Around hockey: Cole’s last call Twice the CWHL coverage
OH BABY: Legendary play-byplay caller Bob Cole will call his last game for Hockey Night In Canada on April 6, the regularseason finale between the Montreal Canadiens and Maple Leafs, Sportsnet announced Friday. This is Cole’s 50th season. “When I began calling NHL games in 1969, I never dreamt I would still be doing it 50 years later,” Cole told Sportsnet.ca. “Every game I have called over my career has been a dream come true. I am grateful for the privilege of bringing the game to the fans all these years and I will continue to put everything I have into it until my final game. I just want hockey fans to be able to enjoy the game as much as I do.” CAPTAIN CROSBY: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby says it’s not his style to criticize his teammates publicly. “I don’t think there’s ever really a purpose to that,” Crosby told the Pittsburgh Tribune. “If you have an issue, you deal with it directly with that person. It doesn’t need to go past that. It has happened. Sometimes it’s when guys are heated right after the game when we do interviews. It could happen easily sometimes.
“But for the most part, if there’s an issue or you want to talk about a play or if you want to be critical of someone, I think it’s better to do it face to face.” SCORING LAINE: Winnipeg Jets star Patrik Laine hasn’t scored in December, a stretch of five games heading into Tuesday’s game against Chicago. But he got a couple of assists against the Flyers; he had five helpers to go with 21 goals through 29 games. He doesn’t hide the fact he prefers the role of finisher over setup guy.
“I don’t really care about as- sists, it doesn’t really matter to me,” Laine told the Winnipeg Free Press. “Points are points and I’ll take them. I’m not really worrying about that too much. You get the points, goals and assists, when you work hard.”
WOMEN’S WEEKEND: The CWHL will have a pair of its games — Toronto at Montreal, and Calgary at Markham — broadcast by Sportsnet on Jan. 5, followed by the league’s annual all-star game, Jan. 6 in Toronto.
“The CWHL weekend is the first of its kind,” said commissioner Jayna Hefford. “This is a great opportunity for fans who can’t get to a game to see our players in a high definition broadcast and to expand our reach to audiences who may have never seen our games before.”
The league is also asking its fans to vote on all-star captains.