Allan "Al" McCann (January 9, 1930 – March 11, 2015) was a Canadian

play-by-play In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

sports announcer, who worked in

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

Career

His broadcasting career began in the late 1950s, holding the position of sports director at CJLH Television in

Lethbridge, Alberta Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

from 1959 to 1963. He then moved to Edmonton to work for CFRN

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, serving as sports director from 1963 until his retirement in the early 1990s. During his time at CFRN (branded as CTV Edmonton), McCann covered the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

, announcing the skiing events. He was CTV's host of its coverage of the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

. He has also broadcast 28

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

matches as well as numerous Stanley Cup playoff series and curling briers. McCann was inducted into the Media Wing of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum and Alberta Sports Hall of Fame as a reporter in 1993. He has also been recognized as a member of the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame, as well as by the City of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. He died on March 11, 2015, aged 85.

References

1930 births 2015 deaths Canadian Football League announcers Canadian radio sportscasters Canadian television sportscasters Curling broadcasters Journalists from Alberta National Hockey League broadcasters Sportspeople from Lethbridge Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees World Hockey Association broadcasters North American Soccer League (1968–1984) commentators 20th-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian journalists {{canada-journalist-stub