Jim Hughson (born October 9, 1956) is a retiredCanadiansportscaster, best known for hisplay-by-play of theNational Hockey League. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for theNHL on Sportsnet from 2014 to 2021 andHockey Night in Canada from 2008 to 2021. His career spanned 42 years.

Hughson worked onCanucks radio broadcasts, working on thepre-game, intermission, and post-game shows in the early 1980s. He also filled in as play-by-play man whenJim Robson had national TV duties. In this role, he broadcast games three and four of the1982 Stanley Cup Finals between the Canucks andNew York Islanders. In 1982, he left to become the television voice of theToronto Maple Leafs, before joining TSN in 1987.

Hughson worked for TSN from 1987 to 1994, working as the lead play-by-play announcer for the network's NHL games, paired withGary Green andRoger Neilson (until 1989). In 1991, he called theWorld Junior Hockey Championship inSaskatchewan, which climaxed with a dramatic game inSaskatoon between Canada and theUSSR, in whichJohn Slaney scored the winning goal late in the third period to deliver the gold medal to Canada.

In addition to hockey, Hughson also called baseball for TSN. He worked onMontreal Expos broadcasts for the network from 1987 to 1989. Then in 1990, Hughson became the regular play-by-play announcer forToronto Blue Jays broadcasts, alongsideBuck Martinez. During that time, Hughson was most famous for calling all three of the games in which the Jays' clinched first place in theAmerican League East during the 1990s (1991,1992, and1993).

During Hughson's time at TSN, he often enthusiastically proclaimed "That's hockey!" when describing an exciting play during NHL broadcasts. TSN later adopted the phrase as the name of its popular programThat's Hockey, which started in October 1995, a talk show covering NHL happenings.

In 1998, Hughson returned to nationalsports broadcasting, joining CTV Sportsnet (nowRogers Sportsnet) as their main NHLplay-by-play commentator alongsideCraig Simpson. A year later, he left radio and began working on the Canucks regionaltelevision broadcasts on Sportsnet Pacific, alongsideRyan Walter. From 2002–03 onwards, former NHL goaltenderJohn Garrett was his partner. He was also the host ofSnapshots, a weekly half-hour show where he interviewed various sports personalities, from 1998 to 2006.

In 2005, Hughson was hired by CBC asHockey Night in Canada's secondary play-by-play announcer. Hughson called the late games of the network's Saturday night doubleheaders and one series through the Conference Finals.^[1][2] In 2006, he was the secondary play-by-play announcer for CBC's coverage ofmen's ice hockey at theWinter Olympics inTurin,Italy. For three seasons, he continued calling Canucks' regional telecasts on Sportsnet Pacific. However, on March 11, 2008, he signed an exclusive six-year contract with the CBC, leaving Rogers Sportsnet at the conclusion of the2007–08 season.^[3][4]

The following season, he replacedBob Cole as the lead play-by-play announcer forHNIC. On top of calling the main Saturday night game (usually involving theToronto Maple Leafs or the late Saturday night game involvingVancouver Canucks), he also called theNHL All-Star Game, theWinter Classic, the top Conference Final, and theStanley Cup Finals.^[5][6] He also calledmen's ice hockey at the2014 Winter Olympics inSochi,Russia. His partner on the lead broadcast team was his former Sportsnet partnerCraig Simpson^[7][8][9] and, from 2009 to 2016, former NHL goaltenderGlenn Healy.

In October 2014, Hughson re-joined Sportsnet, as its parent companyRogers Communications had acquired sole national television rights to the NHL in Canada, taking effect as of the2014–15 season. The trio (until 2016) remained as the lead broadcast team forHNIC (which remains on CBC as part of a sub-licensing deal), but may now also appear on other Sportsnet national games when needed.^[10][11]

During the2020–21 NHL season, Hughson only called national Vancouver home games due to concerns over theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[12]

Hughson announced his retirement on September 21, 2021, before the2021–22 NHL season.^[13][14]

Hughson returned to the broadcast booth for the Toronto Blue Jays when CBC picked up a package of Blue Jays games for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The broadcast on June 22, 2007, was the first baseball game he had called in 13 years.

In addition to his Canadian sportscasting work, Hughson has made occasional appearances forABC andESPN in theUnited States, covering both hockey and baseball.

Hughson is known as the play-by-play voice ofEA Sports'NHL series of video games from97 to09. He also provided the play-by-play in EA'sTriple Play series forPlayStation andPC from 1997 to 2001, along with his former Blue Jays broadcast partnerBuck Martinez.

Hughson has also had small roles in two sports-related family comedies:MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000) andAir Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (2002). He played announcers in both films.

Hughson has won fiveGemini Awards, the most recent in 2004, where he was named the best sports play-by-play or analyst.^[4] In 2019, theHockey Hall of Fame announced that Hughson was named as the winner of the annualFoster Hewitt Memorial Award, honouring outstanding contributions by a hockey broadcaster.^[15]

Hughson was inducted into theBC Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the media, in 2024.^[16]

Hughson was born on October 9, 1956Fort St. John, British Columbia.^[17] He lives inSouth Surrey, British Columbia with his wife Denise. He has a daughter named Jennifer and son Matthew. Hughson is an avid runner with routes in all 32 NHL cities.^[18]

• B.C. Radio History bio
• CBC media centre bio
• Jim Hughson atIMDb