Madferret
6-22-05, 10:45 PM
With no NHL to broadcast, waiting for mailman a highlight for Harry Neale
(CP) - With no NHL hockey to broadcast and no games to watch on television, Harry Neale began to look forward to two things each day.
"A lot of days the two highlights was the morning paper banging against the door and the mailman coming," said the veteran Hockey Night in Canada analyst. For the first time in almost 20 years of TV work, Neale spent a whole season without NHL hockey. Suddenly the former player, coach and general manager had a lot of extra time to fill.
"I didn't do a hell of lot," said Neale. "I worked out more than I usually would because there was nothing else to do, not because I'm a fitness freak."Like many people during the NHL's winter of discontent, Neale missed the routine hockey offered, its constants.
"It was a big void in my life," he said. "I missed not getting paid. I'm not the only one in that category. I really missed the game. I missed preparing for the games and I missed watching the games on TV." That meant Neale spent a lot of time around his home near Buffalo. He suspects his wife, who has spent most of their married life packing his suitcase for road trips, soon became tired of him hanging around.
"She never told me she did but often she acted like she did," Neale chuckled.
To put in his time, Neale has spoken at some golf tournaments and sports celebrity dinners. He took in a few AHL games and watched some junior hockey on television. "Not enough to be called a fan," he conceded.
Neale, along with Hockey Night in Canada announcer Bob Cole, also spent some time in Los Angeles doing the voiceover for a new NHL video game. When commissioner Gary Bettman first announced last September that the owners would lock out the players, Neale couldn't have imagined the NHL would become the first major North American sports league to have an entire season cancelled due to a labour dispute.
"I didn't think the players would be willing to sacrifice the whole year's pay to get what they thought might be a better deal than they were offered before the cancellation of the season," he said. "I thought there were enough owners that liked being in the business, even though they're not all making money. They didn't buy teams not to operate. I thought the two groups could find some common territory and make a deal.
"Obviously I was wrong."
The labour problems will no doubt leave some open wounds with the fans, something the NHL must try to heal when hockey returns.
"This lockout really soured a lot of hockey fans on both sides of the border," Neale said. "We lost a lot of peripheral fans who like to go to a few games or who are new fans. These are the ones that are going to say 'If you have the nerve to cancel the season, don't count on me coming back as quickly as you might think."'
The lost season will also have a ripple effect on television.Chris Cuthbert, one of the CBC's top announcers, was fired by the network. Neale said his agent is talking with the CBC and he expects to have a new contract. Even when the NHL returns to television, Neale expects a decline in viewership.
"I think the Canadian hockey fan feels offended," said Neale, who also has a two-year contract to cover Toronto Maple Leaf games. "People did something else. Some of them probably found out there were other things to do on Saturday."
Neale, who coached in both the NHL and the WHA, began his broadcast career three days after being fired from the Detroit Red Wings during the 1985-86 season. "I have always wondered why they asked me back to do Game 1 after they heard me in Game 2," he said.
Look out...look out...
http://www.studio8.net/images/PictureStories/Twix/twix%20-%20ferncouldnttakeit.jpg
(CP) - With no NHL hockey to broadcast and no games to watch on television, Harry Neale began to look forward to two things each day.
"A lot of days the two highlights was the morning paper banging against the door and the mailman coming," said the veteran Hockey Night in Canada analyst. For the first time in almost 20 years of TV work, Neale spent a whole season without NHL hockey. Suddenly the former player, coach and general manager had a lot of extra time to fill.
"I didn't do a hell of lot," said Neale. "I worked out more than I usually would because there was nothing else to do, not because I'm a fitness freak."Like many people during the NHL's winter of discontent, Neale missed the routine hockey offered, its constants.
"It was a big void in my life," he said. "I missed not getting paid. I'm not the only one in that category. I really missed the game. I missed preparing for the games and I missed watching the games on TV." That meant Neale spent a lot of time around his home near Buffalo. He suspects his wife, who has spent most of their married life packing his suitcase for road trips, soon became tired of him hanging around.
"She never told me she did but often she acted like she did," Neale chuckled.
To put in his time, Neale has spoken at some golf tournaments and sports celebrity dinners. He took in a few AHL games and watched some junior hockey on television. "Not enough to be called a fan," he conceded.
Neale, along with Hockey Night in Canada announcer Bob Cole, also spent some time in Los Angeles doing the voiceover for a new NHL video game. When commissioner Gary Bettman first announced last September that the owners would lock out the players, Neale couldn't have imagined the NHL would become the first major North American sports league to have an entire season cancelled due to a labour dispute.
"I didn't think the players would be willing to sacrifice the whole year's pay to get what they thought might be a better deal than they were offered before the cancellation of the season," he said. "I thought there were enough owners that liked being in the business, even though they're not all making money. They didn't buy teams not to operate. I thought the two groups could find some common territory and make a deal.
"Obviously I was wrong."
The labour problems will no doubt leave some open wounds with the fans, something the NHL must try to heal when hockey returns.
"This lockout really soured a lot of hockey fans on both sides of the border," Neale said. "We lost a lot of peripheral fans who like to go to a few games or who are new fans. These are the ones that are going to say 'If you have the nerve to cancel the season, don't count on me coming back as quickly as you might think."'
The lost season will also have a ripple effect on television.Chris Cuthbert, one of the CBC's top announcers, was fired by the network. Neale said his agent is talking with the CBC and he expects to have a new contract. Even when the NHL returns to television, Neale expects a decline in viewership.
"I think the Canadian hockey fan feels offended," said Neale, who also has a two-year contract to cover Toronto Maple Leaf games. "People did something else. Some of them probably found out there were other things to do on Saturday."
Neale, who coached in both the NHL and the WHA, began his broadcast career three days after being fired from the Detroit Red Wings during the 1985-86 season. "I have always wondered why they asked me back to do Game 1 after they heard me in Game 2," he said.
Look out...look out...
http://www.studio8.net/images/PictureStories/Twix/twix%20-%20ferncouldnttakeit.jpg