MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RINK
Last year couldn’t have gone any worse for NHL fans across the land, an annus horribilis of hockey. Not one of the Canadian-based teams made the playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs finished dead last, the Stanley Cup final was a dud, Quebec City lost out in the expansion sweepstakes to Las Vegas, Gordie Howe passed away and P.K. Subban, the Montreal Canadiens’ defencemen who can turn the dullest hockey game into something special, was mysteri-
ously exiled to Nashville of all places. While this debacle was unfolding on the ice, watching it on television might have been even worse – every Saturday night we were subjected to the awkward drama of George Stroumboulopoulos flaming out in his role as Hockey Night in Canada host. It’s hard to blame Strombo. He’s obviously a good guy who was miscast for the role of trying to fulfill the Rogers broadcast executives’ mandate and jazzing up HNIC. Rogers execs felt viewers were just too darn old for advertisers’ tastes and the franchise needed a reboot and the 43-year-old former VJ was just the man for the job. The resulting foray into hockey hipsterism was doomed from the start. It turns out you need more than a fancy new set and a host who drops pop culture references to bump ratings and, as often happens in such cases, the change not only failed to attract a younger audience but managed to irritate the long-time viewers as well. In the end, Rogers did the right thing and put Ron MacLean, 56, back in the host’s chair, a post he’d held for 18 years until being demoted in the youth movement. While MacLean isn’t as slick, stylish or suave as his predecessor, he’s a hockey man through and through, with the type of personality to which viewers easily relate. So, with Ron back in the saddle, things are decidedly looking up for the 2016/17 season. On the ice, there are promising signs as well. The Leafs may finally be worth watching with No. 1 pick Auston Matthews in the lineup, the Canadiens will get their superb goaltender Carey Price back between the pipes and Edmonton Oiler fans will enjoy a full season with the budding superstar Connor McDavid. It’s unlikely that any of these players will lead his team to a Stanley Cup victory and end an almost quarter century drought of a Canadian franchise winning the top prize. But at the very least, we should see much better hockey during the upcoming season and maybe even a few playoff games north of the border. Now if only we could do something about getting P.K. back up here.