Vancouver Shoots and Scores! Batchelor and Hirsch Set to Call Canucks Games on Sportsnet 650
VANCOUVER (August 14, 2017) Vancouver Canucks radio broadcasts will be in good hands, and great voices, this season. Sportsnet 650, the new radio home of Canucks hockey, has named the duo that will handle the broadcasts for the all-sports radio station. Brendan Batchelor will take on the play-by-play role while former Vancouver Canucks goaltender Corey Hirsch provides colour commentary.
“We are thrilled to welcome Brendan and Corey to the Sportsnet 650 team and we feel Canucks fans will be equally as excited about this pairing,” said Craig MacEwen, Program Director, Sportsnet 650. “Brendan will bring a fresh but knowledgeable voice to the broadcasts while Corey’s veteran experience, both as a player and analyst, will be the perfect complement. These two live and breathe Canucks hockey and that’s exactly what we were looking for in filling these two important roles.”
Born and bred in British Columbia, Batchelor grew up and still lives in Coquitlam. After graduating from the broadcast journalism program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 2010, he got his start in radio at Vancouver’s TEAM 1040 as announcer, reporter and producer. Batchelor moved on to be the play-by-play broadcaster for the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League in 2012 and, after one season, was named the play-by-play man for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants in 2013. He added the duties of Director of Media Relations to his role with the Giants in 2014 and has been a fixture with the team for the past four years.
Hirsch was drafted by the New York Rangers in 1991 and traded to Vancouver in the spring of 1995. He played in more than 100 NHL games with the Canucks from 1995-1999. He backstopped Canada to a silver medal at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer and was named to the NHL All-Rookie team in 1996. After his playing career was over, Hirsch went on to become a goalie coach in the NHL for six years with Toronto and St. Louis. Most recently, he has been working as an analyst for Sportsnet, making appearances on Hockey Night in Canada as well as providing colour commentary on national and regional NHL games. Personally, Hirsch is a strong advocate for mental health.
Batchelor and Hirsch will call their first games on Sportsnet 650 from September 8-11 with the 2017 Vancouver Canucks Young Stars Classic in Penticton. All preseason and regular season Vancouver Canucks games will be broadcast live on Sportsnet 650.
The final details regarding Sportsnet 650’s programming lineup will be announced in the coming weeks, ahead of the station hitting the airwaves on September 4.
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Sportsnet is Canada’s #1 sports media brand, connecting Canadian sports fans to their favourite teams and athletes. Delivering storytelling on a local, regional, national and global level, the multiplatform brand consists of Sportsnet, sportsnet.ca, Sportsnet 590 The FAN, Sportsnet 960 The FAN, Sportsnet NOW, and the Sportsnet app. Sportsnet consists of four regional channels (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific), and the nationally-distributed Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360, and Sportsnet World. Sportsnet is the official Canadian NHL national multimedia rights holder, and is also the official regional television broadcast rights holder for the Calgary Flames (including radio rights on Sportsnet 960 The FAN), Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs (including radio rights on Sportsnet 590 The FAN) and Vancouver Canucks (including radio rights on Sportsnet 650). Sportsnet also has exclusive TV & radio coverage of all 162 Blue Jays games, as well as other MLB games, Toronto Raptors, NBA, Grand Slam of Curling, Rogers Cup, CHL, IndyCar, and extensive soccer programming including Premier League, Bundesliga, FA Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers.
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