CBC-Sports

Pepsi, popcorn and a whole lot of hockey

September 26, 2008 11:51 AM | Posted by   Marc Crawford  

Like most of you, I grew up watching and loving Saturday nights. Hockey Night in Canada was such a big part of life at the Crawford house. With nine children in the family, great seats in our living room were very valuable and many times the floor was the spot where I ended up.

It didn’t matter because we loved hockey, and throw in the fact that we might get popcorn and maybe a glass of Pepsi, it was in my opinion the perfect night.

The broadcast came on at 8:30 p.m. in those days, and the game would be joined in progress, so the big game at our house was guessing the score. All of us would take a stab at whether or not the Leafs or Canadians were up by one or two goals. It was always a thrill to hear Bill Hewitt or Danny Gallivan announce the score. The players and the announcers were larger than life and formed a lasting impression on me and my brothers and sisters.

What happened on Saturday night at our house was, I’m sure, very similar in millions of homes throughout our vast country, and I know as you are reading this many of your own special Saturday night memories must be reverberating through your mind.

Hockey Night in Canada is a great Canadian tradition. It holds a special place in the hearts of all of us. As head coach of the L.A. Kings last year, we only got the opportunity to play once on HNIC, so we made sure that we drew on the emotions of all our players by sharing the special memories that we all have of growing up with that special show.

If we had played all our games on Hockey Night ...

Before the game we heard from players like Rob Blake and Mike Cammalleri talk about their favourite memories and whether it was Darryl Sittler’s 10-point game or one of Ron and Don’s great segments of Coach’s Corner, you could see that emotions were very high in our dressing room.

It wasn’t just the Canadian players either. Dustin Brown talked about being able to get CBC at his place in upstate New York and Anze Kopitar talked about how, as a kid, he use to practice interviews in English so he could be ready to one day get that towel they give the players.

We played the Oilers that night and let me tell you they never knew what hit them. It was one of our best games of the season. I swear if we had played all of our games on Hockey Night, I would probably still have my job.

The show is the leading source of opinion and information in the hockey world of the NHL, just as it holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Canadians from coast to coast. As I have gotten to know the many talented individuals who work on the program, it is easy to see how much pride goes into putting on a quality show each and every week.

As a coach, I know how important it is to have players that care about the standards and tradition of a great organization. HNIC is the longest running television show in North America and all who work there, including yours truly, take very seriously the responsibility of maintaining the respect and trust that has become a trademark of the show

I am thrilled to be a part of the tradition and I look forward to spending Saturday nights with all of you.

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