Entries with the tag: hnic

HNIC’s Summer Musical Interlude

by Alanah McGinley on 07/07/08 at 01:16 PM
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The Hockey Night in Canada theme contest has drawn a ton of entries—and while rather a lot of the submissions sound more like rejects for upcoming Star Wars movies, there are many entertaining efforts in there as well.  (And keep in mind: it’s much easier to criticize these compositions than it is to actually write and submit one, risking obnoxious remarks from hockey fans.)

One entry which caught my attention, I’ve embedded on the video player below.  It’s entitled the “Jazzy Hockey Night” and its unlikely composer and performer is 11 year old Addison Leigh of Ajax, ON. 

I didn’t even know how to tie my shoes properly when I was 11 years old, so color me impressed.

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Two Sides to Every Story

by Alanah McGinley on 06/14/08 at 02:42 PM
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For a story of such uniquely-Canadian relevance, the controversy over The Hockey Theme leaving the CBC had a notable international tone. 

Madeleine Morris lives and works in Vietnam and also happens to be the daughter of Dolores Claman, the much-discussed (and frequently reviled) composer of the The Hockey Theme who currently resides in the UK.

It was Ms. Morris who was left to undertake the task of defending her mother’s position, and with all the wailing despair over the loss of Canada’s de facto national anthem, I don’t think many people were listening.

In my own case, it was only after a former CBC employee contacted me with more information that I got curious enough to seek out Ms. Morris and ask for her side of the story.

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Because I Just Can’t Ignore It…

by Alanah McGinley on 06/11/08 at 06:14 PM
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The CBC notes:

Stephen Colbert is every bit as passionate about The Hockey Theme as Canadians it seems, promising to license “the most precocious Arctic treasure of all” for use in the United States.

Video is below—and it’s fun but this whole continuing saga really makes me wonder what TSN/CTV was thinking, buying this theme music up. While people may one day come to identify the jingle as being associated with their network, I’m not sure hockey fans will ever hear it without thinking of Hockey Night in Canada.  After all, the music is nearly-synonymous with that iconic Saturday night game, not simply the NHL. 

So at the end of the day, didn’t TSN just spend whatever-number-of-millions to buy a song that advertises their own network rival? Just a thought.

Anyway, without further adieu, the madness of Stephen Colbert:

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$100,000 For a Song

by Alanah McGinley on 06/09/08 at 09:03 AM
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From TO411 Daily:

CBC, in conjunction with leading music producers Nettwerk Music Group, will conduct a nationwide search, inviting Canadians to write and record an original song for CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA. Then, in a debate that is certain to dominate conversations throughout the country, fans and a jury of experts will choose the best new composition.

CBC will offer $100,000 for the winning song, which will then become the new “official theme song” of CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA and will be heard in every broadcast. A portion of the new theme song’s royalties will be donated to minor hockey in Canada. Details surrounding the contest will be announced next week.

Awesome.  I’m as sorry as the next fan that Canada is losing its de facto national anthem, but this is exactly the right way for CBC to replace it; if the fans choose it, they can’t freak out about the choice.

Besides, it’s like a hockey fan’s version of Canadian or American Idol—except in this case, I actually give a damn.

Because Canadians are Insane…

by Alanah McGinley on 06/06/08 at 03:09 PM
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The PR war between the composer of the HNIC anthem and the CBC is no longer just a negotiation for the hearts and minds of Canadians in a panic about losing their favorite Saturday night pop-song.

Nope. Now it’s a political matter.

From the opposition Liberal Party’s own press release:

Conservative Heritage Minister Josée Verner must stand up for one of Canada’s most famous musical traditions and do what she can to ensure the CBC keeps the Hockey Night in Canada musical theme, Liberal Heritage Critic Denis Coderre said today.

“The Hockey Night in Canada theme is a part of Canada’s culture that goes beyond sport,” said M. Coderre. “This is a great opportunity for the Heritage Minister to finally get off the bench by defending an important Canadian tradition.”

But before I make too much fun of the Liberal Party, I’ll point out that Denis Coderre’s wish already came to fruition yesterday… at least the level of provincial politics.  In Alberta, Conservative Premier Ed Stelmach already tackled this critical, national issue…

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The Replacements

by Alanah McGinley on 06/05/08 at 12:49 PM
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The news that CBC probably doesn’t intend to renew their long-time licensing agreement to play the Hockey Night in Canada theme music, will have some people freaking out a bit. Or a lot.

But others already have ideas for replacement songs for the famous broadcast.

So first here are some musical options for next season to start us off, then hopefully readers can provide other brilliant ideas.

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Quit the Whining

by Alanah McGinley on 04/24/08 at 05:18 PM
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From Rory Boylen at The Hockey News:

And, yet, there are still complaints raining in about Hockey Night in Canada, the premiere hockey production.

Bias coverage.
Don Cherry is a hot-air-filled loud mouth. 
Bob Cole can’t keep up with the play.
P.J. Stock, the bubble boy, is uninformed and irrelevant.

Give it a rest. Next thing you know people will be complaining how Foster Hewitt welcomed the hockey fans from Canada and Newfoundland, but not Quebec or any other province, in the opening sequence.

The fact of the matter is, HNIC is the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the hockey fan’s weekly spiritual gathering, if you will.

Couldn’t agree more.

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Jim Hughson Signs 6 Years with CBC

by Alanah McGinley on 03/11/08 at 01:25 PM
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From CBC:

CBC Sports announced Tuesday that it has re-signed Gemini Award-winning announcer Jim Hughson to a six-year contract.

The new deal goes into effect immediately and runs through to the end of the 2013-14 NHL season.

Hughson, from Fort St. John, B.C., will continue to work on two of CBC’s major sports properties, Hockey Night in Canada and Blue Jays baseball, during the course of the agreement.

Since Hughson has been fairly clear he will not be working both at Rogers Sportsnet and CBC in the future—it was to be one or the other—it seems Canucks fans are now awaiting word of a new play-by-play man for next season. 

Any nominations? Hughson’s tenure will be a tough act to follow.

Leafs Fans Need a Safe Haven

by Alanah McGinley on 03/04/08 at 09:28 PM
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Toronto fans: Are you looking for a team to make it through the long, cold nights ahead?  William Houston at the Globe & Mail inspired me tonight when he questioned: Whatever will CBC do without Toronto on the schedule?  And it’s coming.

Despite the cheery optimism of Mats Sundin & Co., the Toronto Maple Leafs are unlikely to make the playoffs.

Still, the conversation on the most recent Hockey Night focused almost entirely on the Leafs, 12th in the Eastern Conference.

The national hockey media’s preoccupation with the Leafs is hardly news, but it does encourage me to extend an olive branch to Leafs fans. 

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Play-by-Play Man Needed

by Alanah McGinley on 02/15/08 at 12:14 PM
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From the Canucks/Wild game last night, on Sportsnet Pacific:

JOHN GARRETT: Do you think Alexander Edler ever gets excited? I don’t think so.
JIM HUGHSON: No. Typical of the Swedish defensemen… I don’t think they get excited when they get a paycheque.

Speaking of Jim Hughson, I always had a feeling that CBC was a threat to Canucks fans.  And so finally it comes to pass… bad things are on the horizon.

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Bright Lights, Small Town

by Alanah McGinley on 02/13/08 at 10:30 AM
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When CBC’s Hockey Day in Canada came to the Cowichan Valley [map] last weekend, it was an exciting experience for a community accustomed to being somewhat isolated on this Pacific island. 

With a climate more suited to year-round street hockey than frozen ponds, Vancouver Island might be unique environment when it comes to hockey culture in this country.

But I think it’s also fair to say that the game is as important to people here as anywhere else in the nation, and Valley resident Greg Adams—veteran of the Washington Capitals and six other NHL teams over his eleven-year career—gave me his thoughts on why that is.

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It’s a Slippery Slope…

by Alanah McGinley on 01/28/08 at 01:11 PM
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Simon Tonekham’s blog relates this odd story of a Barrie, ON high school hockey player—Adam Zussino dyed his hair blue for the upcoming playoffs, and so the school “unofficially” suspended him.

The school officials told him that “hair colour is a concern to parents because there are a lot of different styles related to gangs.” The school officials meanwhile have to take the issue seriously. The dress code from that particular school states that, “Students shall not have extreme colours and styles related to certain subcultures … not in keeping with Christian values.“

Ummm, blue hair offends Christians...? (That’s a new one...) But anyway, support came from a surprising (or maybe not-so-surprising) source—Don Cherry:

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Darcy Tucker & Ron MacLean on the Prairies

by Alanah McGinley on 11/08/07 at 04:46 PM
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As I wrote back in July:

Darcy Tucker does have career aspirations.  And although there’s no confirmation that hockey is among them, he and Ron MacLean of Hockey Night in Canada have undertaken a new venture this summer: acting.

Photos and more about the show “Little Mosque on the Prairie” can be found here.  Meanwhile, their episode was finally aired yesterday and the video below documents Tucker’s and MacLean’s efforts:

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