Ronald Joseph Corbett MacLean (born April 12, 1960) is a Canadian sportscaster for the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

and

Rogers Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties. Operations Current television brands owned by Rogers include two television sys ...

, best known as the host of ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' from 1986 to 2014 and again since 2016. MacLean is also a former hockey referee.

Early life and education

MacLean was born in

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; ; , ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach (Blies), Schwarzbach River. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; older forms of the name include Middl ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, at the NATO Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Number 3 Fighter Wing Zweibrucken, West Germany on April 12, 1960. His father was stationed at the NATO RCAF Number 1 Air Division Headquarters, Chateau de Mercy, Metz, France where he was employed in the Chateau as a NCO Communications Operator (Crypto Centre). Ron MacLean Sr., of

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...

, married in July 1959 at 1 Air Division Metz, a member of the RCAF, Sarah "Lila" MacDonald, from Iona, Nova Scotia. In 1956-57 Ron MacLean Sr. worked as a communications operator at RCAF Station Edmonton, while MacDonald was an airwoman/clerk stationed at RCAF Station Namao, just outside Edmonton. Fourteen months after MacLean's birth, the family moved back to Canada, initially settling in

Chester, Nova Scotia Chester is a village on the Chester Peninsula, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. History The French had been present in Acadia since the early 1600s, but when the British expanded into the area in the 1700s, Acadian settlements on the South ...

. MacLean was four years old when his dad was stationed in

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, with the Royal Canadian Air Force before relocating eventually in Sylvan Lake,

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. He attended high school in

Red Deer, Alberta Red Deer is a city in Alberta, Canada, located midway on the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Red Deer serves central Alberta, and its key industries include health care, retail trade, construction, oil and gas, hospitality, manufacturing and educati ...

, where he met his future wife Cari. After high school, MacLean was prepared to attend the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

until he was asked to fill in for a sick friend at CKRD-FM, which led to a job at CKRD-TV.

Career

''Hockey Night in Canada''

MacLean has worked on ''Hockey Night in Canada'' since 1986–87. He began hosting telecasts in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

when

Dave Hodge Dave Hodge (born January 8, 1945) is a Canadian sports announcer. Hodge worked for TSN, the CBC and CFRB 1010 radio in Toronto. Early years Born in Montreal, Hodge began his career as a sportswriter with the ''Chatham Daily News'' in 1965, t ...

moved to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. Hodge was later suspended, and eventually quit, protesting a CBC programming decision on-air. He worked his first Stanley Cup Finals that spring and has been the early game host ever since. Part of his duties included hosting '' Coach's Corner'' with Don Cherry. Contract negotiations with

CBC Sports CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...

Executive Director Nancy Lee and the president of English television had hit a standstill in the

2001–02 NHL season The 2001–02 NHL season was the 85th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams competed in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 3, and the playoffs concluded on June 13, with the Detroit Red Wings defe ...

. MacLean threatened to leave CBC on the advice of his agent Don Meehan. That made headlines across Canada and following a huge public outcry, the CBC quickly gave in to his demands. CBC Live at Sherway Ron Mclean

In addition to hosting ''HNIC'', he has been a part of the CBC's

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

coverage since 1988. He took over as chief anchor following the departure of

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist and television news anchor. He was a correspondent for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchorman, anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in ...

to CTV/ TSN. MacLean was the main sportscaster and host for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

until his mother died, causing him to hand over duties to Scott Russell. In 1993, MacLean served as an ice level reporter for

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

' coverage of the

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game () is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The ga ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. MacLean has also hosted CBC's coverage of the

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate from 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race and the oldest continuously run race in North America, having been founded in 1860. It is run at a distance of for a ma ...

. Beginning with the

2014–15 NHL season The 2014–15 NHL season was the 98th season of operation (97th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Phoenix Coyotes changed their name to the Arizona Coyotes prior to the season. The Los Angeles Kings became the first team ...

, MacLean was hired by

when the company acquired the national rights to the NHL. MacLean was removed from the host position of ''Hockey Night in Canada'', but retained his role as host of ''Coach's Corner'', and became an on-location host for the new, travelling ''Hometown Hockey'' broadcasts introduced that season. On June 27, 2016, Rogers announced that MacLean would be reinstated as host of the early games on ''Hockey Night'' beginning in the upcoming season, replacing George Stroumboulopoulos. On November 9, 2019, MacLean's co-host Don Cherry made remarks during ''Coach's Corner'' suggesting that Canadian immigrants benefit from the sacrifices of veterans and do not wear remembrance poppies. MacLean, who nodded during Cherry's rant and flashed a thumbs-up sign at the end of Saturday's segment, apologized the following day for staying silent during Cherry's remarks. The following day, Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley announced that Cherry had been fired: "Following further discussions with Don Cherry after Saturday night's broadcast, it has been decided it is the right time for him to immediately step down." The following day, Cherry expressed his disappointment over MacLean's apology. On November 16, 2019, MacLean addressed and reflected on the incident during ''Hockey Night in Canada'', the first without Cherry, also announcing the end of ''Coach's Corner''.

Hockey Canada

In addition to his work at the CBC, MacLean is a former Level 5

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

with

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

. He has refereed in junior, minor pro, senior, and university leagues across Canada, mostly in the

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

region. He served as a referee in the September 29, 2006, NHL preseason matchup of the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

and the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

, calling one penalty in the final minute of the game.

Awards and honours

MacLean has won eight

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

s for his work with CBC. His first was in 1992 for Best Sports Broadcaster; he also won the Best Sports Broadcaster award in 1994, 1997, 1998 and 2001. He won Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast in 2004 and again in 2006. In 1996, he was inducted into the

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, dedicated to the preservation and history of sports within the province. It was created in 1957 by the Alberta Amateur Athletic Union (AAAU). The museum w ...

. In 2015, he was inducted into the Oakville Sports Hall of Fame. In 2016, MacLean, along with his Coach's Corner co-host Don Cherry, received a star on

Canada's Walk of Fame Canada's Walk of Fame () in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of Canadians who have excelled in their respective fields. It is a series of maple leaf-like stars embedded in 13 de ...

. MacLean received an honorary degree from

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

in 2018, and the

in 2019.

Personal life

MacLean was named Honorary Colonel of the 1 Air Movements Squadron at 17 Wing Winnipeg of the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

' Air Command. On June 3, 2010, MacLean helped to rescue a man trying to take his own life, by jumping into the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In 2010, MacLean and his 1986 Ford Mustang were profiled by ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Ron 1960 births Living people Alberta Sports Hall of Fame inductees Canadian horse racing announcers Canadian Screen Award winning sportscasters Canadian television hosts Canadian television sportscasters CBC Television people National Hockey League broadcasters Olympic Games broadcasters People from Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia People from Oakville, Ontario People from Zweibrücken