TORONTO – Canadian broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos will lead Rogers’ “dream team of broadcasters” anchoring its NHL national coverage across all Rogers properties, as well as Hockey Night in Canada beginning this fall, Rogers announced Monday.
Together with hockey talent Don Cherry, Ron MacLean, Daren Millard and Jeff Marek, the team will deliver more than 500 regular season games across 13 networks and seven platforms, including up to seven games every Saturday night, plus Hometown Hockey every Sunday hosted from communities across Canada, and every game of the NHL Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final. The announcement comes as Rogers gears up for year one of its monster $5.2 billion, 12-year deal with the NHL for exclusive national broadcast and multimedia rights in Canada.
“We know how passionate fans are about hockey, and so we’ve brought together the best anchors to deliver the best hockey experience to Canadians,” said Rogers’ president of Sportsnet & NHL properties, Scott Moore, in the announcement. “George is one of the smartest and most versatile broadcasters in the business, and Ron and Don are icons in the hockey world. Along with Daren and Jeff, our new broadcast team brings a tremendous amount of talent, expertise and personality – and most importantly, they all possess a supreme passion for hockey.”
Beginning October 2014, Stroumboulopoulos will host Hockey Night in Canada, and will be the studio anchor for Sunday night NHL Hometown Hockey broadcasts on City. He’ll also host other NHL broadcasts on Sportsnet and other Rogers platforms. In a separate announcement on Monday, CBC announced that Stroumboulopoulos’s nightly talk show George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, currently in its 10th season, would not return after this season wraps up.
"Hockey is one of my deep-seated passions and I'm thrilled to be going full circle, returning to my roots in sports broadcasting", Stroumboulopoulos said in a statement. "It's a dream for me to work with Ron MacLean and Don Cherry, as well as my old friend Jeff Marek who I started my career with. I'm also looking forward to working with Daren Millard and the entire team at Rogers."
Don Cherry will continue to appear on Coach’s Corner every Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada along with co-host Ron MacLean, who will add Sunday nights duties to his role as host of Hometown Hockey Community Celebration. MacLean will also continue to host Hockey Day in Canada, a Canadian tradition for 14 years.
Millard has been a member of Sportsnet’s broadcast team since the network’s inception in 1998. He will continue to host hockey talk radio show Hockey Central @ Noon on Sportsnet 590 The FAN and Sportsnet, as well as Toronto Maple Leafs regional hockey on Sportsnet. Starting this fall, he will also host Wednesday Night Hockey on Sportsnet.
Marek has been host of Hockey Central on Sportsnet since 2011, and was also the former host of Hockey Night in Canada Radio. He will host Thursday Night Hockey on Sportsnet 360, in addition to the weekend afternoon NHL pre-game shows on Sportsnet, starting this fall. In addition to his NHL responsibilities, Marek will host junior hockey matchups on Friday nights and the Memorial Cup.
