After 35 years, HNIC could be moving on from Ron McLean
As a Canadian, you either love or you hate Ron McLean. If you're the latter, I encourage you to listen to his podcast episodes on Spittin' Chiclets.
Away from parent companies and broadcast booths, he seems like a fun, stand up guy. But he's not willing to rock the boat on air, which is both why he's been employed for so long and why he hasn't gained a new fan since his outspoken partner left the studio.
Hockey is in a transitional period right now, trying to figure out a direction for the future. While ESPN and TNT's forays into our world have been largely successful, Canadian staple Hockey Night in Canada has seen its ratings take a nosedive, and signs are pointing to one iconic Canadian broadcaster being left behind.
Since Don Cherry's fiasco brought an end to Coaches Corner, intermissions just haven't been the same for many hockey fans. It's not that were pining for Cherry to be brought back. When he left, it was well past due to move on. But, what they replaced it with has failed to live up to the program that generations of Canadians grew up adoring. It wasn't Don's opinions that everyone remembers, it was how candid he was in presenting them. With that glaringly obvious statement in mind, it's no wonder that Kevin Bieksa is the only one on the current panel generating positive ratings. If you're at all like me, you're only really watching intermissions in the hope that Bieksa goes off board like Cherry used to do.
TNT and ESPN'S success, and Sportsnet's drop off this year is telling networks two things. The first: Get younger and have fun with it. If the panel looks like they're having fun, so is the audience.
The second thing, and Canadians won't like this one bit, is that you need to do a little bit of pandering to the new fans to grow the game. If we, as lifelong fans, need to have certain offside calls explained to us, then imagine what a new fan feels like seeing a 35 year broadcasting veteran as confused as them.
Ron McLean has managed to stick around this long because he always did his best to stay relevant to the modern game, while still offering stories and insight from decades past. But without a host to call him out on his progressive, reserved and politically correct nature, this version of what intermissions are always felt like a pit stop while the networks figure out their direction. If Sportsnet were to move on from everyone but Bieksa, who would you like to see him partnered with in the future?
