The short lived hosting duties on Hockey Night in Canada for George Strombo

Jumptheshark

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Oct 12, 2003
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It was a dumb move. Trying to appeal to a younger audience when TV audiences (and probably many NHL markets that have priced themselves out of normal families -- Toronto) are aging. As you mentioned, he isn't even a hipster just an old guy hanging on to that image. I think it was just a clash, along with all the gimmicky in studio stuff they tried that was just awful. Felt kind of.. American.. as a style of broadcast. Yuck. :)


whether we like it or not--it is the younger audiences that everyone goes for.

He was just not a good fit
 

Hot Water Bottle

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Aug 26, 2010
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Strombo might not have been the best choice, but the obsession with old-timer, Baby Boomer era celebrities can be really tiresome. Not just in the NHL but in all of today's culture, at least in North America. In the MLB they "respectfully" stick with umpires who can't see or move properly.
 

justafan22

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Jun 22, 2014
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I didn't like it since it wasn't a great decision, but after the 2015-16 season they changed things up massively, right?

Healy was gone too, and they brought in more reporters for game panels/intermission segments that are good.

Headlines right now is a good segment, similar to the OG HNIC hot stove
 

CamPopplestone

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Sep 27, 2017
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I didn't mind him. But Ron just can't be replaced

I really like Strombo as an interviewer though. I think if they had started with him in that role, maybe a new segment, and started to get him more involved slowly, it may have worked better
 
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Tarantula

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He had a interview show on CBC, depending on the guest it was fairly good. He didn't seem to get in the way of the interview and generally drew more interest out of the subject, however that is a vastly different format and demographics then HNIC. Not the best fit, for either the broadcast or him.
 

Nick Hansen

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Sep 28, 2017
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I didn't mind him. But Ron just can't be replaced

I really like Strombo as an interviewer though. I think if they had started with him in that role, maybe a new segment, and started to get him more involved slowly, it may have worked better

Agreed. I'm not Canadian so I do not know much about the regular show but Strombo was pretty good with the NHLers as guests. Always liked viewing them.
 
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Hoser

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"felt.... American"?..... I wouldnt say that BC, most US Broadcasters have more sense than what Rogers tried to pull. US Broadcasters would not have recruited a host from the ranks of MTV, a VJ/DJ and installed him as "Host/Anchor"...

MuchMusic VJ J.D. Roberts, ca. 1984:
Dl8qWhlU4AAs-on.jpg


Fox News chief White House correspondent, and former CNN and CBS anchor, John Roberts:
694940094001_5352625757001_5352611691001-vs.jpg
 

Big Phil

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Nov 2, 2003
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Remember the time when MacLean's contract expired in 2002? He didn't sign on the dotted line and he willingly left. There was a huge outcry about this and CBC right away opened up talks with MacLean. I was on MacLean's side at the time because who the heck can replace him? The only problem is that when you hear MacLean's version it sort of takes that "aw shucks/small town boy" feel away from him. He was willing to walk away from the best job in the country over a paltry amount. I could be wrong, but were the two sides apart like, $10,000 a year or something? Whatever it was, I remember it being so menial and in a way MacLean lost that small town feel to him after that.

But...........he was still miles ahead of Strombo and the face of HNIC so with MacLean you can sort of forgive him for it.
 

Dennis Bonvie

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Dec 29, 2007
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I don't know, that wasn't my experience of it. Granted, I was only about 10 at the time, but I remember when MacLean first came in. My parents loved him immediately, including his bad puns. Everywhere I went in Canada for the next few years, every time a HNIC game was on, all people would talk about was how much they loved the 'Ron & Don (Cherry)' show, and everyone seemed very happy with MacLean.

None of this applied to Strombo. MacLean was "Hockey Night in Canada" personifed -- dorky, polite, old-school values, just a little bit wittier and a lot younger than before. Strombo came in with his slacker, lean-forward-off-my-seat style of super-casual questioning, and it was everything HNIC had never been about.

I don't really blame Strombo; he just wasn't the right fit. They should have gone for a young, dorky, straight guy -- i.e., a younger upgrade of MacLean.

I'm with your parents....
 

Laphroaig

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When I worked nights I always listened to Strombo's radio show weekends on the CBC. The guy has great taste in music even though he's much younger than me. He was a pretty fair interviewer on CBC television as well.

Unfortunately Strombo has no credibility when it comes to hockey and he just seemed like a fish out of water. For me, Ron McLean is like wearing a comfortable old sweater. I just can't dislike the guy. I think he's genuine.
 

vadim sharifijanov

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Oct 10, 2007
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What does this have to do with anything?

The Bruins were gifted the Cup in 2011 to punish Vancouver for something that happened on HNIC?

Now, as for the Boston thing [...] I don't think any of that had to do with Burrows/Auger.

other way around.

i brought up the 2011 finals to show that the totally crooked and completely biased colin campbell, that’s who ron maclean lines up alongside to smear alex burrows on national tv. shows you what kind of shill that guy is.
 

Killion

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Feb 19, 2010
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That or Ryan Seacrest

Indeed. I seem to recall reading that post HNIC he jumped on a Harley & drove down to LA where he has an apartment or home, friends. Doing what career-wise no idea though I think he still works with CBC Radio (FM, has or had a weekly music show) amongst other things out of Toronto. Whatever. He does have marketable talent ('s). Where they lead... who knows. Seems a resilient fellow. Open minded. Intelligent.
 
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Gunnersaurus Rex

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Jan 14, 2008
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It seems like Brian Burke is positioning himself as a replacement for Don Cherry

GM Corner
Good lord, I hope not. Burke is a train wreck with ZERO likability. I can't stand listening to him. I usually turn it off when he's on as he sounds like nothing more than an angry old man.
 
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Tarantula

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Indeed. I seem to recall reading that post HNIC he jumped on a Harley & drove down to LA where he has an apartment or home, friends. Doing what career-wise no idea though I think he still works with CBC Radio (FM, has or had a weekly music show) amongst other things out of Toronto. Whatever. He does have marketable talent ('s). Where they lead... who knows. Seems a resilient fellow. Open minded. Intelligent.

Heard something similar as he is friends with a in town DJ here. Thought he was pretty good when I saw him on CBC, never watch much of the HNIC pre game or intermission anyways for years :laugh: !

Think Strombo was better then remembered generally by the HNIC base, but yeah, didn't really work, and was roundly decried before the first telecast.
 
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Fenway

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Heard something similar as he is friends with a in town DJ here. Thought he was pretty good when I saw him on CBC, never watch much of the HNIC pre game or intermission anyways for years :laugh: !

Think Strombo was better then remembered generally by the HNIC base, but yeah, didn't really work, and was roundly decried before the first telecast.

When Rogers took over 4 years ago they wanted to reinvent HNIC but Strombo had a big elephant in the studio because MacLean was still on the show with Cherry. MacLean actually embraced the Hometown Hockey concept on Sunday and when he got his old job back 2 years later he demanded that he would continue Hometown.

Strombo made a fatal mistake 4 years ago when he declined to rush back from the owners meeting in Florida to cover Jean Beliveau's funeral. Rogers then give the anchor duties to MacLean who did a top-notch job.

It is common knowledge that Bettman and MacLean had issues and it boiled over in 2010



but now they are at least cordial again



Strombo was excellent on interviews he had time to prepare for but he was not wired to cover hockey on the fly.
 
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BadgerBruce

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When Rogers took over 4 years ago they wanted to reinvent HNIC but Strombo had a big elephant in the studio because MacLean was still on the show with Cherry. MacLean actually embraced the Hometown Hockey concept on Sunday and when he got his old job back 2 years later he demanded that he would continue Hometown.

Strombo made a fatal mistake 4 years ago when he declined to rush back from the owners meeting in Florida to cover Jean Beliveau's funeral. Rogers then give the anchor duties to MacLean who did a top-notch job.

It is common knowledge that Bettman and MacLean had issues and it boiled over in 2010



but now they are at least cordial again



Strombo was excellent on interviews he had time to prepare for but he was not wired to cover hockey on the fly.

Exactly. I knew there would be trouble when Maclean kept his role on Coach’s Corner. The setup was a bit like, “this is my new wife, but my old wife still has a room in the house and prepares all of the holiday meals.”
 

Big Phil

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Nov 2, 2003
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Exactly. I knew there would be trouble when Maclean kept his role on Coach’s Corner. The setup was a bit like, “this is my new wife, but my old wife still has a room in the house and prepares all of the holiday meals.”

It was a lot like Jay Leno staying with NBC once Conan replaced him in 2009. Leno had that short lived "Jay Leno Show" which was on prior to the Tonight Show. That isn't giving the new guy a lot of confidence with the old guy just sitting in the lobby. The blame with that was with NBC, just like the blame with the Strombo thing was Rogers. Sometimes less is more, you know?

HNIC is a program steeped in tradition and once had Ward Cornell as its host. Strombo just didn't fit.

other way around.

i brought up the 2011 finals to show that the totally crooked and completely biased colin campbell, that’s who ron maclean lines up alongside to smear alex burrows on national tv. shows you what kind of shill that guy is.

Hmmm...............now, I'm with Burrows on the whole ref thing. But no, Boston won that Cup fair and square. Vancouver would have been the softest team in NHL history to ever win a Stanley Cup had they won. They were just missing something. Not to mention their best players, the Sedins, Kesler and Luongo did not perform well in the final but at least Luongo did in some games with a couple of shutouts.
 

vadim sharifijanov

Registered User
Oct 10, 2007
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well the 2011 finals aren’t worth relitigating here.

but does anyone honestly think, in general, colin campbell is unbiased, uncrooked, upstanding, or honorable?
 

MS

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Mar 18, 2002
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I loved Strombo and absolutely hate MacLean. And I'm about as big of a traditionalist as it gets.

I can't think of a TV personality I find more nauseating than MacLean. His fake-ass, name-dropping, schmaltzy, hokey, appeal-to-grandmas persona is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

Strombo was great. It's weird that people label him a 'millennial MTV guy' because his whole style and demeanour is a throwback to hosts from the 50s/60s. Neutral, classy, well-spoken host who was a great interviewer and knew when to shut up and let the experts talk ... unlike MacLean who always comes off like he thinks he's the smartest guy in the room.

Felt the whole production seemed so much more professional and big-league with Strombo at the helm.
 

Normand Lacombe

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Jan 30, 2008
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Who would be a good replacement for MacLean when he is ready to move on? Living in the States, I don't see HNIC.
 

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