Bob Cole, Canada’s voice of hockey for a half-century, dies at 90

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TORONTO — Bob Cole, the voice of hockey in Canada for a half-century who served as the soundtrack for some of the national sport’s biggest moments, has died. He was 90.

Friend and fellow broadcaster John Shannon said Cole died Wednesday night in his hometown of St. John’s, Nfld. The CBC announced his death Thursday, adding daughter Megan said her father had been healthy “up until the very end.”

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Known for his “Oh baby!” catchphrase, Cole called some iconic games as part of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada. His distinctive play-by-play style added even more flavor to the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, the 2002 Olympic final in Salt Lake City and numerous Stanley Cup Finals.

Cole called his first game, on radio, between Boston and Montreal in April 1969 and moved to TV in 1973. He called his last game on April 6, 2019 — the regular-season finale between the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs — and in between was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996, winning the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.

Greg Millen, a former NHL goaltender-turned-broadcaster, said Cole’s voice was “almost like a symphony.”

“Bob had an unbelievable ability of bringing the game up and down depending on what was happening on the ice,” Millen said.

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe opened his remarks between playoff games Thursday by passing along condolences to Cole’s family.

“Someone who touched the game in so many ways, as an icon in our sport and the voice of hockey, not just in Toronto, but in our country,” Keefe said. “A sad day for sure.”

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