‘The soundtrack of our game’
We chat with the legend BobCole , whose reign as the voice of hockey has been extended
Bob Cole was never going to go out quietly. That wouldn’t be his way.
But as the clock was ticking down on his 50 years as the voice of hockey in Canada, he thought the end was coming a week from Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
But then Scott Moore was pushed out as boss of Rogers Sportsnet and Cole’s farewell tour, orchestrated by his employers, was suddenly extended by six games — with the perfect ending for the brilliant broadcaster, the last Saturday of the regular season, Hockey Night In
Canada, Toronto at Montreal. What could be better than that?
“Whenever it ends, it ends,” said Cole in a lengthy telephone interview. “We had it finalized, then it wasn’t finalized.
“I never wanted to make a big deal of any of this. I never wanted a (farewell tour) of any kind. All this attention is kind of crazy to me. It’s not me. I’ve never been one of those guys who knew how many games he’d done or kept any records of those kind of things. I just liked what I did and I loved the games and I still love them and love doing them.
“I never thought about how long I would do this job or when retirement was coming or counted the days to retirement. But I’ve been humbled the last while, the way people have reacted all across Canada.”
It has been a remarkable 50 years of national broadcasting for the iconic and melodic voice of hockey in Canada, the voice of our game.
Bob Cole hasn’t just called games all these years.
“He’s the greatest voice in the history of the game,” said Chris Cuthbert, one of Canada’s finest play-by-play men. “I think the voice will be his legacy more than anything. It’s not just that he’s done this for so long. It’s how he’s done this.
“He’s the soundtrack of our game.
“I know this much about Bob. He loves Frank Sinatra and, to me, he’s our version of Sinatra in broadcast — a special voice, with special timing and longevity and tone, and he just has this kind of aura about him. And you know, a funny story about Bob: He did get to meet Sinatra, his idol, at the Montreal Forum years ago. He got one ticket for the show on the floor. And Sinatra walked by and was shaking hands with some of the people around him.
“He went by Colie and it may have the been the first time in Bob’s life he was lost for words. My understanding is he just stood there, kind of frozen and said nothing.”
The Hockey Sinatra freezing in front of the real one. One voice of a lifetime silent beside the other one.
That wasn’t necessarily Cole’s way. He was more of a runaway train at times in his life. At the age of 23, while working at a small-time broadcast in Newfoundland, Cole made his way to Toronto with a couple of friends, bought a car and drove to New York to see his beloved Yankees play. On the trip, he made it a point to meet his broadcast hero, the legendary Mel Allen, voice of the Yankees — and somehow he did. He made such an impression on Allen that the broadcaster arranged media passes for Cole and his
friends the next day. It was there he took a picture with the great Mickey Mantle, well on his way to the Triple Crown in 1956.
As he and his friends drove back to Toronto, Cole decided if he was in the big city, he might as well try to take advantage of it. He decided to stop in at CKFH Radio — the “FH” standing for Foster Hewitt, originator of hockey broadcasting — to drop off a tape for Hewitt.
“My friends waited in the car and I went up to leave this tape at reception,” said Cole.
Only the woman at reception, after asking if he had an appointment, felt compelled to contact Hewitt.
Hewitt invited him to his office. And they went into a studio and listened to the tape.
This is the kind of personal contact that would never happen today.
“My knees were knocking,” he said. “I asked for some advice and I think we spent two hours talking. My guys are down in the car and I’m sitting there with Foster Hewitt. And when he said, ‘I like your voice,’ I couldn’t believe it.”
When NHL expansion came in 1967, Cole applied for jobs everywhere and mostly received rejection letters. Only one team, the California Golden Seals, offered him a job.
“But I just didn’t feel right about going to Oakland, something about it bothered me. I think that was a good decision on my part.”
Two years later, he worked his first Stanley Cup playoff game.
“Jean Beliveau scored in the second overtime period, the only overtime goal of his career,” said Cole. “Pretty good to be able to start out that way.”
There have been so many monumental moments after that one, most of which he can’t individualize because of the number of games and years and circumstances, so
Only lately it’s been hitting me, when people come up to you and say they’ve been listening to you their whole lives, and how much you’ve meant to them. I never realized that people thought this way. Again, I was just doing my job.
Bob Cole
many playoff series including the radio version of the famed Canada-Russia series of 1972.
But he certainly won’t forget the famous game in January of 1976, with the roughhouse Philadelphia Flyers playing the Moscow
Red Army in the last match of an eightgame series. He won’t forget it — nor, it seems, will anyone else.
It was on that afternoon that the physical style of the Flyers so intimidated the Red Army it pulled their team from the ice and Cole made his famous “They’re going home, they’re going home” call.
“Do you know there’s a morning radio show in Vancouver that ends every day with, ‘They’re going home, they’re going home’? It’s still talked about after all these years,” said Cole.
Last weekend, doing what he believes was his last broadcast in Edmonton, the Oilers chose to honour Cole. He didn’t think much about it going into the game. But he’s been walking on air since the tribute, which included words from Connor McDavid and scoreboard words with Wayne Gretzky referring to him as “Mr. Cole.” A framed jersey was presented with his name on the back and the number 50 on it.
And all weekend, he signed autographs, posed for more photographs than he has his entire life, took in all the adulation.
“I think we forget what a great hockey town Edmonton is. Because it’s been so long. I was there for so many of those big moments, you don’t think people will think of you that way.
“I almost lost it (emotionally) a couple of times, it was kind of touching. It’s humbling to get this kind of reaction because all I did was go to work. Imagine having a job like this one?
“But only lately it’s been hitting me, when people come up to you and say they’ve been listening to you their whole lives, and how much you’ve meant to them. I never realized that people thought this way. Again, I was just doing my job.
“I did games in Montreal and I’ve been accused of being a Montreal fan and I’ve been accused of hating Montreal. I did games in Toronto and I’ve been accused of being a Toronto fan and accused of hating Toronto. That’s part of the job.
“Foster (Hewitt) told me, ‘When you call a great hockey game, people will remember the game, they won’t mention your name. That’s when you’ll know you’ve made it.’ ”
He’s almost at the finish line now, eight games to go in a career. Seven Saturday nights. Three featuring the Leafs. Five the Canadiens. Three the Ottawa Senators.
He doesn’t want any goodbye parties or pity parties. In fact, he wishes he wasn’t going anywhere at all.
Retirement wasn’t his idea. It was pushed on him, almost taken away, and then there were so many good feelings that it was extended.
“All I do is go to work and I’ve enjoyed every day of it,” said Cole. “I don’t know how I’m going to feel when it’s all over. If I had my way, I’d just keep on working.”