Dick Irvin, Jr.
| Dick Irvin Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
James Dickinson Irvin March 4, 1932 Calgary, Alberta |
| Occupation | retired sports broadcaster and author |
James Dickinson Irvin Jr., CM, or James Dickinson Irvin III, (born March 4, 1932 in Calgary, Alberta), is a retired Canadian sports broadcaster and author. In 1988, the Hockey Hall of Fame presented Irvin with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, for his contributions to hockey broadcasting. In 2004, Irvin was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Dick Irvin is a graduate of McGill University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from what is now the Desautels Faculty of Management. While attending university from 1951 to 1956, Irvin played for the varsity hockey team and worked part-time as an assistant to the equipment manager of the Montreal Canadiens, the team his father coached at the time.
After several years in commerce, he turned to sports broadcasting, first as a media liaison for the Canadiens and then, starting in 1966, a colour commentator on their radio and television broadcasts, alongside the play-by-play of Danny Gallivan. Through the 1970s and early 1980s, Irvin often acted as both the colour commentator and the studio host for Hockey Night in Canada telecasts from Montreal. This meant he often missed the beginnings and ends of periods as he moved from ice level to the broadcast booth and back.
Gallivan often playfully addressed Irvin as "Richard," even though Irvin's used name is a diminutive of Dickinson. After Gallivan's retirement in 1984, Irvin worked as the play-by-play broadcaster for regional games from Montreal, and as a secondary colour commentator (or "third man" in the booth) for national games. He also provided radio play-by-play commentary for Canadiens' games that were not on HNIC until 1997.
At his retirement, Irvin was the longest-serving member of CBC Television's Hockey Night in Canada, with a broadcasting career spanning from 1966 to 1999. Though retired, Irvin still contributes yearly to the annual "Hockey Day in Canada" broadcast, along with other occasional appearances. For example, he was part of CBC's broadcast crew of the first Heritage Classic game from Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on November 22, 2003, as the festivities included a game between Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers alumni teams. Then on December 4, 2009, Irvin returned to co-host the Montreal Canadiens centennial pre-game ceremony along with long-time French-language broadcaster Richard Garneau, introducing many of the former Canadiens participating in the event as they arrived onto the ice.
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