As if things weren't hard enough without hockey, CBC Sports commentator and Hockey Night in Canada play-by-play man Chris Cuthbert has been fired by the CBC. The station's executive director for sports programming, Nancy Lee, has been quoted as saying "It's a regrettable decision...Chris has an extremely good reputation and he's a consummate professional. But it's important to remember that 30 people have been affected by hockey." Cuthbert has apparently been let go because there wasn't enough work for him to do, but I'm sure that a rival network will happily take him in. Read CBC's explanation of the situation here.
Chris Cuthbert appeared to be Bob Cole's successor, and indeed should probably have taken over the #1 play-by-play job on HNIC some years ago, as Cole seems to be getting rustier with age. Cuthbert gave the game an excited, enthusiastic voice that I would have loved to hear during Leafs broadcasts (the network's main event every Saturday night during hockey seasons), but he was often paired with Greg Millen or Glenn Healy, whose irritatingly rambling and bumbling colour commentary really brought down the quality of the show. (That being said, if TSN picks up Cuthbert, I hope they don't stick him with Pierre McGuire.) CBC's judgement has been getting progressively poorer over recent years; first they almost didn't renew the contracts of HNIC's lifeblood in the persons of Ron MacLean and Don Cherry, and now this. Make no mistake, any other sports network would be lucky to have him. If TSN decided to offer him a contract for the 2005-06 NHL season, they would have a dynamite pair of play-by-play men in Cuthbert and Gord Miller, which would give Hockey Night in Canada a serious run for its money as the nation's favourite hockey broadcast. At any rate, Chris Cuthbert will surely land on his feet. Best of luck to him.
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