Welcome Matt: Best colour analyst in hockey is coming to Canucks broadcasts
The great news is that the best colour analyst in hockey is coming to Vancouver Canucks games this season.
The interesting part is how Ray Ferraro will treat the team if it falls flat again.
As we know, Ferraro coined the phrase “no-plan plan” during the Jim Benning era and was one of the most trusted voices/critics on how the Canucks tried to build their team. Will that continue now that he’s on the home broadcast? Particularly since Rogers executives haven’t shown the same stomach as Bell executives when it comes to critiquing their “partner.”
Personally, I’m delighted that Ferraro will be calling an undetermined number of regional games. I always learn something with Ray breaking down the action, and his enthusiasm for the sport shines through each and every time.
And let’s face it, the Canucks needed to hit a home run here because John “Cheech” Garrett was so beloved, and was so unfairly pushed out by the club at the end of last year.
In Ferraro and Dave Tomlinson, a North Van guy making his return to the Jim Robson Broadcast Gondola, Sportsnet has two superb analysts and have rescued this file from the fire.
But it is going to be interesting hearing Ferraro on a regional telecast and as a team-approved announcer given his wife, Canucks assistant GM Cammi Granato, is part of the management group making these big decisions.
Not long ago, that would’ve been considered a conflict-of-interest by editorial managers and the public alike. It may again if viewers deem Ferraro too soft on a losing outfit.
After a decade of decline, so many around the club are desperate for a competitive season to change the narrative of an organization so lost it just keeps repeating the same mistakes.
Perhaps none more so than Ferraro.
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