Davis: Stanley Cup final series took an unexpected turn for broadcaster Chris Cuthbert

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a day ago

Chris Cuthbert is also disappointed with the NHL's Edmonton Oilers.
He's not cheering for or against the Oilers, but as the play-by-play announcer on Sportsnet's Stanley Cup telecasts Cuthbert had enjoyed the dramatic, back-to-back overtime contests that opened the series and was hoping Game 3 would continue producing legendary showdowns between Edmonton and the Florida Panthers.
Instead the third game was an ugly, lopsided affair that reigning-champion Florida won 6-1 on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in the NHL's best-of-seven title series. Game 4 is slated for Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla. Cuthbert will call the game alongside analyst Craig Simpson, drawing audiences that typically exceed four million Canadian viewers per game, not including streaming numbers.
'It's a lot of fun, but you're catching me on the least fun part after last night's tough game,' Cuthbert said Tuesday from 'sticky-hot' southern Florida. 'I mean, the first two felt like we were on our way to one of the greatest Stanley Cup finals ever and we still might get there, but it took a detour in Game 3 for sure.'
What happened?
'Maybe the Florida Panthers happened because we've seen that movie,' said Cuthbert, recalling the preliminary victories that moved the Panthers into their third straight Stanley Cup final. 'They did it to Tampa. They did it to Toronto in Game 5 and even worse in Game 7. And I didn't cover it, but it seemed like the first three games against Carolina were pretty similar, too.
'The Panthers are an extremely good team that can make you look bad. They made the Oilers look bad last night.'
After spending 15 years as TSN's leading broadcaster for CFL games, Cuthbert moved to Sportsnet in 2020 and became the primary play-by-play voice of Hockey Night in Canada. He began broadcasting university football games at Queen's University in the 1970s before getting hired at a Yorkton radio station, CJGX, where he did play-by-play for the Saskatchewan Amateur Junior Hockey League's Terriers.
'You can add that (future NHLers) Chris Chelios, Al MacInnis, Dave Tippett and Ken Daneyko were in the SAJHL that year, so I was in good company,' said Cuthbert.
That's also where he started dreaming about getting to where he is now, from hearing Al Michaels' iconic 'Do you believe in miracles' during the U.S. hockey team's victory over Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics to calling his own 'Golden goal' moment while describing Sidney Crosby's game-winner for Canada in the 2010 Games.
'I don't know if I thought about (the Stanley Cup),' said Cuthbert. 'But I was sitting in my apartment above a Chinese food restaurant in Yorkton, where I was living when I worked at CJGX, and I remember watching the 1980 Miracle on Ice and thinking, 'Man, that would be cool to call a game like that.'
'So, yeah, 2010 happened. But I think the dream of calling the Stanley Cup was probably even before I got to Yorkton because I was doing play-by-play when we were playing road hockey as kids. I went to bed with the transistor radio under my pillow, listening to Foster Hewitt or Dan Kelly or any number of those play-by-play guys back then because you could get all those signals on the radio.'
Always well-researched, Cuthbert reads, watches and listens to numerous media reports about hockey and football. They help keep him in touch with the NHL and the CFL, so he's conversant in both sports.
'I still get all the (newspaper) clips and I go through them,' said Cuthbert. 'I probably see less of the CFL now but I do like to punch in and try to catch up. I was curious to see how Week 1 went. A lot of people think the Riders can do something this year.'
Indeed, after beating the Ottawa Redblacks — Cuthbert grew up in Ontario and used to cheer for the Ottawa Rough Riders — 31-26 in their season-opener, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are 1-0 while preparing to visit the 0-1 Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday.
Cuthbert will be otherwise engaged Saturday, calling Game 5 of the Stanley Cup in Edmonton. Cuthbert is wondering if, like last season when they won Games 4, 5 and 6 against Florida before losing the decisive contest, the Oilers can rebound.
'Do they pass this next test?' said Cuthbert. 'This may be the biggest test yet.
'I was surprised that (Panthers head coach Paul) Maurice said this is easily the best team he's coached. And I thought, 'Man, you just won the cup with another team and you're not there yet with this one.' We're seeing why he feels that way.'
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