Bob Cole, pictured here in 2018, died last week in St. John’s. He was 90. (Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Family, friends and fans from around the hockey world gathered in St. John’s on Friday afternoon for the funeral of broadcasting icon Bob Cole.
Cole, 90, died last week in St. John’s surrounded by his family.
“Everything he did, he did for us. We knew that, and we felt that,” daughter Megan Cole told attendees of St. Thomas Anglican Church in downtown St. John’s — Cole’s family church, where he sang as a choirboy about 80 years earlier.
“It has been a true privilege to share our amazing dad with this province he loved so much. With the country and with the world of hockey. We are heartbroken, and our days without our dad will not be the same.”
Cole was known as the soundtrack to some of hockey’s greatest moments over his 50-year career. His voice often followed the Hockey Night in Canada theme — which was played by the CLB Armory band following the funeral
He worked 34 of those years with broadcaster Ron MacLean, who was asked to deliver the eulogy.
Cole’s daughter, Megan, said the family is privileged to share their father with the world. (St. Thomas Anglican Church/Facebook)
“Bob’s a dear, dear friend who mentored me and was up to lots of mischief with me.… We all know that his voice is legendary and we can hear that, but I’ll always recall the gleam in his eye,” MacLean said Friday, adding he spoke to Cole four days before his death.
“Like the saying goes, the meaning of life is that it ends. The meaning of love is that it doesn’t.”
N.L. was always close to his heart
Former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams said Cole represented the province with pride and grace.
“Bob gave us a special, international reputation. I mean he was highly respected, his voice is iconic,” he said. “He’s our hometown boy, and we took great pride every time he called a game.”
Cole lived in St. John’s throughout his career, and would travel weekly to wherever he was required before returning to Newfoundland.
WATCH | Bob Cole always had a gleam in his eye, says Ron MacLean:
Ron MacLean recalls an N.L. booze cruise with NHL player, ref and Bob Cole — and an ocean dip
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Duration 3:10
Bob Cole’s funeral in St. John’s was filled with laughs and heartwarming stories about the late NHL announcer. One of the more colourful ones came from his friend and colleague Ron MacLean, who recalled a time when Cole told him a swim in the Atlantic Ocean is refreshing. A bit of hilarity and chaos ensued, which MacLean joked was Cole’s style.
Cole’s son, Robbie, told those in the church that the family lit up whenever he returned, which always came with Sunday dinner.
“We would say, ‘Dad, tell us a story.’ And it was then that he had his most captive audience,” Cole said.
Cole also represented the province in other ways, skipping Newfoundland and Labrador at two Brier curling championships. As a rower, he competed at the Royal St. John’s Regatta.
Hockey commentator and former player Greg Millen told reporters after the service that Cole’s children, and Newfoundland, were always on Cole’s mind.
“There wasn’t a day that went by when I travelled with him that he didn’t talk about his children. Pretty special,” he said. “He loved his home, and he talked about Newfoundland a lot. You know, I had to make sure I pronounced it correctly,” he added with a laugh.
St. John’s hockey fan Evan Purcell met Cole a few years ago when the Toronto Maple Leafs held training camp in Paradise. He came to the funeral wearing a powder-blue Hockey Night in Canada blazer, like the ones Cole would wear on television. (Malone Mullin/CBC)
Fan Evan Purcell came to the funeral wearing a powder-blue Hockey Night in Canada blazer — not unlike the one Cole would have worn for a broadcast.
“The best broadcaster ever. The Wayne Gretzky of commentary,” he said. “He was always so electric, and he always got you on the edge of your seat.”
This time of year is a busy time for Cole’s colleagues at Hockey Night in Canada, who were on TV in Toronto for the NHL playoffs the night before, but reporter and analyst Elliotte Friedman said it was important for the crew to be in St. John’s.
WATCH | They called games with him — and here’s what they will remember about Bob Cole:
Passionate. Family man. Proud Newfoundlander: Big-name broadcasters remember Bob Cole
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Duration 1:24
They sat next to him in the broadcast booth for some of the biggest NHL games, and they won’t forget those times with Bob Cole. Elliotte Friedman, Glenn Healy and Greg Millen say Cole loved Newfoundland, the fans and his family.
“Everybody who knew Bob and everybody who worked with Bob, you know, we all loved being around him,” said Friedman. “The thing about Bob is I don’t think you can’t be any good in this business if you don’t have passion. And when a game got big or when a moment got big, nobody had the passion of Bob. And we loved being around him.”
He told reporters he was overcome with emotion watching Cole’s children speak at the funeral, and that he admired how the service used the music of Frank Sinatra, one of Cole’s favourite performers.
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.
Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively
Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.
It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.
Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.
The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.
Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.
The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.
Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.
San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.
Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.
Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024
It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.
As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.
In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).
However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.
And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.
In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).
Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).
Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.
Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.
Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.
A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.
A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.
A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
