The Athletic published its ranking of the various NHL broadcasts on Monday, as voted by fans. Team’s fans were asked to rate their favourite team’s broadcast on a scale from one to five and to vote on as many national broadcasts as they wanted. Then, the values were computed, and the rankings were born.
The Boston Bruins come in last at number 32, with the Pittsburgh Penguins coming in at 31, and the Toronto Maple Leafs wrapping up the bottom three. At the other end of the spectrum, the Detroit Red Wings took first place, followed by the Seattle Kraken and the Utah Mammoth. As for the Montreal Canadiens, they came in at number 10.
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As can be expected, the Canadiens are a unique market in this regard, as they offer both French and English broadcasts, which are further split into National and Local games.
In English, TSN provides local coverage, while Sportsnet offers national coverage. In French, TVA Sports receives the national broadcast, while RDS receives the local one. RDS’ duo of Pierre Houde to run the play-by-play and Marc Denis provides the colour commentary.
For years, French-speaking fans have said that the Houde-Denis duo is the best in the business, and they voted accordingly. It seems to be a valid opinion since Houde was honored with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame this past season.
In his first post-induction game, Houde was celebrated in the Jacques Beauchamp media room with presents and speeches from Chantal Machabee, who was one of his colleagues for years, and France Margaret Belander. He was given a number 50 jersey (representing the number of years in the field), autographed by the players, an autographed Guy Lafleur Gin bottle, and scotch glasses.
Houde received an autographed jersey, scotch glasses and an autographed Guy Lafleur gin bottle #GoHabsGo#BravoPierreHoude#THNpic.twitter.com/ZdvV9Xp0gt
— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) November 18, 2024
Members of the media were also all given a special Molson Beer featuring the play-by-play experts. The unanimous praise for their broadcast boosted the Canadiens' ratings here.
Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
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