How was CBC's coverage in the 80s?

[danderson400]

how did CBC handle multiple series during the playoffs in the 80s? on the Anik satellite, a lot of time id get Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton in the first round. Since CBC had multiple channels on Anik, i'd see all series that they produced. Same thing in the 90s with Vancouver in the mix or even Winnipeg sometimes. also how did they handle the National with Knowlton Nash or later on, Peter Mansbridge with the later starts at Pacific Coliseum, Northlands Coliseum, the Salldedome, and even the Met Center, Chicago Stadium, or St Louis Arena?

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[King King]

This clip suggests to me that they've come a very long way indeed.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

how did CBC handle multiple series during the playoffs in the 80s?

I remember one time they put a Montreal-Hartford game 7 to the Parliamentary channel so everyone in the West could see it.

 

[Rebuilt]

Dave Hodge was the first side kick on Coaches Corner.

 

[Jumptheshark]

how did CBC handle multiple series during the playoffs in the 80s? on the Anik satellite, a lot of time id get Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton in the first round. Since CBC had multiple channels on Anik, i'd see all series that they produced. Same thing in the 90s with Vancouver in the mix or even Winnipeg sometimes. also how did they handle the National with Knowlton Nash or later on, Peter Mansbridge with the later starts at Pacific Coliseum, Northlands Coliseum, the Salldedome, and even the Met Center, Chicago Stadium, or St Louis Arena?

regardless of who was playing--they were obligated to talk about the leafs at least five minutes a period

 

[Poignant Discussion*]

regardless of who was playing--they were obligated to talk about the leafs at least five minutes a period

That's a load of crap, the Leafs were a non entity in the 80's. Even in Toronto no one wore Leaf jerseys and there were times in which Edmonton or Montreal was the main game and that's the game which would be shown in Toronto

Don't let your Leaf hate kill your reputation on here bud, cause that was an outright lie

 

[Uncle Rotter]

During those pre-internet days during the playoffs, you'd have to watch the entire show to hear the out-of-town scores. Then after the game you'd sit by the radio, waiting for the scores to be mentioned. And you liked it!

 

[Ash35]

That's a load of crap, the Leafs were a non entity in the 80's. Even in Toronto no one wore Leaf jerseys and there were times in which Edmonton or Montreal was the main game and that's the game which would be shown in Toronto

Don't let your Leaf hate kill your reputation on here bud, cause that was an outright lie

Stop making stuff up. Were you even a leaf fan back then? Leafs were huge in the 80's in Toronto. They weren't good but they were a fun young team to watch on many nights and because it was easier to make the playoffs then, they were usually involved and did alright expecially in the late 80s. I would bet the fan base in Toronto was bigger back then compared to today.

As for the playoff coverage. It wasn't bad. They would have double headers every night just like now. You just didn't have a bunch of channels showing different games. Some nights though you could catch 3 games a night if you didn't mind watching the Habs on the French channel.

 

[danderson400]

Yeah, back then CBC would have a feed for each game on the Anik satellite. Usually CBC would have CBMT(Monrteal) and CBUT(Vancouver) showing the Habs and the Canucks and CHBT(Halfax) showing the Leafs. CBC also had channels that would show other games, like when the Flames were inloved in 93 and 96 and also the Jets. i remember when Toronto played Chicago and Vancouver played Calgary and Bosotn played Montreal in 94, a couple had the Leafs game and the news while the Vancouver station and maybe one other channel had the Canucks-Flames series but one of them(Saskatchewan?) had both as a DH. CBMT had the Habs game and the news. in the second round, CHBT had the Leafs while CBUT had the Canucks expect for a doubleheader on Sunday

 

[ozzie]

I remember Dave Hodge's tirade like it was yesterday. It would have been like stopping coverage before 3 on 3 and a shoot out. Leaving your views hanging. That is basically what it was. Not often do you see a broadcaster calling out his network for having their priorities wrong.

 

[ozzie]

I forgot to mention, CBC for the most part was terrible in the 80's. TSN forced CBC to up their game in many ways. TSN's playoff coverage was unmatched, for the games they could show. TSN stayed on the air and switched to another game (if they owned the rights).

TSN was great in the playoffs.

You can thank TSN for Saturday double headers, which had a lot to do with Gretzky being on the West Coast.

 

[Oilslick941611]

It wasn't until a few years ago that you actually got to see all the games live. Without Centre Ice you only got the national games (usually the leafs) and one of the double header games after the leaf game.

They started showing multiple games at the same time available nationally only recently. in the 90's it was leafs or canadians.

 

[tony d]

I can remember them showing different games in different parts of the country. The west coast would get say Edmonton or Calgary and the East would get Montreal, Quebec or Toronto. That was moreso for the regular season though but I'd imagine it would be that way in the playoffs.

 

[Fenway]

They would split the country and MacLean would say this game is being seen in Ottawa-to the west and Montreal is being seen from Montreal to the east.

I had access to a C-Band dish 25 years ago and the 2 CBC channels that were in the clear in the US were CBC-North and CBC-Montreal. The Montreal station had weird commercials from a leather store called Dimitri.

 

[danderson400]

They would split the country and MacLean would say this game is being seen in Ottawa-to the west and Montreal is being seen from Montreal to the east.

I had access to a C-Band dish 25 years ago and the 2 CBC channels that were in the clear in the US were CBC-North and CBC-Montreal. The Montreal station had weird commercials from a leather store called Dimitri.

I can remember many times when North and Montreal would have one game, but the Pacific one would have a game from the west. Happened a lot back then

 

[danderson400]

They would split the country and MacLean would say this game is being seen in Ottawa-to the west and Montreal is being seen from Montreal to the east.

I had access to a C-Band dish 25 years ago and the 2 CBC channels that were in the clear in the US were CBC-North and CBC-Montreal. The Montreal station had weird commercials from a leather store called Dimitri.

Yep, can remember MacLean saying that Quebec and Ontario-east would get the Leafs or the Habs while Manitoba-west would get the other game. sometimes they'd have to do Quebec only if there was a third game, and even Manitoba or Alberta only sometimes.

 

[Roof Daddy]

During those pre-internet days during the playoffs, you'd have to watch the entire show to hear the out-of-town scores. Then after the game you'd sit by the radio, waiting for the scores to be mentioned. And you liked it!

Growing up in the late 80's in Edmonton I remember there was an information hotline you could phone for news, weather and sports. They'd update it every hour for game scores and that was as good as it got back then. Now if it takes more than 5 seconds to open a new page I completely lose my ****.

I remember using that same hotline to get updates on the Lindros trade when they were ruling whether he'd been traded to NYR or PHI. Painful.

 

[VanIslander]

Dave Hodge was a great straight-shooting CBC broadcaster who lost his job at the network for daring to criticize on air (and win public sympathy from millions who shared his frustration) the network's decision to cut away from an important game.

I recall it vividly and have respected Hodge for it ever since.

 

[JA]

Dave Hodge was a great straight-shooting CBC broadcaster who lost his job at the network for daring to criticize on air (and win public sympathy from millions who shared his frustration) the network's decision to cut away from an important game.

I recall it vividly and have respected Hodge for it ever since.

Dave Hodge explains the incident in this 1989 interview:



It begins at 1:23 of the video.

 

[Jumptheshark]

That's a load of crap, the Leafs were a non entity in the 80's. Even in Toronto no one wore Leaf jerseys and there were times in which Edmonton or Montreal was the main game and that's the game which would be shown in Toronto

Don't let your Leaf hate kill your reputation on here bud, cause that was an outright lie

well as soneone who was BORN AND RAISED in EDMONTON and watched every HNIC ga,e saturday night---you have no idea what you are talking about

do you know why HNIC went to double headers? west coast teams got fed up of 4pm starts only to be told the leafs were going to be on.

 

[byrath]

Dave Hodge explains the incident in this 1989 interview:



It begins at 1:23 of the video.

Good stuff, thanks for posting.

 

[StupidGenius]

I still think Hodge's pen flip was way better than Bautista's bat flip last year.

 

[danderson400]

Having heard what he said about the curling match earlier that day, and the Habs/Flyers game later on that night i don't blame him. He obviously was right: the National could wait a few minutes to finish a hockey or curling match, and soon after CBC changed their policy in terms of the news and hockey and curling games so that they would finish before the news came on.

 

[Snow Dog]

That's a load of crap, the Leafs were a non entity in the 80's. Even in Toronto no one wore Leaf jerseys and there were times in which Edmonton or Montreal was the main game and that's the game which would be shown in Toronto

Don't let your Leaf hate kill your reputation on here bud, cause that was an outright lie

I guess you're not from TO or too young.There were alot of proud Leaf fans in the 80's.

 

[PurpleMouse]

One thing that has gotten better, and isn't really CBC's doing but the NHL's, is the scheduling. People don't like how dragged out things are these days and I agree, but what was bad back then was that the Wales played one night and the Campbell the next night which doesn't make sense for maximizing TV. in 92 there were four game 7s in the Wales in one night, now they usually go two East/two West in one night which is better.