Radio silence
Rangers broadcaster Don Cameron dies at 82
KITCHENER — The voice of the Kitchener Rangers has gone silent.
Broadcaster Don Cameron passed away unexpectedly Thursday after dealing with an illness. He was 82.
“His impact is immeasurable,” said current Rangers play-byplay announcer Mike Farwell, who worked alongside Cameron for five years.
“I think in many ways he was the seventh man for the Kitchener Rangers. He was synonymous with the hockey team and always will be.”
Cameron, often referred to as “The Legend” by fans or “Cammy” by friends, brought the Blueshirts to life on the radio for more than 50 years before stepping out of the booth in 2015 to spend more time with Carole, his wife of 55 years.
But even in retirement you could find the proud Maritimer in the upper reaches of the Aud wearing his signature red argyle hat while quietly scribbling notes about the game.
“For someone who was never an employee of the hockey club he was probably the most important employee we had, in the sense that people in our community identified with him and his voice on all our broadcasts,” said Rangers chief operating officer Steve Bienkowski.
Cameron’s numbers make him a Hockey Hall of Fame candidate.
He logged thousands of kilometres in the team bus and called more than 4,000 Rangers games over 50 years before making way for Farwell.
Cameron returned for the odd game and his final call came this past season in Kitchener’s dramatic 4-3 overtime win against Sault Ste. Marie in Game 6 of the Ontario Hockey League’s western conference final.
His voice was infectious. His style was unique.
“A lot of people that grew up with him, and with no disrespect to TV broadcasters, would turn the TV down and listen to him for the play-by-play while watching the game,” said Bienkowski.
Cameron was born in Summerside, P.E.I., one of 17 children.
He tried playing hockey but abandoned it after being inspired by the voices of Hockey Night In Canada broadcasters Foster Hewitt and Danny Gallivan flowing out of his family’s radio.
His first job was covering the Summerside Aces senior hockey squad for the local CJRW radio station.
From there he headed west to St. Catharines before landing in Kitchener as sports director at CKCR in 1958.
The Kitchener-Dutchmen were the big team in town until the Rangers arrived five years later.
“He was an icon,” said Gary Doyle, who was Cameron’s colour commentator for 15 years. “He told me once, and I’ll never forget it, that you’re never bigger than the game. You’re here to talk about the game, not about yourself.”
Cameron had a soft spot for his east coast roots and held an annual potato night every Rangers season. The food drive collected more than half a million pounds of spuds for those in need over the years.
Away from the rink he was a baseball nut. He even coached the Kitchener Kieswetters women’s senior fastball team to a Canadian championship in 1975.
“The Kitchener Panthers were also hot after Don to coach the team,” said longtime friend and former Rangers statistician Donald MacDonald. “Carole always said she gave him hockey, he’s not getting baseball too.”
Cameron liked to cook and was a regular at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, where he knew how to find all the deals. Boxing Day spreads in the rec room of his house near Highland and Westmount Roads in Kitchener were a highlight for friends.
“I don’t know how to say it well enough but he was the truest gentleman as ever you would want to meet,” said Farwell. “The way he carried himself every single place we went. I was in awe just watching him be him.”
Cameron had an uncanny ability to remember names, faces and statistics of former Rangers players from days long before information was accessible with the click of a mouse.
Fans often stopped him in grocery stores, on the street and at the Aud to pick his brain about past greats and he always left a positive impression.
“One of the things that impressed me and really pleased him is how many former Rangers would go and see him when they were back in town,” said Doyle.
What many didn’t notice was his work ethic.
Cameron was often the first media member to arrive at the Aud and compiled his own hand written notes to guide him through the game.
“He made it look effortless and that was a credit to his professionalism,” said Farwell.
The Rangers tried to fete the master of the microphone for his milestones on several occasions with little success.
“We wanted to send him and his wife to his native Scotland as a thank you and the radio station (570 News) had purchased a gold ring but he just shut it all down,” recalled Bienkowski. “He refused to accept it or be praised out on the ice in front of people.”
In the end, the Rangers got away with naming the media room at the Aud in his honour. Though, in retirement, he refused to drop by for the free coffee and pre-game meal unless he was called in to work.
In many ways, the Rangers were a second family for Cameron, who never had kids of his own. “He loved the club and everything about it,” said Farwell. “Even though he didn’t call it like a homer, he loved his kids, his boys and his team. That’s why he was still going to games up until the very end.”
Funeral details have yet to be determined but the service is expected to be held at Kitchener’s St Francis of Assisi where Don and Carole have been regular parishioners.