Puck the Media’s NHL Color Commentator of the Decade… Pierre McGuire

(Today, Puck the Media features my picks for various decade-ending awards. I hope you enjoy them.)

I’m going to get killed for this one.  The long and short of it is that a lot of people really loathe NBC/TSN color man Pierre McGuire.  They find him annoying, unnecessarily in-your-face, loudmouthed, as well as other words I can’t put here.  That may be true, but you can’t argue his impact on hockey, the same way you can’t argue Cherry’s, but to a much larger extent.  The point is, much like Grapes, when Pierre McGuire says something, it’s news.  Not only that, it’s relevant to the sport now unlike Cherry, who is relevant to the sport perhaps 20 years ago.  For that reason, this is Pierre McGuire’s decade.

McGuire rose to prominence becoming TSN’s lead hockey analyst a little before the lockout.  It made news in 2005 when OLN had hired him as a studio commentator.  Even in the original “garage” studio, McGuire made interesting banter with Engblom, Jones and Clement.  Read that sentence again and tell me he doesn’t deserve this award.

However, the real reason you know his name is because of his work as Inside the Glass analyst on NBC.  He essentially invented the position.  He was made for it.  He knows the game from all angles (coach, player, media) and can talk about the game from any perspective with gusto.  I’ve yet to see anyone who’s better at the job.  I’ve yet to see an American color commentator be better than he is.  He may be loud and obnoxious at times, but he’s better than the Brian Haywards of the world, for sure.  You as a hockey fan would rather be angry than feel nothing all.  That’s why he’s my choice.

Honorable Mentions: Daryl Reaugh (VERSUS/ESPN/FS Southwest), Craig Simpson (CBC/CTV Sportsnet), Glenn Healy (CBC/TSN), Eddie Olczyk (VERSUS/NBC/CSN Chicago/ESPN/FS Pittsburgh)