Chris Cuthbert | |
|---|---|
 Cuthbert in 2007 | |
| Born | (1957-09-20)September 20, 1957 (age 68) |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Genre | Play-by-play |
| Sport(s) | Canadian football,ice hockey,figure skating |
Chris Cuthbert (born September 20, 1957) is a Canadiansportscaster. He currently serves as the leadplay-by-play commentator withCBC Sports/Sportsnet forHockey Night in Canada, and calls most national and regional games for theToronto Maple Leafs on the network. Formerly, he worked forTSN,NBC, and CBC Sports in a multitude of roles. He andGlen Suitor were the lead broadcast team for theCFL on TSN from 2008 to 2019 before Cuthbert gave that lead play-by-play role toRod Smith.
He was the lead play-by-play voice forice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics inVancouver,British Columbia, Canada forCTV, where he worked alongsidePierre McGuire, who also worked the tournament forNBC, andRay Ferraro.[1][2] He and Ferraro also called2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, including the bronze medal match between Canada and theCzech Republic[3] and the gold medal match betweenRussia andGermany.
Cuthbert was born and raised inBrampton and graduated fromBrampton Centennial Secondary School.[4] He later graduated fromQueen's University.[5]
After almost five years at CJAD Radio in Montreal, the last two as sports director, Cuthbert joined CBC Sports in 1984, where he anchored regional western games forHockey Night in Canada, usually from Edmonton. He also got spot play-by-play work when the network's primary western broadcaster,Don Wittman, was covering other events for the network, or when the schedule load necessitated it.
He got his big break during the1988 Stanley Cup playoffs. On April 18, he was a reporter inWashington, providing brief and periodic reports of theWashington Capitals–New Jersey Devils game to the nationalCBC viewing audience watching the Canadian network's game broadcast fromMontreal (the Canadiens against the Boston Bruins). Apower outage struck the Montreal area, which ended the telecast from that city, and CBC was forced to turn to Cuthbert in Washington to provide the full broadcast – play-by-play, analyst, and host. The broadcast was totally done off the cuff. In other words, there were no regular analysts, graphics, or replay capabilities.[6][7][8][9] His effort caught the network's attention, earned him a nomination for aGemini Award, and launched a successful broadcasting career.
Cuthbert rose to a sportscaster forCBC, where he calledOlympic sports,figure skating,Canadian football, andNHL hockey. He became the secondary play-by-play voice ofCFL on CBC behindDon Wittman in 1992 and eventually became the lead play-by-play voice, broadcasting theGrey Cup Championship each November from1996 to2004.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] His most notable work wasHockey Night in Canada (HNIC) games primarily involving theMontreal Canadiens orNHL teams fromWestern Canada. In the era of the CBC'sHockey Night in Canada double-headers, Cuthbert usually called the late games. He was assigned to a conference final every year in the play-by-play role from 1993 until 2004.
Cuthbert's contract was terminated by the CBC on February 24, 2005, byCBC Sports executive directorNancy Lee while the network endured the2004–05 NHL lockout. There was much outrage over his firing, similar to that ofRon MacLean who had almost threatened to leave the network over stalled contract negotiations, as many believed he'd be the successor toBob Cole.[20][21][22] Some criticized Lee, who had created the positionManager of Program Acquisitions forCBC Sports to hire her friendSue Prestedge a year earlier, despite the looming threat of theNHL lockout. It was also believed that Cuthbert's strong opposition, when CBC chose to drop its popularHockey Day in Canada broadcast, did not endear himself to Lee. This decision was widely criticized, as rival networkTSN staged aHockey Day of its own.[23]
After joining TSN in the spring of 2005, Cuthbert becameTSN'slead CFL football voice, replacing TSN-originalJohn Wells.[24][25][26][27] Coincidentally, Cuthbert got his job at CBC in 1984 when Wells left the network to join the fledgling TSN. When TSN gained the exclusive television rights to the CFL starting in2008, Cuthbert returned to his role as the primary voice of theCFL on TSN and called every Grey Cup during his TSN tenure.
After joining TSN in 2005, he served as their secondaryhockey play-by-play voice. In the2005–06 and2006–07 seasons, he also worked forNBC alongside colour commentatorPeter McNab for both seasons. "Inside-the-Glass" reporterCammi Granato joined the pair 2005–06, andDarren Pang replaced Granato in 2006–07.[28][29][30] As a result ofRogers Media's acquisition of thenational exclusive rights to the NHL in 2014, he became part of TSN's broadcasts ofOttawa Senators andToronto Maple Leafs regional games, as well as returning for NHL assignments on NBC and NBCSN, often calling the first two rounds of the playoffs.
He madeNational Hockey League history on December 1,2006 as the first play-by-play announcer in NHL history to intentionally broadcast a game from ice level, rather than a broadcast booth. Along withGlenn Healy, he called theBuffalo Sabres/New York Rangers game atHSBC Arena inBuffalo, New York. According toThe Globe and Mail, "it was a good show and it's unlikely to be the last."[31] He and Healy did the same thing again on November 16, 2007 when he called the Sabres/Montreal Canadiens game at the same arena withPierre McGuire provided additional analysis from the broadcast booth as an "eye in the sky" while on December 17, 2008, he did this role withRay Ferraro.[32]
He was the lead play-by-play announcer formen's ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver forCTV withPierre McGuire, who also worked the tournament forNBC, and his partnerRay Ferraro.[1][2] He and McGuire announcing the gold medal game betweenCanada and theUnited States.[1][2][33] Just before Canada'sSidney Crosby scored the gold medal-winning goal seven minutes and forty seconds into overtime, Cuthbert said:
Pavelski shot, that's saved byLuongo.Niedermayer regroups, Crosby over the line, Sidney Crosby can't bust in, up with it again he's on the ice withIginla. Iginla- Crosby scores! Sidney Crosby! The golden goal! And Canada has once-in-a-lifetime Olympic gold!
He then later added:[33]
"These golden games have their crowning moment."
Cuthbert and Ferraro returned to be the lead broadcast team formen's ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.[3] The pair most notably called the bronze medal match between Canada and theCzech Republic and the gold medal match betweenRussia andGermany.
In June 2020, Cuthbert moved from TSN toSportsnet. He said that he made the change because he will be almost 70 years old by the time that Rogers/Sportsnet's national contract with the NHL expires in 2026, and there was no guarantee that he will have any more opportunity to callHockey Night in Canada games again.[34][35] Cuthbert called the2020 Western Conference playoffs withLouie DeBrusk,[36][37][38][39][40][41] and he called the2021 Montreal Canadiens playoff run,[42][43][44] including the2021 Stanley Cup Finals alongsideCraig Simpson.[45]
AfterJim Hughson retired from broadcasting, Cuthbert took his place as the lead announcer forSportsnet andHockey Night in Canada alongside Simpson, starting with the 2021–22 NHL season.[46]
In 1998, Cuthbert won aGemini Award for Best Sports Broadcaster, and in 2004, was recognized by Sports Media Canada as Sportscaster of the Year. In 2006, Cuthbert received another Gemini, this time with his TSN CFL colour commentator,Glen Suitor, for Best Sports Play-by-Play or Analyst.[47] In 2014, Cuthbert was inducted into the media wing of theCanadian Football Hall of Fame.[48] A resident ofBrampton, he was inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.[49]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
