James Donald Matheson (born April 7, 1949) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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 ...

who has covered the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

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

since their inception into the WHA in 1972. In 2000, he received 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 ...

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 ...

Career

Manitoba and Saskatchewan

Matheson was born on April 7, 1949, in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

and Peggy Matheson. Matheson had an intention to follow the footsteps of his father, Jack, a long-time sports editor for the ''

Winnipeg Tribune ''The Winnipeg Tribune'' was a metropolitan daily newspaper serving Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada from January 28, 1890, to August 27, 1980. The paper was founded by R.L. Richardson and D.L. McIntyre who acquired the press and premises of the old ' ...

''. He graduated from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, and while in school, worked a part-time night shift with the Tribune.

Alberta

He got his first job upon completing school with the ''

Regina Leader-Post The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper published in Regina, Saskatchewan, owned by Postmedia Network. Founding The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, Lieutenan ...

'', but moved west to

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 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 ...

six months later. Upon moving to Edmonton, Matheson got a job with the ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'' in 1970. He initially covered local curling and university sports, but quickly switched to

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, when, in 1973, Edmonton was granted a WHA franchise, the

. Matheson became the beat writer for the Oilers then, and continued when the Oilers joined the NHL in 1979. He spent countless hours covering the team and its five

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

s, and completed more than 300 stories per winter. In addition to writing, Matheson also was a part of the CFRN radio broadcasting team that covered the Oilers. After 24 years, he completed his tenure as beat writer for the Oilers in 1997. He now continues to write for the ''

'' covering the NHL and the Oilers.

Later career

In January 2022, Matheson became a subject of international sports news after a heated exchange with Oilers player

Leon Draisaitl Leon Tim Draisaitl (; born 27 October 1995) is a German professional ice hockey forward and alternate captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). In 2020, Draisaitl became the first German player to win the Art Ross Tro ...

after the team's sixth straight loss, calling Draisaitl "pissy" and accusing him of not providing the kind of answers he wanted for his column. A video of the exchange went viral on the Internet.

Personal life

Matheson resides in

with his wife, Marni. They have one son, Scott. He received the

from the

in 2000.

References

1949 births Edmonton Oilers announcers Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients Journalists from Manitoba Living people Journalists from Winnipeg {{Canada-journalist-stub