Eric Duhatschek (born 1956) is a Canadian

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

. Duhatschek won the 2001

Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an accolade presented annually to a print newspaper columnist or reporter in recognition of their achievements covering the game of ice hockey. The award is "to recognize distinguished members of the newspap ...

for distinguished

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 ...

journalism and is a member 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 ...

. Duhatschek is also on the selection committee for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Based in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, he was the lead hockey columnist for ''

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 ...

'' and was a writer for ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

''. Duhatschek rose to prominence for his coverage of the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

as a sportswriter for the ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

''.

Career

After graduating from the University of Western Ontario's grad school of journalism, Duhatschek was a freelancer writing about sports in the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...

'' and news in the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' when he was invited by '' The Albertan'' to be their ski writer, leading him to move to Calgary. In 1980, Duhatschek covered both skiing and ice hockey on the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

, and after ''The Albertan'' was replaced by the ''

Calgary Sun The ''Calgary Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is currently owned by Postmedia Network. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily newspaper replaced the long-running tabloid-size ''The Albertan'' soon ...

'', Duhatschek was assigned to do a tryout for the

and write a report on his experience. The three-part series led him to receive an offer from the ''

'', where he became one of their premier hockey writers for 20 years. In the period he also was a

stringer Stringer may refer to: Structural elements * Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened * Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal * Stringer (stairs), ...

for ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', was a regular on the ''

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, ...

'' segment Satellite Hot Stove, and started a collaboration of 25 years with ''

The Hockey News ''The Hockey News'' (''THN'') is a Canadian-based ice hockey magazine. ''The Hockey News'' was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Will Cote and has since become the most recognized hockey publication in North America. The magazine has a reader ...

'', where he eventually got the back page column. In 2000, Duhatschek joined ''

'' as an online columnist. In 2001, Duhatschek was awarded the

by the

and was later elected for the selection committee for the Hockey Hall of Fame. On September 8, 2017, Duhatschek announced he was leaving ''The Globe'' to write for ''

''. After serving 15 years on the selection committee for the Hockey Hall of Fame, Duhatschek's term ended and he was replaced by Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Mark Chipman in 2018. On November 8, 2024, Duhatschek announced he was retiring after 46 years as a sportswriter.

Publications

The following is a list of publications: *''On fire: the dramatic rise of the Calgary Flames'' (1986) *''100 years of hockey: the chronicle of a century on ice'' (1999) *''Starforce hockey: the greatest players of today and tomorrow'' (2000) *''One hundred and one years of hockey: the chronicles of a century on ice'' (2001) *''Hockey chronicles: an insider history of National Hockey League teams'' (2001) *''King of Russia: a year in the Russian Super League'' (2008)

Personal life

Duhatschek has a son and daughter. His daughter Paula was awarded the inaugural Jim Kelley Memorial Scholarship by the

Professional Hockey Writers' Association The Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) is a North American professional association for ice hockey journalists writing for newspapers, magazines and websites. The PHWA was founded in 1967 and has approximately 180 voting members. The ...

. His parents were Austrian immigrants, and he entered school not knowing English given they were still learning the language and only spoke German at home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duhatschek, Eric 1956 births Living people Calgary Flames Canadian sportswriters Canadian people of Austrian descent Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients National Hockey League broadcasters The Globe and Mail columnists Writers from Calgary