Frank Caprice Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 As a Canucks fan born in the 1970s I grew up in the era of Jim Robson and Tom Larscheid calling games on the radio. Over the past 15 years I have come to really appreciate and respect John Shorthouse and find him now to be one of the best play-by-play men in the league, especially compared to many of the over-the-top announcers from other teams that seem to put a ridiculous amount of emphasis on too many of their calls. I was also very disappointed to see Rick Ball move on, however we certainly can't begrudge him the opportunity that he was offered in Calgary. In the past couple of years we have also seen both Joey Kenward, and now John Abbott calling games both on TV and on radio. Kenward received a lot of criticism for his style when he first started calling games though I found him to be very competent. To be fair to Joey a lot of people really disliked Shorthouse when he first replaced Jim Robson. Interestingly, listening to Joey broadcast the past few games on Sportsnet I feel like his skills and abilities have improved and he just seems much more comfortable now. By contrast I find that I am still having a hard time adjusting to John Abbott, in particular I find his goal calls to be awkward and almost delayed. Quite frequently I find myself thinking that someone has scored, yet it is another two or three seconds before he finally seems to get around to making the call. Again I think his overall confidence and skill set is very good, in reality as with others in the past I think it will simply take some time to adjust to the new voice. As a fan that listened to hundreds of games in my childhood on the radio I find that I almost prefer listening to the radio than watching on TV. Just curious if others have had similar thoughts in particular regarding Kenward and Abbott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Zamboni Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Shorty ftw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Caprice Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 I feel bad admitting this but I actually think that one of the issues I have with John Abbott is that he comes from Ontario and the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. I would've preferred to see Kenward, who is from Nanaimo, or another homegrown BC talent who grew up cheering for the Canucks, get the full-time radio gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joelface Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 For me... it's all about Shorty. Absolutely the BEST call I've ever heard for a canucks game. Ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckylager Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I feel bad admitting this but I actually think that one of the issues I have with John Abbott is that he comes from Ontario and the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. I would've preferred to see Kenward, who is from Nanaimo, or another homegrown BC talent who grew up cheering for the Canucks, get the full-time radio gig. Not a fan of Kenward, but I guess it's fair to say he's improved, I guess. But Abbott stinks, agreed, I wasn't aware he came through the Laffs org, explains why I hate him, you can just hear the suck in his voice. But I hate Toronto, city and teams, F that place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShakyWalton Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 For me... it's all about Shorty. Absolutely the BEST call I've ever heard for a canucks game. Ever. I wouldnt go that far..Jim Robson and Jim Hughson might have something to say about that...Shorty isnt bad though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoted Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Didn't Jim Hughson replace Jim Robson and then Shorty replaced him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShakyWalton Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Didn't Jim Hughson replace Jim Robson and then Shorty replaced him? yep..correcto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyHatnDart Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Not a fan of Kenward, but I guess it's fair to say he's improved, I guess. But Abbott stinks, agreed, I wasn't aware he came through the Laffs org, explains why I hate him, you can just hear the suck in his voice. But I hate Toronto, city and teams, F that place. Actually laughed out loud at this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amish Rake Fighter Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I almost always have 1040 on during games unless the delay is too long, I'm still getting used to Abbott but he's pretty good. I like his pre and post game spots. Wasn't crazy about Shorty when he started but he grew on me There's only one master Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amish Rake Fighter Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Here's almost every Canuck playoff OT goal in history including Reinhart's against the Flames, one of my all time favourites. There are some beauties in there; Momesso, Ronning, Adams, Klatt, Tiger Williams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimerez Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Thing about Kenward for me is that his voice is too high pitched. Other than that, I miss the small talk between Short and Garett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronalds.Kenins41 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Thing about Kenward for me is that his voice is too high pitched. Other than that, I miss the small talk between Short and Garett If there were an award for best broadcasting couple Tallhouse and Shorthouse would win it every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerrDrFunk Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I definitely prefer Shorthouse. Kenward was much maligned by these boards when it was announced he would be filling in for Shorty but I thought he did a very serviceable job as a replacement. That being said, it just doesn't sound right when I have the game on and don't hear Shorthouse's voice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj vic Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Shorty is able to bring the play by play through the radio smoothly and seemingly effortlessly. Where as Abbot is choppy and always seems to be a few seconds behind the play. Kenwood has made huge strides in improvement this year compared to the few games he called last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goal:thecup Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Robson is still the best.Hughson was ok but he got worse when he went to Toronto and he gives that idiot Simpson too much time and they both talk through the play.Shorthouse is great but his voice is so low I have to turn it up LOUD and then the rest of the telecast is too loud. He also tends to talk through the play.The thing I like about Joey is that he calls the play; when the game is on, he is telling you who has the puck and what they are doing with it.The old radio guys are the best, with Jim you could imagine the whole ice, and he would orient the play from left to right.Garrett is a hoot, even better than Tommy now, and if he keeps it to when the play is not on, then they are a fine team.Biggest complaint about all of them is: call the play, you have all the hours between games to exercise your pet theories and stats - especially Simpson - how that fool came to think he knows anything about hockey is beyond me.People tune in to the game, not puffed up pundits like Strombo and MacLean.Edit: spelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewismyname Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Shorthanded and Garrett are very precice with the details and shorty is un biased but shorty is waybl uptight. I don't come home from a long day and drink ten cups of coffee so I prefer a more laid back sounding voice. Prefer most American playbyplay to canucks/other Canadian broadcasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Sparkle Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Thing about Kenward for me is that his voice is too high pitched. Other than that, I miss the small talk between Short and Garett high pitched? i always thought the dude was as monotone as i am when i speak. the guy commentates like how we do at home, when we want to raise our voice when there's a goal, or a nice scoring chance, but we're kinda self-aware of other people in the room, so we keep it to ourselves, but are loud enough for people in the room to hear it garrett has almost no chemistry with kenward. i like john garrett, i like that he brings some knowledge to the broadcast booth, i like that he can make fun of himself for being a bad goalie on a bad canucks team, once upon a time. he and shorty just click. kenward always sounded super awkward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchoball Cannons Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 No one will ever touch Robson for me as far as best play by play men for the Canucks . Jim Hughson was very good, but I actually prefer Shorty over Hughson. He is one of the best and doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Kenward did his best on short notice and did a good job, but fell short of the standard Shorthouse has set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchoball Cannons Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Shorthanded and Garrett are very precice with the details and shorty is un biased but shorty is waybl uptight. I don't come home from a long day and drink ten cups of coffee so I prefer a more laid back sounding voice. Prefer most American playbyplay to canucks/other Canadian broadcasts. American broadcasters use cheesy lines and are way to over exuberant for my liking. Not sure how thats laid back? I think Shorthouse is probably just too intellectual for the Duck Dynasty crowd like yourself, who probably prefer people with limited vocabulary that you can understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.