Allan Nelles Walter Shaver (October 25, 1927 – April 22, 2024) was a Canadian sportscaster who covered the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

. He won the

Foster Hewitt Memorial Award The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award is an annual accolade honoring ice hockey broadcasters in North America. It was named for the Canadian hockey radio broadcaster and newspaper journalist Foster Hewitt, and it has been presented every year at a ...

in 1993 and is a member of the media section of the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

. He was also a member of the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Shaver attended the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto, graduating in 1948. He was a play-by-play announcer for radio and television stations in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, Ontario (CJOY),

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 ...

, Alberta (CJCJ),

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, R ...

, Alberta (CHAT),

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 ...

, Alberta (CFRN),

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 ...

, Quebec (CKGM),

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

(CKWW) and Toronto (CKEY) prior to becoming the North Stars' broadcaster in 1967 on

WCCO Radio WCCO (830 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and owned by Audacy, Inc. Its studios and offices are located on Second Avenue South in Downtown Minneapolis. WCCO features a news/talk format, with frequent ne ...

and later

KSTP-AM KSTP (1500 kHz; ''SKOR North'') is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the flagship AM radio station of Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns dozens of television and radio stations in nine states. KSTP has a ...

and WAYL-AM. Shaver did not follow the North Stars when they moved to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

in 1993, opting to stay in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

. He called

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

men's hockey for several seasons, then retired in 1996. His son, Wally, and grandson Jason are also sportscasters. The press box at the

Xcel Energy Center Xcel Energy Center is a multipurpose arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Completed in 2000 and often called "The X" by fans, it is named for its locally based corporate sponsor Xcel Energy. With an official capacity of 17,954, the arena ...

, home of the Minnesota Wild, is named after him. Shaver resided in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, and was married to Shirley until her death in 2019. Shaver died at his home on Vancouver Island, on April 22, 2024, at the age of 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaver, Al 1927 births 2024 deaths Canadian radio sportscasters Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winners Minnesota North Stars announcers Minnesota Wild announcers National Hockey League broadcasters Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators People from London, Ontario