Bob Cole - Now Im Catching On: My Life On and Off the Air

by Ron MacLean

They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

CARL W. BUECHNER

H ockey has become a sound Bob Cole makes.

In the 1993 playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens won ten consecutive overtime games on their way to capturing the Stanley Cup. During that run, Bob was chatting with Jean Bliveau about the Habs remarkable overtime streak. Bliveau said, You know, Bob, its funnyI had a pretty good career, but I dont think I ever scored a goal in overtime. Bob, of course, corrected him, and Bliveau was pleased to hear that he had indeed notched one, and to discover the goal was scored in double overtime, but he was happiest to learn that it had happened during Bobs first-ever broadcast: April 24, 1969. They shared that story many times thereafter.

Bob has a defining call from every decade. In the 1970s it was January 11, 1976. The Soviet Red Army at Philadelphia, a very emotional game, as the Soviets were looking to humble the toughest team in the NHL. Who hasnt heard the recording of Bob announcing, Theyre going home! when it was clear the visitors had had enough? Bob stood by the Flyers and the NHL referee working the game, Lloyd Gilmour, and that sparked a trust between Bob and everyone affiliated with the league. Don Cherry often smiles about his respect for Bob, and he means it. Every time Bob came in to call a Boston Bruins game, Bob would insist on meeting Don one hour prior to the game to confirm Cherrys starting-line combinations. Now, Don had his own game-night ritual, which included taking a shower fifty minutes before the game and dressing while the players took part in the pre-game warm-up. But Bob was meticulous in writing out the lines. It took forever, and Don, realizing he needed to shower and get dressed, wanted to tell Bob to hurry up, but then hed say to himself, Bob was there for us the day the Soviets tried to give the NHL a black eyehe can have all the time he wants.

In the eighties it was the Oilers first Stanley Cup, May 19, 1984. Folks! Theres a new bunch on the block in the NHL. The Oilers adored Bob. The proof is that three of them were in St. Johns for Bobs golf classic when Wayne Gretzky was traded on August 9, 1988. I can still picture Bob sorting out that crazy news with Kevin Lowe. Bob may own as many Wayne Gretzky sticks as the Great One himself. Don Cherry and I used to crack up as Bob would come around after a telecast with yet another Gretzky stick for his son, Robbie. Did Wayne not realize Robbie could open a shop with all the sticks?

In the 1990s Bob had many great calls of some exciting Toronto Maple Leafs teams, but his best call came during the 91 Cup final, May 17, Minnesota at Pittsburgh game two. Every hockey fan knows the goalone of the most beautiful goals of all time, and certainly the most beautiful one-on-two. Look at Lemieux. Oh my heavens, what a goal, what a move! Lemieux! Oh baby! The final game of the series was game six in Minnesota, and the Penguins captured the Cup with an 80 victory. Don Cherry and I sat in the small dressing room we were using for a studio and watched the post-game celebrations with five Penguins players who hadnt dressed for the game. The Black Aces, as theyre known. Happy for their teammates but envious and somewhat crestfallen. I still recall Bob showing up in the studio and giving them a pep talk about the unselfishness of their role in bringing about a winning team and about what the Stanley Cup ring and the stories from the dressing room would mean to their families, forever.

In the 2000s its February 24, 2002, Salt Lake City, Utah. Now after fifty years, its time for Canada to stand up and cheer! Joe Sakic had his Joe Carter Touch em all, Joeyoull never hit a bigger home run! as exclaimed by the late Tom Cheek when Carter won the Blue Jays a World Series with a walk-off home run in 1993. In Sakics case the audio loop, which still plays in his head, is Geeoooooh Sakic! That makes it 52 Canada! Surely that has got to be it! Only Bob could turn the word Joe into a song lyric with two syllables, and give the whole country goosebumps.

In this decade, Bobs fire burned brightest in Montreal. This is the playoffsand this is Montreal! Bobs work with Carey Prices brilliance stems from Bobs long-held belief, Show me great goaltending and Ill show you a great hockey game. For six decades Bob has been the voice in the players heads.

And mine, too. I came on the scene during the mid-1980s, pleased to share what I thought might be the twilight years of Bobs splendid career. Our dusk together has lasted thirty-one seasons and shows no signs of going dark. The above quote by Carl Buechner epitomizes how we all feel about Bob. Its not so much the selection or ordering of words, great as they areits the emotion of his play-by-play. It comes on you like smoke from a campfire. Warm, hypnotic, very much the spark of a story that will be passed on for years to come.

I have a personal recollection of getting that feeling from something Bob said. It was my rookie year with Hockey Night in Canada, 198687. I worked on a regional Toronto versus Chicago broadcast on a Friday night in Chicago for CHCH television, and then returned home to Toronto for the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Night in Canada telecast on the Saturday night. Bob walked into Maple Leaf Gardens at five-thirty and came into the studio, where I was having a cup of coffee, scanning game notes. Bob came right up to me and said in his minimalist way, Watched the entire show last night in Chicago. Dont. Change. A. Thing.