TSN's ultimate insider Bob McKenzie announces his retirement from a life of hockey scoops
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One of the best regarded hockey voices in the business announced his retirement on Tuesday as the July 1 free-agent frenzy wound down and the NHL drifted towards another off-season.
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'Today's Free Agent Frenzy is the last working day in a 48-year professional career that included stops at The Sault Star, The Globe and Mail, The Hockey News (twice), The Toronto Star, TSN, ESPN and NBC, amongst others,' McKenzie wrote on X announcing his departure from a lifetime of gathering and dispensing hockey news and insight. 'It's been quite a ride.'
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McKenzie, who will turn 69 in August, had been semi-retired for the past several years but felt it was time to walk away from the sport that has been his passion and his livelihood for so long.
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'Today is my retirement day,' McKenzie said on air while sporting a TSN blazer with an old-school network logo. 'Shutting 'er down after 48 years. It goes by in the blink of an eye.'
That journey, through so many outlets, saw McKenzie rise to become one of the most trusted voices in the sport — an insider with a keen analyst's touch — who informed generations of hockey fans. Whether it was breaking NHL deals, shining with his role in TSN's coverage of the world juniors, or his in-depth breakdown of prospects and draft coverage, he's long been one of the best in the business.
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'I decided a few months ago it's as nice a time as any to call it a career with the expiry of my current contract,' McKenzie wrote. 'If I had been so inclined to continue doing the world juniors and draft rankings etc. at TSN, the opportunity was certainly there for me to do so. And I'm so grateful to TSN for that.'
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Fitting to a long and influential career, TSN signed off its July 1 NHL coverage with an at-times emotional look back at McKenzie's career highlights, ending with him surrounded by colleagues new and old on the studio set.
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'I don't know if there's anyone who intersects Canada, journalism and hockey like Bob McKenzie,' TSN's host James Duthie said of McKenzie, who was recognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015 when he was that year's recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Award.
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So much of what we see on hockey telecasts today has its roots in McKenzie's work. He brought coverage of prospects and the NHL draft into a different and more in-depth realm and championed July 1 and the free-agent frenzy as must-watch television. As much as McKenzie loved (and lived) for the world juniors — certainly high on the lengthy list of his much-watch work — McKenzie said he is looking forward to a different pace over the Christmas holidays. And a life of leisure away from the camera.
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