Hockey Hall Of Fame announces NHL Media Awards
Scott Burnside, President of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, and Chuck Kaiton, President of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association, announced today that Bob McKenzie will receive the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for excellence in hockey journalism and Nick Nickson will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.
One of the most connected and trusted analysts in the world of hockey, Bob McKenzie first developed his award-winning insights as a reporter with the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Star, then as editor-in-chief of The Hockey News and then as a hockey columnist for The Toronto Star. After joining TSN in the late 1980’s McKenzie’s coverage of the NHL, IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, NHL Draft, NHL Trade Deadline and five Olympic Games raised the standard for an entire industry. Currently an analyst for TSN’s NHL and international hockey coverage, McKenzie’s considerable contributions to the game have resulted in several awards. He is The Hockey News nine-time selection as one of the game’s 100 most powerful and influential people, recipient of a Gemini Award for his work as a studio analyst on the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship, and in 2013 was named one of the 20 most powerful figures in sports media by Sports Illustrated. McKenzie has also written two best-selling books, “Hockey Confidential: Inside Stories of People Inside the Game”; and, “Hockey Dad: True Confessions of a (Crazy?) Hockey Dad”.
“There’s a reason life-long hockey writer, broadcaster and author Bob McKenzie has a million Twitter followers. There’s a reason he is known affectionately by his colleagues in the industry as ‘The Godfather’. And that reason is simple; there is no more authoritative voice in the game of hockey than McKenzie’s voice,” said Burnside. “If Bob McKenzie says it is so, it is so. I can think of no higher honour for a writer and journalist to be so regarded and McKenzie is full value for every accolade that comes his way, including the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award.”
Now entering his 35th season as the radio “Voice-of-the-Kings”, Nick Nickson calls the action of every pre-season, regular season and post-season playoff game on the Kings Radio Network. Inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2009, Nickson’s smooth, fast-paced and accurate delivery of every play has enabled Kings’ fans to visualize more than 3,000 games. Nickson’s broadcasting career began during the 1975-76 season as the voice of the AHL Rochester Americans and New Haven Nighthawks. He joined the Kings in 1981.
“Nick has been one of the most popular radio and TV personalities in Southern California for over three decades,” said Kaiton. “He is extremely worthy of this award and we from the NHL Broadcasters’ Association congratulate him on this distinct honour.”
McKenzie and Nickson will receive their awards at the Hockey Hall of Fame NHL Media Awards Luncheon presentation in Toronto on Monday, November 9, 2015, and their award plaques will be displayed in the Esso Great Hall at the Hockey Hall of Fame alongside past award recipients.
Recipients of these awards, as selected by their respective associations, are recognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame as “Media Honourees” ─ a separate distinction from individuals inducted as “Honoured Members” by the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
The 2015 Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Weekend celebrations begin on Friday, November 6, 2015. This year’s inductees will be announced on Monday, June 29, 2015.
Named in honour of the late Montreal newspaper reporter, the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award was first presented in 1984 by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association in recognition of distinguished members of the hockey writing profession whose words have brought honour to journalism and to the game of hockey.
Named in honour of the late “Voice of Hockey” in Canada, the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award was first presented in 1984 by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association in recognition of members of the radio and television industry who have made outstanding contributions to their profession and to the game of hockey.