Canucks’ Sportsnet radio crew not travelling for Stanley Cup playoffs

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Think of a famous Canucks playoff goal.

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There’s a good bet you’ve got “They’ve slayed the dragon!” in your head now.

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Or maybe, just maybe, it’s “Brown, a long pass to Pavel Bure! In the clear! He scores! YES! They score! Pavel Bure has won it in overtime!”

The memories are flushing back now, aren’t they? Visceral, physical, tingling everywhere.

Here’s the thing about both those play-by-play calls, the first one by John Shorthouse, the latter by Jim Robson: Both were called on the radio.

And both were called from the very building they were played in, a first-draft of history account, delivered by two true masters of the art form.

Shorthouse’s call was underlined by the energy of the Rogers Arena crowd.

Robson’s, though, wasn’t. He was calling the game at the Saddledome in Calgary. It’s Tom Larscheid’s interjected “YES!” that gave Robson an underline, the iconic duo delivering an energy and excitement about the moment to fans thousands of kilometres away, who would have been hooting and hollering on their own, but let a sense of unity by the call.

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But if there’s going to be a dramatic moment in a road game during these coming playoffs, it’s not going to quite be the same for those listening to the radio call.

That’s not because Brendan Batchelor is dour or morose — Batchelor is just the opposite, just look at why his TikTok clips have proven so popular. I’s because he’s going to be calling all the action off a monitor at a studio in Mount Pleasant, not in person.

And that’s a decision that Rogers Sports + Media is sticking to. The Sportsnet 650 radio call hasn’t been at a road game since before the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020.

Just about every broadcast was parked at home then. Four years later, most crews are back travelling. In these current playoffs, every crew is travelling, except one: the Canucks team.

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Robson calls the situation a real shame.

“I think it’s so unfair. There are things that happen in the game that you don’t see on screen, like a fight developing in the corner or what have you,” Robson said Thursday. “It’s unfair to Brendan. He does a very good job.”

Being there in person means you are automatically raising the quality of your call because of that ability to see what’s going on outside the confines of the TV picture that you’re looking at when you’re calling from a studio.

Robson, who called Canucks games on radio from 1970 until 1999, was well known for greeting fans during every game, especially the fans who were blind, who were stuck at home, who couldn’t afford to get to games. He knew the radio caller’s job was especially important: The listener needed a vibrant picture.

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“I felt that on the radio, you think of a blind person sitting in the stands and the crowd reacting. They don’t know what’s happening unless you find the right words,” he said. “You’ve got to tell your radio listener what’s going on.”

It also means you are almost certain to avoid the embarrassing situation that befell Toronto Maple Leafs play-by-play man Joe Bowen last year. Rogers has the radio rights for the Leafs.

Stuck in a studio, Bowen named Morgan Reilly as scoring the game winner when it was John Tavares who had shot the puck. But Bowen saw an exultant Reilly on screen momentarily and reacted to that.

Bowen and colour commentator Jim Ralph eventually got it right, but what should have been an iconic call, the Leafs making the second round for the first time since 2004, was a flop. It’s remembered for all the wrong reasons.

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Rogers doesn’t seem to care. Bowen and Ralph, like Batchelor and Janda, were grounded for budgetary reasons.

Bowen and Ralph did end up travelling for the Leafs’ second round series last year, but this year they were set, again, to call games off a monitor, as they have done all regular season. But this year for the playoffs, the Leafs themselves have stepped in and are paying for the duo to travel.

A Rogers spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment about their travel plans for Batchelor and his colour commentator, Randip Janda. The last time Rogers was asked this question, before the season, they did confirm that there were no plans for the duo to travel.

The Canucks also declined to comment.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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Read more of our Canucks vs Predators playoff coverage:

• Canucks vs. Predators: Kirk McLean can feel Thatcher Demko’s playoff injury pain
• Mentality in the spotlight as series shifts to Nashville tied 1-1
• Canucks: Want to talk playoffs? Player-turned-analyst Chris Higgins is your guy
• Canucks vs. Predators Game 2: How the goals were scored
• Canucks: Worried about missing Thatcher Demko? Here are five backups who stole the show in playoffs
• Stanley Cup Coffee Canucks vs. Predators: The challenge ahead for Casey DeSmith, plus the Predators feel a little lucky

GET YOUR CANUCKS PLAYOFF POSTERS: We are proud to partner with the Vancouver Canucks to bring you this year’s edition of the longtime Province tradition, the Canucks Playoff Poster series. CLICK HERE to get a new player poster emailed to you every game day!

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