MacLean gives Saskatchewan, Victoria’s Tavern a thumbs-up
Legendary broadcaster Ron MacLean will be in Regina this weekend for Rogers Hometown Hockey. In advance of the visit, he chatted with the Regina Leader-Post’s Rob Vanstone:
Q: You travel to so many places. Is there anything that strikes you as being especially distinctive about Regina?
A: Well, Victoria’s Tavern. The last time we were there, we had lunch with the University of Regina Cougars at the tavern, and we sort of organized an informal get-together at the end of the telecast. That’s kind of the last thing I remember until Wendel Clark and I were in my hotel room finishing up the conversation. That’s one of the first images I have — about how much fun we had at the Victoria. And there’s Regina’s history, through and through, whether it’s the Saskatchewan Roughriders or Mark McMorris or Sandra Schmirler. When I think of this weekend, there’s a lot of tradition in play, obviously, with the 100th anniversary of the Memorial Cup. I think about Mike Babcock and Dave King with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. I think of Saskatchewan and all of the people I connect with the game, like Gordie Howe. All of the hockey icons from Saskatchewan represent values that are just very special. They’re core values. They’re values about citizenry. Maybe it’s because Saskatchewan has always been about a team effort, whether it’s the barn-raising or the co-ops or health care. All those kind of ideas about concern for your fellow individual seem to be linked to Saskatchewan in a great way in hockey.
Q: Think about Johnny Bower, too, and everything he represented.
A: He never stopped, after his playing days, being an ambassador for the game — in a very joyful, humble way. He often talked about his time playing in Vernon, briefly, just before World War II. He was sent to Vernon for training camp for the military. He actually won a trophy there, the senior hockey championship of the province — the Coy Cup, it’s called. He said that most of the guys on that team never came home from World War II. I think that really established in Johnny’s mind a sense of gratitude and a sense of impermanence.
Q: You mentioned ambassadors for the game, and I’ve always wondered whether Don Cherry gets enough credit along those lines. A few years ago, I wrote to him for a (Raise-a-Reader) fundraiser and sent him one photo that I asked him to sign. He signed that photo — and sent it back with five other autographed photos.
A: Bobby Orr is the same way. I don’t think that Don learned that from Bobby. Don always had that in him, but you’re absolutely right. I don’t think that there’s a piece of fan mail that goes unresponded to by Don. Like Johnny Bower, Don thinks of himself as a 32-year-old American Hockey League player. He has never lost that mentality. That 32-year-old American Hockey League player has to be there because he loves the game. There are a lot of slings and arrows in your career. It’s a tough life. Even at that level, somebody’s trying to take your job. He goes out every weeknight with his son, Tom, and scouts minor midget hockey in the Greater Toronto Area. Those are the kids who will be eligible for the OHL draft. Tim and Don love being rink rats. Like Bill Hunter, Don knows how to put on a show, so he certainly has charisma and talent. He’s a Kingston boy and he’s rock-solid in terms of having been a builder of our game — an amazing builder. He’ll go in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, for sure.
Q: My friend Courtney Wagner had a chance to meet you a few years ago and had a picture taken with you. She said you were really nice and is still very proud of the thumbs-up photo.
A: Yeah, that’s what we do (laughs). A photographer in Edmonton told me once that doing a gesture like a thumbsup helps your smile. By then,
I’d done it for years because of Don Cherry, of course. Grapes probably studied that. He doesn’t miss a trick when it comes to lighting and sets and so forth.
Q: As an official yourself, what do you think of the offside challenges? Thumbs-up or thumbsdown?
A: Thumbs-down, for sure. I don’t like anything where technology interferes with sociology or psychology. I just feel like the game was meant to teach you virtues. It’s meant to be a little Petri dish in which you experiment with courage, and that includes losing and having the vicissitudes of life go against you, so I really don’t like this idea of “you have to get it right with video replay.” I honestly think it comes out in the wash. If you lose because of a mistake, that teaches you a lot. That’s all part of it. So I think the intrinsic good or virtue of sport is compromised anytime you sort of rely on the electric eye. I’m not a fan.
Q: One more question, and I have to ask: Is it back to Victoria’s Tavern this weekend?
A: I’m sure there will be a pint at the Victoria. That is a very special memory. It has taken me four years to get over it.