My Hockey Night is Dead

No offense to George Stroumboulopoulos, who I believe to be the Canadian Johnny Carson-only in the sense of if you're on the big red chair, you've made it; at least as a Canadian, but he's no Ron MacLean.

Putting aside the "need for change," the news that Rogers has replaced MacLean as host of the iconic Hockey Night in Canada with Stroumboulopoulos has made me fully realize that HNIC is not the one I know.  The Hockey Night in Canada I know doesn't look anything like this.
This cannot stand, but it will.  With the Rogers take-over of pretty much everything hockey on Canadian television, they're calling the shots; so they will do what they will and have.

Again, no disrespect to Stroumboulopoulos, but I grew up with MacLean and Don Cherry (who will be gone soon-and then hired by TSN) and I can't see Stroumbo doing the quick-witted repartee with guests on say, The Hot Stove.  Although he may be a good moderator, he just won't be the guy(s) that I watched as players such Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Mark Messier and other greats hoist the Stanley Cup.  Another thing that bothered me was the role of Bob Cole being reduced.  I can handle, almost applaud, the doing away with Harry Neale (he always sounded drunk to me and his color commentary was the worst) but Cole's play-by-play along with MacLean, Cherry and also the late Don Whitman, who did some fine CFL calls as well.

By the way, the replacement of Cole by ex-TSN talker Jim Hughson doesn't seem a change for the better.  It always sounds like I'm listening to a video game as Hughson has done play-by-play voice-overs for EA Sports.  That's what  fear Stroumboulopoulos will turn Hockey Night in Canada.  I mean I still can't stand the fact TSN has the old HNIC theme music.

I guess, through no fault of Stroumboulopoulos, my Hockey Night in Canada is dead.  The show I would come in and watch after playing hours upon hours on the rink, is gone.  The lineage of memories has been broken.  AWA wrestling, Bugs Bunny and Hockey Night in Canada with a couple of fried cheeseburgers on Polly Ann bread in between doesn't seem to have any meaning anymore.  By the way, the burgers on bread is the very same Eddie Murphy in his 80s gigs would refer as "welfare burgers."  But mom's were awesome.

My Hockey Night in Canada:  1981-2014.