Again, I'm not an Edwards guy. Just not my taste. Per the bolded, I want to know what criteria goes into this. Personally, I find it utterly embarrassing when announcers clearly don't put in the research on the visiting team. They don't know names, they don't know player back stories, they don't offer any insight into the pulse of what's going on with the team that is playing their home club. Having had Center Ice for a decade now, it's remarkable how many random broadcasts you turn on, and how poorly informed and researched the Play by Play guy is. Edwards, despite all his antics and homerism, is the opposite of this. He's a grinder and a hockey nerd. He puts the time in before games to research/study/learn about the other team. I value that.
I think Pierre Mcguire has a similar reputation here. He's kind of a goofball, and a bit annoying, but the depth of knowledge he provides during broadcasts is something I find valuable. I like knowing where all these guys came from, who they played for, what challenges they overcame to get to the show, etc. I like that depth of information. Guys like Edwards and Pierre, for all their quirks and antics, do that.
My point...somewhere buried in my rambling...is I think it's disingenuous to call guys like Edwards (and Mcguire) unprofessional or a mockery to the business, because it takes away the massive amount of time/energy/research they put in to the job. If Center Ice has taught me one thing, it's how many dudes around the league show up two hours before drop, take a peak at the lineup that night, and hit record on the broadcast. I think that's more of a mockery than anything else.
