Mudryk is new television voice of the Canadiens
Bryan Mudryk said he has been hearing from people, perhaps halfjokingly, suggesting he got a bum gig calling games for an NHL team that’s struggling through a rebuild.
“Pardon my French, but are you kidding me? This is the Montreal effing Canadiens. This is an iconic franchise. This is one of the greatest sports franchises ever,” he told the Montreal Gazette.
Mudryk, the second most famous TSN broadcaster from tiny Boyle, Alta., (he and Jay Onrait grew up together in the town of 845), is the new play-by-play announcer for TSN’s regional television broadcasts of Canadiens games. Mudryk replaces John Bartlett, who moved to Sportsnet to call Toronto Maple Leafs games.
The new voice in the broadcast booth is the biggest noticeable change to Canadiens TV broadcasts this season, which will feature the same frustrating channel hopping as last season.
Mudryk hasn’t lived in Montreal before (he said he’s open to moving here, but hasn’t had time to think about it yet), but he knows the team well, particularly its emerging young talent, thanks to his experience at international tournaments.
“Covering the (IIHF) U18s and the men’s worlds for the last few years, you get to know the young players coming up,” Mudryk said.
The rest of the TSN broadcast team is the same as last season. Dave Poulin, Mike Johnson and Craig Button will be joining Mudryk as analysts, while Tessa Bonhomme, Glenn Schiiler and Pierre LeBrun host from TSN’s Toronto studio.
TSN2 will broadcast 50 of the Canadiens’ 82 regular-season games, same as last season, with the remainder going to Sportsnet, CBC or Citytv as national games (mainly Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday nights). Mudryk, who is a fixture of TSN’s curling coverage, will have to back out of eight to 10 games this season for schedule conflicts.
The first year of TSN’s five-year deal for Canadiens games wasn’t great, to say the least. The team’s poor performance throughout the season depressed interest and ratings. RDS and TVA Sports saw similar drops in audience, and therefore ad rates.
“If you look at the Canadiens over the last couple of years, the expectations were high, and probably that was more optimistic than it should have been and that results in more negative feedback from a viewership perspective,” said Paul Graham, vice-president and executive producer of live events for TSN.
But he hasn’t soured on TSN’s rights deal. “I can’t see any situation in the immediate future, even when we get past the five years, where we wouldn’t be involved.”
Mudryk is also bullish on this season. “Carey (Price) is going to be way better. One bad season shouldn’t reflect on a guy who won the Vézina and the Hart (trophies). I think they’ll probably end up winning more games than people give them credit for.”
And if they don’t do their jobs, he’ll at least make sure he does his. “The fans are knowledgeable and they’ll see through BS, so you know you’ve got to bring it. And I can’t wait.”
Rogers is a third of the way through its 12-year, $5.2-billion national rights deal with the NHL, and there aren’t many changes planned for its broadcasts this season, except that it will be Bob Cole’s last. The legendary play-byplay man, whose voice announced the Canadiens’ last Stanley Cup win, is ending his career on its 50th anniversary, and will be calling 10 games this season, the first being the Canadiens vs. Penguins on Saturday.
Another change that will get fans riled up is that Rogers is no longer offering NHL Live for free to Rogers Wireless customers with Share Everything plans. People who want to stream out-of-market hockey games online will need to fork out $180 for the season (if they sign up before Wednesday). Other plans, including a $60 French-only option, are expected once the season begins.
For fans inside the Canadiens’ region, streaming is available for subscribers through the Sportsnet Now and TSN GO apps. People without TV subscriptions can get Sportsnet and TSN online only for $25 a month each.
RDS DOUBLING DOWN
On the French side, TVA Sports and RDS have the same 22-60 split of Canadiens games, with TVA getting Saturday night games and playoffs and RDS the rest. RDS will also broadcast 18 Laval Rocket games this season and 50 Ottawa Senators games.
RDS will try something new this season, broadcasting a separate companion show called Avec pas d’match on RDS Info and online during 20 of its games, starting Oct. 11. The show features comedians Nico Pinson and Salomé Corbo talking about the game with contributors and guests, and interacting with fans on social media.