La Soirée du hockey
Encyclopedia
La Soirée du hockey was a popular ice hockey
show in Quebec
. It was the French language
SRC
equivalent of the English Canadian
CBC
show Hockey Night in Canada
. The show used "The Hockey Theme
" as its theme song.
games on Saturday evenings. In the past the SRC had aired Quebec Nordiques
and Ottawa Senators
games occasionally during the regular season if the Canadiens were not playing that night.
secured exclusive French language rights to the NHL. The deal, reached with the Canadiens and not directly with the league, was meant to ensure a consistent home for all Canadiens games, whereas, as a general-interest network, Radio-Canada could not give up so much airtime to Canadiens games. The announcement drew the ire of, among others, then-Heritage Minister
Sheila Copps
, who suggested that the network would somehow be violating its conditions of licence by not airing LSDH. In reality there is no specific regulatory requirement
that the CBC's networks carry the NHL, nor that there be parity between the two networks' carriage thereof.
on both SRC and RDS. However, for reasons that are unclear, that agreement was terminated after the 2004 playoffs. The RDS-produced replacement, Le Hockey du samedi soir, was simulcast on SRC outside Quebec, where RDS has limited distribution, through 2006. NHL hockey has since become exclusive to RDS.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
show in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. It was the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
SRC
Télévision de Radio-Canada
Télévision de Radio-Canada is a Canadian French language television network. It is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, known in French as Société Radio-Canada. Headquarters are at Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal, which is also home to the network's flagship station, CBFT-DT...
equivalent of the English Canadian
English Canadian
An English Canadian is a Canadian of English ancestry; it is used primarily in contrast with French Canadian. Canada is an officially bilingual state, with English and French official language communities. Immigrant cultural groups ostensibly integrate into one or both of these communities, but...
CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
show Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
. The show used "The Hockey Theme
The Hockey Theme
"The Hockey Theme" is a Canadian theme song written in 1968 by Dolores Claman and orchestrated by Jerry Toth. It has been referred to as Canada's second national anthem....
" as its theme song.
In parallel with CBC
In parallel with CBC, La Soirée du hockey often featured Montreal CanadiensMontreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
games on Saturday evenings. In the past the SRC had aired Quebec Nordiques
Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League...
and Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
games occasionally during the regular season if the Canadiens were not playing that night.
2002–03 deal with Réseau des sports
Beginning with the 2002–03 season, RDSRéseau des sports
Réseau des sports , is a Canadian French language Category C specialty channel showing sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc....
secured exclusive French language rights to the NHL. The deal, reached with the Canadiens and not directly with the league, was meant to ensure a consistent home for all Canadiens games, whereas, as a general-interest network, Radio-Canada could not give up so much airtime to Canadiens games. The announcement drew the ire of, among others, then-Heritage Minister
Minister of Canadian Heritage
The Minister of Canadian Heritage is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who heads the Department of Canadian Heritage, the federal government department responsible for Canada's Arts, Culture, Media, Communications network, and Sport....
Sheila Copps
Sheila Copps
Sheila Maureen Copps, PC is a former Canadian politician who also served as Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to April 30, 1996 and June 19, 1996 to June 11, 1997....
, who suggested that the network would somehow be violating its conditions of licence by not airing LSDH. In reality there is no specific regulatory requirement
Regulatory requirement
Regulatory requirements are part of the process of drug discovery and drug development. Regulatory requirements describe what is necessary for a new drug to be approved for marketing in any particular country. In the US, it is the function of the Food and Drug Administration to establish these...
that the CBC's networks carry the NHL, nor that there be parity between the two networks' carriage thereof.
Le Hockey du samedi soir
Radio-Canada soon reached an agreement to produce the Saturday night games, to remain branded La Soirée du hockey, to be simulcastSimulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
on both SRC and RDS. However, for reasons that are unclear, that agreement was terminated after the 2004 playoffs. The RDS-produced replacement, Le Hockey du samedi soir, was simulcast on SRC outside Quebec, where RDS has limited distribution, through 2006. NHL hockey has since become exclusive to RDS.
Radio play-by-play announcers
- Rolland Beaudry (1937)
- Michel Normandin (1940s)
- René LecavalierRené LecavalierRené Lecavalier, OC, CQ was a Canadian French language radio show host and sportscaster on SRC in Quebec. During his career in radio Lecavalier won several Radiomonde Trophies. He was also the first commentator for La Soirée du hockey, the French language version of Hockey Night in Canada...
- He was also the first commentator for La Soirée du hockey. He broadcast games for the Montreal CanadiensMontreal CanadiensThe Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
on radio and television for over 30 years and retired in 1985. He was as revered in French Canada as Foster HewittFoster HewittFoster William Hewitt, OC was a Canadian radio broadcaster most famous for his play-by-play calls for Hockey Night in Canada. He was the son of W. A. Hewitt, and the father of Bill Hewitt.-Early life and career:...
was in English Canada. - Lionel Duval
- Richard Garneau
- Claude QuennevilleClaude QuennevilleClaude Quenneville is a Canadian sports commentator in Quebec. He began his career at the age of 14 at radio station CJMT-AM in Chicoutimi and was later hired by the CBC as an announcer in 1971. In 1973-74, he hosted a weekly variety show, called Tempo....
(1980) - René Pothier (1991)
TV play-by-play announcers
- René LecavalierRené LecavalierRené Lecavalier, OC, CQ was a Canadian French language radio show host and sportscaster on SRC in Quebec. During his career in radio Lecavalier won several Radiomonde Trophies. He was also the first commentator for La Soirée du hockey, the French language version of Hockey Night in Canada...
(1952–1985) - Raymond Lebrun (1973–1977)
- Winston McQuade (1977–1982)
- Serge Arsenault (1982–1988)
- Richard Garneau (1985–1990)
- Jean Pagé (1988–1989)
- Camille Dubé (1989–1997)
- Claude QuennevilleClaude QuennevilleClaude Quenneville is a Canadian sports commentator in Quebec. He began his career at the age of 14 at radio station CJMT-AM in Chicoutimi and was later hired by the CBC as an announcer in 1971. In 1973-74, he hosted a weekly variety show, called Tempo....
(1990–2002)
TV colour commentators
- Jean-Maurice Bailly (1952–1970)
- Gilles TremblayGilles Tremblay (ice hockey)Jean Gilles Tremblay is a retired Canadian ice hockey left winger.Gilles Tremblay played his entire National Hockey League career with the Montreal Canadiens. His first year was in 1960 and it ended in 1969...
(1970–1998) - Robert Pépin (1972)
- Claude Mailhot (1972–1982)
- Paul Larivée (1978)
- Bernard Brisset (1980)
- Gérard Potvin (1981)
- Mario TremblayMario TremblayMario Tremblay is a former professional ice hockey player and former coach in the National Hockey League...
(1986–1988) - Yvon PedneaultYvon PedneaultYvon Pedneault is a French Canadian sports journalist and television and radio broadcaster from Chicoutimi, Quebec who is known for his coverage of ice hockey. Pedneault is the only person to have worked full-time for all three French-language Montreal daily papers, as well as every French-language...
(1994) - Michel BergeronMichel Bergeron (hockey coach)Michel Bergeron is a former National Hockey League head coach.Bergeron coached the Quebec Nordiques from 1980 to 1987 before being traded to the New York Rangers for a first round draft pick and $75 000, a first in the NHL history...
(1998–2002) - Ron FournierRon Fournier (radio personality)Ronald "Ron" Fournier is a Quebec-born radio host and sport journalist. He is also a retired professional hockey referee.-Early life:...
- Pierre BouchardPierre BouchardPierre Émile Bouchard is a retired former professional ice hockey player with the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals....
See also
- List of Quebec television series
- Television of QuebecTelevision of QuebecTelevision in Quebec is an essential part of the culture of Quebec, as well as the rest of French Canada. With over 99% of households owning a television in Quebec, it has the power to reach every Quebecer...
- Culture of QuebecCulture of QuebecThe Culture of Quebec emerged over the last few hundred years, resulting from the shared history of the French-speaking majority in Quebec. It is unique to the Western World; Quebec is the only region in North America with a French-speaking majority, as well as one of only two provinces in Canada...