HNIC Confirms Five New Additions
Editors note: This article is an updated version of the article I posted earlier today.
CBC has announced that there will be five new members on Hockey Night in Canada this season. Three of the new members have been known for a week or more now; they are Andi Petrillo, Gord Stellick and David Amber. Petrillo will be a studio host for CBC, hosting a new show called Game Day. Stellick will replace Jeff Marek on Hockey Night Radio. Amber will be a rinkside reporter for CBC, mainly working 7pm eastern games in Toronto and occasionally Montreal.
CBC also announced that Canucks radio play-by-play Rick Ball and NHL on Versus analyst Daryl Reaugh will form CBC’s new broadcast crew. Ball and Reaugh will mostly do Winnipeg Jets games on CBC. They will also do some 10pm ET games, but Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes will still be CBC’s main broadcast crew at 10pm ET.
The broadcast crews for eastern time zone games will largely remain the same. Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson and Glenn Healy will still do most Leafs games; Bob Cole and Garry Galley will work most Canadiens broadcasts; Dean Brown and Garry Galley will call Senators games.
David Amber will be the rinkside reporter for many Toronto Maple Leafs games. Elliotte Friedman will move into a new role as an insider on The Hotstove many weeks, replacing Pierre Lebrun. Cassie Campbell-Pascal will return as the rinkside reporter for most Canadiens games. Amber will also fill-in for Campbell-Pascal when she has other commitments.
CBC is also launching a new pre-game show this season. The name of the new show is Game Day and air from 5-6pm eastern. Andi Petrillo will host the progam with analyst PJ Stock.
Here is a quote from Julie Bristow, Executive Director of Studio and Unscripted Programming for CBC:
We could not be happier with the addition of Gord, Andi, David, Daryl and Rick to our team. They all bring a different experienced background and point of view about the game that we feel will really resonate with Canadian hockey fans
Did you mean to say Dean Brown and Greg Millen will call Senators games? :)
nationscapital
22 September, 2011 at 9:09pm
My word. Even Hockey Night in Canada caved to “hot blond chick must have role” schtick. I’d have much preferred Campbell-Pascal host that as I think she’s excellent. But I guess Petrillo hosts more. Her and the dreadful PJ Stock will make that a program to put on mute.
Mookie
22 September, 2011 at 10:21pm
I don’t mind Petrillo. I think she’d be better as a rinkside reporter, with Cassie Campbell either being a studio analyst or the co-host of After Hours though. I didn’t really expect her to go any higher than GolTV. Maybe CBC has some soccer work line up for her at the 2014 World Cup too. Stock is terrible
I won’t even bother watching the new program. I’m kind of mad that CBC is replacing amateur sports (something I think they should be showing more of) with another studio program.
canadiansportsmedia
22 September, 2011 at 10:40pm
Damn, another year of listening to Healy shit on the Leafs. They must have done something terrible to him while he was with the team. He never has anything good to say about the Leafs, no matter how good they seem to play.
Geoff
23 September, 2011 at 10:03am
I don’t think he has anything good to say about anyone most of the time. It’s like in his attempt to not come across friendly to the players (you know, being ex-NHLPA and all), he is really harsh on all of them. At least he won’t be a regular on the Hotstove from the looks of it.
canadiansportsmedia
23 September, 2011 at 12:34pm
Pierre McGuire could be annoying at time but at least he’s fair. And now he’ll have to dumb down his analysis for American audiences.
Geoff
23 September, 2011 at 6:19pm
I must have missed it when Healy covered a *good* Leaf team.
WhitehorseJosh
23 September, 2011 at 4:20pm
Haha. Yes, making fun of the Leafs is easy. Glad to have you aboard.
Also, I get frustrated when it commentators/analysts (everyone, not just Healy) can’t figure out what’s going on after watching countless replays and I’ve noticed it live and in real-time. These guys are supposed to be experts.
Geoff
23 September, 2011 at 6:17pm
The Leafs didn’t offer him the Managers job before they hired Burke! That’s why Healy has such a hard on for them!!
Gary
3 March, 2013 at 12:35am