The NHL play-by-play great passed away on Wednesday night at the age of 90.
Younger Ottawa hockey fans might find it hard to believe that there was once a time when you couldn’t watch NHL games on TV every single night.
But you could always rely on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada on Saturdays. It was truly an institution, an event, something you waited all week for. Either the Montreal Canadiens or the Toronto Maple Leafs would be playing, and for the better part of 50 years, Bob Cole would provide the descriptions.
Tributes poured in from across the hockey world on Thursday following the news that Cole had passed away in St. John's on Wednesday night. He passed peacefully, surrounded by family.
Hall of Fame goalie Ken Dryden once said the golden age of hockey is the hockey you watched when you were 12 years old. For most fans, those memories and Cole’s voice are nicely tied like your first pair of skates.
Cole's booming voice and distinctive call (Oh, Baby!) endeared him to fans and players alike, even if he occasionally irked Ottawa Senators fans when he stumbled on a name or two in his later years.
Many of the Senators’ biggest moments – their very first game, their epic battles with the Leafs, their 2017 run to the Conference Final, and their 2007 run to the Cup Final – were all described by Cole. It's now become trite to refer to Cole's voice as hockey's "soundtrack," but that's exactly what it was.
Cole's illustrious career included calling one of the most memorable moments in Canadian sports history: Paul Henderson's Summit Series goal in 1972 against the Soviet Union. Foster Hewitt, Cole’s early mentor, handled the telecast, while the younger Cole held down the fort for CBC radio.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1LKjFVjFCU[/embed]
Cole later moved to television in 1973, becoming a fixture on Hockey Night in Canada for decades. But even though he had just landed one of the sweetest broadcasting jobs in the nation, he didn’t give up his passion for curling. Cole was a provincial champion, playing in the 1971 and 1975 Briers as the skip for Newfoundland.
Another of Cole’s great calls came in the dying moments of the gold medal game at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Canada was trying to snap a 50 year drought at the games and led the U.S. 4-2 with under two minutes to play. And Joe Sakic got a breakaway for Canada.
“Canada trying to hang on and get a break. It’s gonna be a break! It is Joe Sakic… SCORES! Jeee-ohhh Sakic scores! And that makes it 5-2 Canada! Surely, that’s gotta be it!”
Simultaneously, the visual of Sakic crashing into the boards and getting mobbed by teammates while GM Wayne Gretzky was going crazy in the stands, mobbed by executives and friends, was a glorious moment for Canadian hockey fans.
Cole received the Order of Canada at Rideau Hall in Ottawa back in 2016. He went into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996, receiving the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for broadcasting excellence.
The Senators, like so many others in hockey, paid tribute to Cole on social media.
Cole was never more impressed with the Senators than he was in 2017 when Erik Karlsson danced around in the offensive zone and set up Derick Brassard for a big tying goal in the 2017 playoffs.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNCHHSgS6EE[/embed]
And Cole was at the mic in 1976, the night the Soviet Union decided to quit in the middle of a game because the Philadelphia Flyers were living up to their billing as the Broad Street Bullies. They returned after 15 minutes once they were informed they wouldn't get paid.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ddPhG6EAOo[/embed]
Cole's call of "They're goin' home!" won't soon be forgotten. And after an incredible life and career, neither will he.