Legendary broadcaster Jim Hughson has award named in his honor

The BCHL, the top Junior A hockey league in the world, announced today that it has named their Broadcaster of the Year Award after BC born play by play man Jim Hughson.

The Jim Hughson Award will be given annually the league's top broadcaster as judged by its board of governors. Hughson, a native of White Rock, BC, began his broadcasting career with the BCHL (Then the BCJHL) with the Penticton Vees and the Kelowna Buckaroos in the 1970s. He went on to become one of the most prominent voices of his generation and is mostly known for having been the voice of the Vancouver Canucks on the radio from 1990 to 1998 and on television from 1999 to 2007. During that time, he also became a national commentator for Hockey Night in Canada from 2005 to 2021, including 11 years as their lead broadcaster.

The 65-year-old called 12 Stanley Cup Finals, as well as the men’s hockey tournament at the 2006 and 2014 Winter Olympics. He retired in 2021 after a 42-year broadcasting career.

“This is incredibly flattering, humbling and, I hope for some young broadcasters, it’s inspiring,” said Hughson in a prepared statement. “I hope that, in time, for those broadcasters, I can be an inspiration to them. [The BCHL] was my training ground. It’s where I learned to broadcast a game. It’s where I learned to love the game even more than I had as a kid and as a player. It’s just a fantastic experience. It’s a very humbling honour.”

I understand that not everyone is a fan of Hughson's, but to me he's one of the absolute best to call a hockey game. His booming, "HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES!", will forever be imprinted in my brain. While I might prefer a peak Bob Cole or even a current-day Chris Cuthbert to Hughson, to me there's no denying that Hughson is one of the absolute best. And, if you were an avid player of the EA Sports' NHL series from 1998 until 2007 like I was, then Hughson will live on in your brain forever. And no doubt there are thousands of Canucks fans out there whose favorite call will always be, "GREAT SAVE, LUONGO!"