Rick Ball is a Canadian sportscaster who currently works as a hockey play-by-play announcer on

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...

's regional

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 in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey tea ...

broadcasts as well as

Hockey Night In Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its his ...

and

NHL on Sportsnet ''NHL on Sportsnet'' is the blanket title for presentations of the National Hockey League broadcast held by a Canadian media corporation, Rogers Communications, showing on its television channel Sportsnet and other networks owned by or affilia ...

. A

British Columbia Institute of Technology The British Columbia Institute of Technology (also referred to as BCIT), is a public polytechnic institute in Burnaby, British Columbia. The technical institute has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with its main campus in B ...

graduate, Ball began his radio career in 1993 in his native

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ' ...

. From 1995 to 2000 he was the play-by-play announcer for the

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The Rockets play in the Western Hockey League (WHL), out of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). They play their home games at Prospera Place. The R ...

. He then worked for

CFAX CFAX (1070 AM) is a news/ talk radio station in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was independently run until September 30, 2004, when it was taken over by Canadian media company CHUM Limited. Its sister station is CHBE-FM, which began b ...

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. T ...

. In 2001 he filled in for

Jim Hughson Jim Hughson (born October 9, 1956) is a retired Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of the National Hockey League. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for the '' NHL on Sportsnet'' from 2014 to 2021 and ''Hockey Night in C ...

on ten of VTV’s

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

broadcasts. That same year he joined

The Team 1040 CKST (1040 AM) is a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned by Bell Media, it broadcasts comedy-oriented programming, including stand-up comedy routines. CKST's studios are located on Robson and Burrard Street in Downtown Va ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, where he hosted the noon-to-3 p.m. show. In 2004, The Team acquired the rights to the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

and Ball was named the new play-by-play voice. In 2008, Ball and Joe Kenward were chosen as fill-in voices for lead Canucks announcer

John Shorthouse John Shorthouse (born January 31, 1970) is a Canadians, Canadian sports broadcaster based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the lead play-by-play commentator for the Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet Pacific television. He also calls select nati ...

. In 2011, the CBC chose Ball to call

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

games for Hockey Night In Canada. In 2013 he became the main western play-by-play voice for Hockey Night in Canada. In 2014, Ball left Vancouver to become

's regional television announcer for the Calgary Flames.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Rick British Columbia Institute of Technology alumni Calgary Flames announcers Canadian Football League announcers Living people National Hockey League broadcasters People from Kelowna Vancouver Canucks announcers Year of birth missing (living people)