability to sound like hockey.
Before he wound up as the primary voice of Hockey Night in Canada, Cole had already lived several lives.
read on plus an excellent video at the top of the page...
Oh, baby! What a legend. Rest well, Bob Cole.
NEW YORK (April 25, 2024) National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman today released the following statement regarding the passing of legendary broadcaster Bob Cole:
Bob Coles voice was the iconic and incomparable soundtrack of hockey across Canada for more than 50 years. From countless winter Saturday nights on Hockey Night in Canada to the 1972 Summit Series to multiple Olympic Games to dozens of Stanley Cup Finals, his distinctive, infectious play-by-play made every game he called sound bigger.
Over a legendary career that began in local radio in his beloved home province of Newfoundland and inevitably went national beginning in 1969, Bob transcended generations by sharing his obvious passion for our game and his stunning talent for conveying hockeys excitement and majesty with both eloquence and enthusiasm.
The National Hockey League mourns the passing of one of the true greats of our game, who long ago joined his idol Foster Hewitt in the pantheon of hockey broadcasters. We send our sincerest condolences to his family and friends and the millions across Canada for whom the sound of Bob Coles voice was the sound of hockey.
Bob Cole....Bruce Martyn....Danny Gallivan. Boy, those were great hockey broadcasters.
Bob and Harry Neale are second only to Dave Strader and Mickey Redmond as the best on-air duo ever.
great commentator, even i, a guy from the US who has spent a week tops in canada total, know who he was. making it to 90 with a life and career like his: overall, not bad!
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