Latest news with #MartinMcGuire
Ottawa Citizen
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
Habs fans tune in to Martin McGuire because they love his passion
Article content It's well known that a lot of anglophone Montreal Habs fans prefer to watch their favourite team's games on RDS en français rather than in the language of Dryden on either Sportsnet or TSN. That's because many of us know that RDS play-by-play man Pierre Houde gets the team in a way that no one out of Toronto does. Article content Article content And Houde gets way more excited than the English-speaking broadcasters. When he says 'LE BUT,' he often nearly shouts it. And we love that. Article content But not as many people realize that there are also some of us anglos who tune in to 98.5 FM to listen to the games simply because that station's play-by-play guy Martin McGuire takes the excitement quotient to another level. McGuire is always dialed up to a 12-out-of-10 intensity level and he makes even a dull Tuesday night game in February against the Minnesota Wild seem like Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. Article content I was on Radio Noon on CBC Radio Wednesday talking about the Canadiens and the playoffs when one woman, an anglo, called in to say that she prefers to listen to the games in French on 98.5 simply because McGuire's style is so captivating. Article content Earlier this month, the Canadiens paid tribute to McGuire and his on-air partner, colour commentator Dany Dubé, during a game at the Bell Centre, celebrating the duo's 1500th game since they started covering the Habs back in the 2003-2004 season. Article content Félicitations à Martin McGuire et Dany Dubé, qui assurent la description de leur 1500e match des Canadiens! Congratulations to Martin McGuire and Dany Dubé on 1,500 Canadiens games behind the mic! #GoHabsGo | @985Sports — x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 8, 2025 Article content 'What we try to do is let people have as much fun as we're having presenting the hockey game,' said McGuire, during a phone conversation Thursday afternoon. Article content Article content McGuire had just flown in at noon with the team, after covering the first two games of the Canadiens/ Washington Capitals series. Article content 'Our goal is to let people enjoy the moment,' said McGuire. 'We'll say if it isn't a good game but we want people to have fun. If you listen to the game Feb. 12 against the Minnesota Wild or against the Buffalo Sabres or you listen to the playoff game Friday against the Washington Capitals with the Bell Centre going nuts, Dany and I have the responsibility to present every game with the same energy and the same passion. And to make you live something that's entertaining. We're not surgeons. We're not saving people's lives. This is entertainment.' Article content Article content McGuire talks of how people often say radio is dead but from what he sees, it's very much alive and well in Quebec, particularly talk radio. His station routinely tops the ratings. For the last Habs game of the season, when they clinched a playoff spot by beating the Carolina Hurricanes, the 98.5 FM broadcast had a market share in Montreal of 63 per cent in the 25-to-54 demographic! Their broadcasts are also aired across the province on other stations owned by Cogeco.
Vancouver Sun
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Vancouver Sun
Habs fans tune in to Martin McGuire because they love his passion
Article content It's well known that a lot of anglophone Montreal Habs fans prefer to watch their favourite team's games on RDS en français rather than in the language of Dryden on either Sportsnet or TSN. That's because many of us know that RDS play-by-play man Pierre Houde gets the team in a way that no one out of Toronto does. Article content Article content And Houde gets way more excited than the English-speaking broadcasters. When he says 'LE BUT,' he often nearly shouts it. And we love that. Article content But not as many people realize that there are also some of us anglos who tune in to 98.5 FM to listen to the games simply because that station's play-by-play guy Martin McGuire takes the excitement quotient to another level. McGuire is always dialed up to a 12-out-of-10 intensity level and he makes even a dull Tuesday night game in February against the Minnesota Wild seem like Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. Article content I was on Radio Noon on CBC Radio Wednesday talking about the Canadiens and the playoffs when one woman, an anglo, called in to say that she prefers to listen to the games in French on 98.5 simply because McGuire's style is so captivating. Article content Earlier this month, the Canadiens paid tribute to McGuire and his on-air partner, colour commentator Dany Dubé, during a game at the Bell Centre, celebrating the duo's 1500th game since they started covering the Habs back in the 2003-2004 season. Article content Félicitations à Martin McGuire et Dany Dubé, qui assurent la description de leur 1500e match des Canadiens! Congratulations to Martin McGuire and Dany Dubé on 1,500 Canadiens games behind the mic! #GoHabsGo | @985Sports — x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 8, 2025 Article content 'What we try to do is let people have as much fun as we're having presenting the hockey game,' said McGuire, during a phone conversation Thursday afternoon. Article content Article content McGuire had just flown in at noon with the team, after covering the first two games of the Canadiens/ Washington Capitals series. Article content 'Our goal is to let people enjoy the moment,' said McGuire. 'We'll say if it isn't a good game but we want people to have fun. If you listen to the game Feb. 12 against the Minnesota Wild or against the Buffalo Sabres or you listen to the playoff game Friday against the Washington Capitals with the Bell Centre going nuts, Dany and I have the responsibility to present every game with the same energy and the same passion. And to make you live something that's entertaining. We're not surgeons. We're not saving people's lives. This is entertainment.' Article content McGuire talks of how people often say radio is dead but from what he sees, it's very much alive and well in Quebec, particularly talk radio. His station routinely tops the ratings. For the last Habs game of the season, when they clinched a playoff spot by beating the Carolina Hurricanes, the 98.5 FM broadcast had a market share in Montreal of 63 per cent in the 25-to-54 demographic! Their broadcasts are also aired across the province on other stations owned by Cogeco.
Montreal Gazette
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Montreal Gazette
Habs fans tune in to Martin McGuire because they love his passion
Montreal Canadiens By It's well known that a lot of anglophone Montreal Habs fans prefer to watch their favourite team's games on RDS en français rather than in the language of Dryden on either Sportsnet or TSN. That's because many of us know that RDS play-by-play man Pierre Houde gets the team in a way that no one out of Toronto does. And Houde gets way more excited than the English-speaking broadcasters. When he says 'LE BUT,' he often nearly shouts it. And we love that. But not as many people realize that there are also some of us anglos who tune in to 98.5 FM to listen to the games simply because that station's play-by-play guy Martin McGuire takes the excitement quotient to another level. McGuire is always dialed up to a 12-out-of-10 intensity level and he makes even a dull Tuesday night game in February against the Minnesota Wild seem like Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. I was on Radio Noon on CBC Radio Wednesday talking about the Canadiens and the playoffs when one woman, an anglo, called in to say that she prefers to listen to the games in French on 98.5 simply because McGuire's style is so captivating. Earlier this month, the Canadiens paid tribute to McGuire and his on-air partner, colour commentator Dany Dubé, during a game at the Bell Centre, celebrating the duo's 1500th game since they started covering the Habs back in the 2003-2004 season. Félicitations à Martin McGuire et Dany Dubé, qui assurent la description de leur 1500e match des Canadiens! Congratulations to Martin McGuire and Dany Dubé on 1,500 Canadiens games behind the mic! #GoHabsGo | @985Sports — x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 8, 2025 'What we try to do is let people have as much fun as we're having presenting the hockey game,' said McGuire, during a phone conversation Thursday afternoon. McGuire had just flown in at noon with the team, after covering the first two games of the Canadiens/ Washington Capitals series. 'Our goal is to let people enjoy the moment,' said McGuire. 'We'll say if it isn't a good game but we want people to have fun. If you listen to the game Feb. 12 against the Minnesota Wild or against the Buffalo Sabres or you listen to the playoff game Friday against the Washington Capitals with the Bell Centre going nuts, Dany and I have the responsibility to present every game with the same energy and the same passion. And to make you live something that's entertaining. We're not surgeons. We're not saving people's lives. This is entertainment.' McGuire talks of how people often say radio is dead but from what he sees, it's very much alive and well in Quebec, particularly talk radio. His station routinely tops the ratings. For the last Habs game of the season, when they clinched a playoff spot by beating the Carolina Hurricanes, the 98.5 FM broadcast had a market share in Montreal of 63 per cent in the 25-to-54 demographic! Their broadcasts are also aired across the province on other stations owned by Cogeco. McGuire talks of how he meets young people who live online and don't watch conventional TV but they listen to him on the radio. 'It flabbergasts me and it really motivates me,' said McGuire. He notes that in the U.S. a lot of talk radio is nationally syndicated programming. But here in Quebec people want their talk radio to be local and in the language of Lafleur. 'There's a cultural particularity to Quebec,' said McGuire. 'It's the French language that distinguishes us from the rest of North America and I think that's helped radio keep thriving here. And it's also kept hockey alive on the radio here.' But McGuire is conscious it's not just his and Dubé's work that makes it popular. It's the power of the Canadiens. McGuire notes that everywhere they go with the team, in the 31 other cities with NHL teams, 'the Canadiens is the team that attracts more of its fans in other cities than any other NHL team.' In Montreal, people stop him to talk hockey all the time. He even had an English-speaking customs agent at the border a few years back recognize him and say he loved listening to him ... even if he didn't understand all the words. McGuire and Dubé always travel by plane with the team but they like to keep their distance from the players, to give them their space. They sit right at the front, the players at the back of the Airbus 320. 'It's the way it should be, the team needs that time to be by themselves,' said McGuire. 'I don't run after them in the hotel lobby. I respect their space. And I'll talk to them when the Canadiens open up their dressing room to the media. Dany and me have to remain objective.' McGuire feels he's living the dream. He's doing what he fantasized about all those years ago as a kid in Quebec City listening to Nordiques games on his radio in his bedroom, and he's doing it every game with one of his best friends. But he never loses sight of the fact that what really makes the magic happen is the Canadiens and their unique place in the hearts of Quebecers. 'The playoffs are special here in Montreal,' said McGuire. 'It brings people together. There are no cultural barriers, there are no language barriers, there are no disagreements. The Canadiens in the playoffs brings euphoria but also a kind of harmony. The Canadiens bring together all levels of society. The Canadiens in the playoffs excites the cardiac surgeon but it also excites the taxi driver who brings the surgeon to the hospital. And Dany and me have had the privilege for 24 seasons to be part of people's daily lives.'
Calgary Herald
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
Habs fans tune in to Martin McGuire because they love his passion
Article content It's well known that a lot of anglophone Montreal Habs fans prefer to watch their favourite team's games on RDS en français rather than in the language of Dryden on either Sportsnet or TSN. That's because many of us know that RDS play-by-play man Pierre Houde gets the team in a way that no one out of Toronto does. Article content Article content And Houde gets way more excited than the English-speaking broadcasters. When he says 'LE BUT,' he often nearly shouts it. And we love that. Article content But not as many people realize that there are also some of us anglos who tune in to 98.5 FM to listen to the games simply because that station's play-by-play guy Martin McGuire takes the excitement quotient to another level. McGuire is always dialed up to a 12-out-of-10 intensity level and he makes even a dull Tuesday night game in February against the Minnesota Wild seem like Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. Article content I was on Radio Noon on CBC Radio Wednesday talking about the Canadiens and the playoffs when one woman, an anglo, called in to say that she prefers to listen to the games in French on 98.5 simply because McGuire's style is so captivating. Article content Earlier this month, the Canadiens paid tribute to McGuire and his on-air partner, colour commentator Dany Dubé, during a game at the Bell Centre, celebrating the duo's 1500th game since they started covering the Habs back in the 2003-2004 season. Article content Félicitations à Martin McGuire et Dany Dubé, qui assurent la description de leur 1500e match des Canadiens! Congratulations to Martin McGuire and Dany Dubé on 1,500 Canadiens games behind the mic! #GoHabsGo | @985Sports — x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 8, 2025 Article content 'What we try to do is let people have as much fun as we're having presenting the hockey game,' said McGuire, during a phone conversation Thursday afternoon. Article content Article content McGuire had just flown in at noon with the team, after covering the first two games of the Canadiens/ Washington Capitals series. Article content 'Our goal is to let people enjoy the moment,' said McGuire. 'We'll say if it isn't a good game but we want people to have fun. If you listen to the game Feb. 12 against the Minnesota Wild or against the Buffalo Sabres or you listen to the playoff game Friday against the Washington Capitals with the Bell Centre going nuts, Dany and I have the responsibility to present every game with the same energy and the same passion. And to make you live something that's entertaining. We're not surgeons. We're not saving people's lives. This is entertainment.' Article content Article content McGuire talks of how people often say radio is dead but from what he sees, it's very much alive and well in Quebec, particularly talk radio. His station routinely tops the ratings. For the last Habs game of the season, when they clinched a playoff spot by beating the Carolina Hurricanes, the 98.5 FM broadcast had a market share in Montreal of 63 per cent in the 25-to-54 demographic! Their broadcasts are also aired across the province on other stations owned by Cogeco.
Edmonton Journal
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Edmonton Journal
Habs fans tune in to Martin McGuire because they love his passion
Article content Félicitations à Martin McGuire et Dany Dubé, qui assurent la description de leur 1500e match des Canadiens! Congratulations to Martin McGuire and Dany Dubé on 1,500 Canadiens games behind the mic! #GoHabsGo | @985Sports — x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 8, 2025 'What we try to do is let people have as much fun as we're having presenting the hockey game,' said McGuire, during a phone conversation Thursday afternoon. McGuire had just flown in at noon with the team, after covering the first two games of the Canadiens/ Washington Capitals series. 'Our goal is to let people enjoy the moment,' said McGuire. 'We'll say if it isn't a good game but we want people to have fun. If you listen to the game Feb. 12 against the Minnesota Wild or against the Buffalo Sabres or you listen to the playoff game Friday against the Washington Capitals with the Bell Centre going nuts, Dany and I have the responsibility to present every game with the same energy and the same passion. And to make you live something that's entertaining. We're not surgeons. We're not saving people's lives. This is entertainment.'
