It’s my Parting Shot to talk some “Mount rushmore” rankings – when it comes to some sports topics, of course, in my humble opinion…..
It’s a popular thing to do these days, no matter the topic! Come up with a top four list, like the four U-S President’s faces on the summit of Mount rushmore in South Dakota. So, without further adue…
My Mount rushmore of hockey players – in no particular order – Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Jacques Plante. Howe was the N-H-L’s real first superstar; Orr re-defined the position of defence; Gretzky is called, “The Great One,” appropriately; and, Plante may not have been the greatest goaltender, but he allowed the position to evolve in the late 1950s and early 1960s by introducing protective face coverings for puck-stoppers!!
My Mount rushmore of C-F-L players – again in no particular order – russ Jackson, George reed, Warren Moon and Doug Flutie. Jackson is the greatest Canadian quarterback to ever play in the league; reed the best running back ever; Moon quarterbacked the Edmonton dynasty in the late 70s and early 80s before finding success in the N-F-L and Flutie showed that great things can come in small packages – on par with Moon as one of the great signal-callers of all-time!!
And, my Mount rushmore of hockey play-by-play announcers – Ken Nicolson, Danny Gallivan, Jim Hughson and Chris Cuthbert. “Friar” Nicolson was the voice of my Winnipeg Jets while I was growing up in the 70s and my idol and inspiration for what I do today; Gallivan may have done Montreal Canadiens games on Hockey Night in Canada, but he was unfailingly objective and knew when to go from 50 to 100 miles per hour in voice inflection better than anybody I’ve ever heard; “Julio” Hughson is a solid broadcaster who was the Sports Director at CKLQ radio in Brandon just before I arrived there in 1980; and, Cuthbert is the gold standard of hockey broadcasters today! Where’s Bob Cole you may ask? Well, you not only have to be good at the play-by-play craft to make this Mount rushmore of mine, you also have to be a stellar person and Bob Cole, god rest his soul, lost me when he came to Saskatoon in 2017 when the Blades honoured the passing of Gordie Howe, hosted the pre-game ceremony and then took off for the airport to go home instead of staying to sign autographs and join me on an intermission! Not a good look for a great broadcaster!!
That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!
