Leafs radio team to call road games from studio
When the Toronto Maple Leafs play road games during the 2015-16 season, their radio announcers will be calling the games from a studio in Toronto instead of the various press boxes around the NHL.
The move comes as a result of new general manager Lou Lamoriello banning all TV and radio broadcasters from the team charter flight.
That news was first reported by Torontosportsmedia.com, and later confirmed on Twitter by Maple Leafs play-by-play man Joe Bowen.
@yyzsportsmedia @Jim_Ralph @MapleLeafs Unfortunately this is true. We will try to recreate the excitement and do the best we can
— Joe Bowen (@BonsieTweets) September 27, 2015
UPDATE (4:30 p.m. ET): It appears there has been an abrupt change on this now. The broadcasters will travel to away games, however will not do so on the team charter as in years past.
Breaking news: smarter heads prevail- @BonsieTweets @Jim_Ralph are back in the road with the @MapleLeafs not on charter but at games.
— jonah (@yyzsportsmedia) September 28, 2015
Previously, the Maple Leafs’ announcers traveled with the team on their charter flight to road games, a common practice across the league. But Lamoriello has a number of rules that greatly differ from other teams — in New Jersey this included but was not limited to facial hair restrictions and not allowing certain numbers to be worn — and feels that the team charter is an extension of the locker room and is only for members of the team, according to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun.
The decision to remove broadcasters from the team charter flight has forced them and their networks to provide their own transportation to the games, and in the case of Leafs radio announcers Bowen and Jim Ralph, their employers, Sportsnet and Bell media (TSN) don’t seem willing to foot the bill to send them on the road.
It’s one thing for Maple Leafs management to restrict who gets access to their team flight, so it’s not really a huge deal that they made the decision to limit it to players, coaches and team executives. Especially since Lamoriello had a similar rule during his days in New Jersey.
But it’s absolutely stunning that the richest team in the NHL, one that has two media giants (Rogers Sportsnet and Bell media) behind it (they not only share the broadcast rights for the games, they actually own the team), won’t pay to send its radio announcers on the road.
Writing about a game after the fact when you’re not in attendance is very manageable, but when your job is to give play-by-play of an ongoing game to a large radio audience it’s pretty much a necessity to be in the building to be able to accurately relay any and all information to fans, whether it’s the play on the ice, what’s happening on the bench, line combinations, or just getting a general feel for the game.
The Maple Leafs’ radio announcers will not travel with the team this season. (USATSI)
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