Stéphane Laporte, angry, expressed his dissatisfaction with the absence of Quebec sports journalists during the Stanley Cup final series.
As we head into a crucial seventh game of the Stanley Cup…everyone is on vacation. His message, a cry from the heart, strongly criticizes star hockey commentators and hosts for deserting their posts at the most important moment of the season.
Laporte begins his message with passion, describing the intensity and beauty of Game 6 between the Panthers and Oilers.
He compares Connor McDavid to a conductor, emphasizing the mastery and talent that make these sporting moments so special.
“The best game of the season took place on Tuesday. The Panthers wanted to get it over with. The Oilers wanted to survive. A non-stop succession of rapid climbs, led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin of the orchestra Edmonton, Connor McDavid. He directs with his stick and his skates, sets the tempo, the cadence. Nothing more beautiful on ice than Strauss’s Blue Danube. 97. Friday is going to be sick!”
For him, these matches are major events that deserve full media coverage, especially from those who have accompanied the fans throughout the season.
Laporte points out the absence of big names in Quebec sports journalism such as Jean-Charles Lajoie, Yanick Bouchard, and George Laraque.
“Where are, while we are going through all this, the Jean-Charles Lajoie, Yanick Bouchard, Frédéric Plante, Luc Bellemare, Vincent Damphousse, Gilbert Delorme, Max Lalonde, George Laraque, Stéphane Gonzalez, Martin Lemay and a good number of hosts and star commentators of our national sport, those who for ten months, since the preparatory matches, have analyzed in the smallest details, with verve and passion, every action of all the players on the hockey planet?
These legendary figures, who analyze every detail of hockey throughout the season, took their vacation while the season is not yet over.
Laporte compares this situation to an NFL final without the star commentators or a La Voix final without Charles Lafortune, emphasizing the absurdity of the situation.
“Where are they during the most important days of the year, those during which all the efforts deployed over the past year culminate, those during which we will finally reach the goal, the dream, the Stanley Cup? They are in vacation !”
“Their season ends before the season of those they cover. It’s like every superstar commentator in the NFL went off the air the week before the Super Bowl. It’s like the NFL finale. Voice, Charles Lafortune was absent.”
He expresses a sense of abandonment, feeling left behind by those who make the hockey season exciting, even in the middle of November.
Laporte points out that the entire season is leading up to this culminating moment – the Stanley Cup. The absence of these familiar voices, which helped keep fans interested and passionate, feels like a betrayal.
“We live the most exciting moments of the NHL, without being able to watch, to prolong the pleasure, L’antechambre, JiC, le 5 à 7 and On jase. Without having, on the microphone, those who have accompanied us since the tournament Canadian golf. It’s absurd.”
“Everything that happens during a season has only one motivation, to win the Stanley Cup. Those who made everything interesting for us, even in November, are no longer there, when interest is at its peak. We feel abandoned.”
Laporte concludes by calling for a review of the sports journalists’ calendar. He finds it incomprehensible that those who follow and comment on hockey throughout the year are not present for the most important moments. He suggests that journalists remain active until the end of the season, after the Stanley Cup is awarded.
“Fortunately, BPM Sports talks about the playoffs, on a long day, but with the summer roster. They are very good. But it seems to me that they should jump on the ice, after the presentation of the big trophy.
“It’s been 5 years that Laraque has been telling us that the Oilers are going to win the Cup, they are 2 wins away from making it happen, George is no longer there. OK, he intervenes for a few minutes, sometimes in the others’ show, but it’s “It’s his own show, lasting 3 hours, that we want.”
“That’s it. You often criticize the NHL schedule, yours could improve too.”
“On that note, good match tomorrow, we hope for another one, on June 24, to sing: “My dear Connor, it’s your turn…”
Stéphane Laporte’s message resonates with a large part of the hockey fan community. His frustration is understandable: the culminating moments of the season should logically benefit from the presence and analysis of the journalists who followed and commented on each step of the journey.
Laporte’s criticism shows a huge problem in media coverage of hockey. Journalists, like athletes, need rest, but it seems a better balance can be found.
Perhaps sports networks could consider a system of rotating or extending commentator contracts to cover the entire season, including the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final.
Fans feel betrayed by the absence of star journalists at these decisive moments. A review of the sports journalists’ calendar is in order.
Hockey is our national sport…but our journalists are on vacation during the Stanley Cup. TVA Sports has exclusive rights to the NHL, but does not have journalists…
Misery…
