Sportsnet: Paul Romanuk

[APV]

Interested to know the boards thoughts on him. Do you think he is better/worse than Bowen? Noticed that he can't tell the difference between Leivo & Kadri…

Click to read more...

 

[ShameOnYouZidlicky]

He doesn't have the passion that Bowen has

 

[iBlaze81]

He called Kessel, JVR yesterday as well. I prefer Bowen.

 

[Eyedea]

I need pizzazz and bias to watch a team that fills it's fanbase with broken hearts annually.

Romanuk doesn't cut it.

 

[ACC1224]

All Announcers get Players confused at times, no biggie IMO.

I take Bowen every day though, he always seemed more invested in the game and had a much more varied delivery of the play.

How many times has Romanuk said "delivered the payload" and the season hasn't started yet? Not a fan.

 

[91Stammer*]

I think I am gonna miss Bowen this year.!! He was heart and soul leaf commentator, I don't get why he was the one who was cut from the list. It's gonna be a bad season specially when you watch it on TV.

 

[Leafidelity]

I'd have a lot easier of a time transitioning if Romanuk could actually follow a play. I know he's done hockey before, but he's calling the games like a baseball announcer who's never seen a hockey game before.

 

[Faltorvo]

I have no issues with Romy at all

but that said

JB has a certain je ne sais quoi, that is hard to replace.

If it was not for the time delays, I'd use the radio.

 

[sommervr]

I don't think Romanuk and Millen are a good team. At least one of these guys needs to be entertaining to make up for the team on the ice.

What I would give to see Will Arnett do color commentary as Bojack Horseman. Even one game would be awesome.

(Arnett is a big leafs fan and has been hanging around the team recently)

 

[dubey]

I liked Bowen but started getting tired of his act. Romanuk was refreshing I thought.

 

[frankthetank91]

He's OK. Prefer Bowen as you can tell he was a genuine fan of the team and wanted the Leafs to succeed so you could hear the passion in his voice.

Romanuk is obviously less biased but I get this feeling he doesn't even like the Leafs. It seems like he gets more excited when the other team scores a goal. Started to catch on and want to see if it continues.

All in all anyone is better than that Marlies guy.

 

[Mess]

If I had to pick between Romanuk and Bowen I would pick neither.

However to Romanuk's defense he has being calling International sports and hockey and so his mistakes on name calling is due to not calling NHL games. With time I'm sure he will improve in this regard, but his delivery will remain dry and uninspired.

Bowen's problem was decline with age and clearly the reason he was replaced and retired to pasture.

 

[Darkside Blue]

I like Romy. I was never a big fan of Joe Bowen, I thought he was a blowhard that often lost track of the game and there'd be 30 seconds of dead air until he caught up to the play again.

Romy did mistake a lot of the players - the JVR for Orr was pretty funny, and apparently Leivo is pronounced Leebo, but he's articulate and actually asks Millen interesting questions, instead of just browbeating him about being a ****** goalie.

The only thing I liked about the JB/GM combo is that no-one was quicker to spot a bad game and state that fact, many times during the broadcast. The downside to that would be that they'd check out and start talking about anything but the game.

 

[Drew311]

Romanuk's voice just doesn't fit IMO. Say what you will about Bowen but you just associate his voice with Leafs games. It's just not the same.

 

[Sergei Berezin]

I like Romanuk's voice. It sounds like Bill Clements at times.

However, I'll always miss Bowen. The guy is a pure Leaf fan and did the games with such passion and enthusiasm and often had me laughing during games where I could've punched a wall. I know that Romanuk is only going to add to my anger during games where the Leafs are getting killed, similar to when Hughson does the CBC games... Bowen's such an awesome person off camera too.

 

[The Iceman]

Bowen was and is awesome.
Bad call replacing him on broadcasts.
PR is very rusty and it showed. He was weak on getting players names right.
PR will get better.

 

[Faltorvo]

He's OK. Prefer Bowen as you can tell he was a genuine fan of the team and wanted the Leafs to succeed so you could hear the passion in his voice.

Romanuk is obviously less biased but I get this feeling he doesn't even like the Leafs. It seems like he gets more excited when the other team scores a goal. Started to catch on and want to see if it continues.

All in all anyone is better than that Marlies guy.

The Marlies guys voice actually hurts my ears.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Meh. I don't know how much I'm actually going to miss Bowen. He and Millen were way too chatty and liked to talk about and laugh at themselves way too much. It was getting annoying.

 

[Cappayne]

It's only been a couple of games with Romy but there are some glaring differences for me. It may be because it's pre-season and there are 35+ Leafs to remember, but I find that often there will be dead air and I have to figure out myself which Leafs are out there which doesn't help when Kadri is Leivo and Nylander, and Kessel is Bozak, and JvR is Orr.

Joe definitely had his flaws, such as his random stories and laughing sessions during play, and I will admit that I prefer Romy's style where he asks questions (unfortunately Millen has to answer them) and isn's afraid to speak his mind (e.g. about Kontiola).

I hope Romy "steps it up" in the regular season.

 

[Daisy Jane]

If I had to pick between Romanuk and Bowen I would pick neither.

However to Romanuk's defense he has being calling International sports and hockey and so his mistakes on name calling is due to not calling NHL games. With time I'm sure he will improve in this regard, but his delivery will remain dry and uninspired.

Bowen's problem was decline with age and clearly the reason he was replaced and retired to pasture.

um. you realised that Bowen isn't retired, he's calling all 82 regular season games on the radio, right?

some of you guys are such agists. If people make mistakes, it's because they're old, or they are declining with age. People make mistakes all the time in the call. I'd rather passion with mistakes, then clinical and perfection.

im still trying to figure out why we always get meh team and montreal gets Bob Cole and everyone else.

 

[Ramboshaw]

After listening to Bob McGill the first game of the preseason PR is VERY refreshing! Sure I miss Bowen, but as long as it's not Bob McGill it's a sure fire case of winning.
Cole>Bowen>Romanek>Animal getting branded>labour pains>Bob McGill.

 

[KuleminFan41]

He'll be fine by midway through the season. Remember, this guy has been living overseas for the past few years and probably doesn't get a chance to watch every team in the league to familiarize himself. He's a good commentator and I've always enjoyed watching the games he calls, give it some time folks its only pre-season

 

[TheProspector]

Romanuk is terrible. And there isn't just no chemistry with the colour -- there's negative. Bad play-by-play. Lame voice. Extraordinarily boring. This guy doesn't belong calling anything in professional sports.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Wasn't he calling Raptors games for a season on the radio then got booted? Or did he leave on his own?

 

[ACC1224]

Wasn't he calling Raptors games for a season on the radio then got booted? Or did he leave on his own?

He moved to England because of his Wife's job.