What got Hodge in trouble was the continuing battle between the news and sports divisions at CBC. News wanted Ontario to go to the national news - viewers in Ottawa to Newfoundland were seeing Montreal anyways.
In 1979 CBC had a problem when a Boston/Montreal playoff game went to OT and news demanded they be given the network because of a British election that same evening. Ralph Mellanby who ran HNIC then was going to quit if they were not going to show the OT live. I know this because I was in the WSBK-TV truck at Boston Garden that was handling the production for CBC, SRC and the Boston feed ( which was being sent to several US cities) The old Garden in those days could only handle one truck. CBC News felt that anyone who wanted to see the OT live could watch in French.
But I also suspect Hodge blew up knowing that CBC was grooming MacLean to replace him. HNIC in Canada ownership was muddled back then and I believe Molson was calling the shots in 1987.
Hodge did the right thing, he called out the network for leaving the Flyers-Canadiens broadcast for the news- and he was right. Hodge says that "Bob Cole and I and perhaps some others were in the studio just before six PM eastern time watching the Briar. Newfoundland was playing, so Bob was terribly eager to follow the progress of every rock. As six o’clock came the CBC cut away for news. Bob was furious. I shook my head and said, “This is no way to run a network,” and thought no more about it at the time. Until we hit the evening of hockey." "The Leafs game ended. We threw over to the end of a Philly-Montreal game which Montreal was leading three to two until Scott Mellanby tied it up and it went to overtime and
again the CBC cut away from the game, or made plans to go to other programming(news). I got the message in my ear to explain that we had no more time to cover this game(even though they *could* have delayed The National). I remember pleading with the producer in the truck to sign off with a wide shot and I would be prepared to deliver verbally that message – but I did not want to have to come on camera and explain this policy. Clearly, I didn’t agree with it. Hadn’t agreed with it earlier in the day. More so, wasn’t in line with it when it was involving me directly. They said, “No. Sorry. The way to do this is to come on camera and apologize to the viewers.” I probably had five or ten seconds between actually been told that and being on the air. So, I didn’t have a chance to really compose myself." It wasn't just Hodge that was mad. Don Wittman who was covering the curling match that was cut off to join the NDP leadership convention in progress, and he was mad too about it, and he said words that are unprintable too. What CBC did that day and night was wrong, and they knew it.
