Winds of change headed for Hockey Night In Canada

“Don’t screw this up. It’s a big deal.”

That was the advice Ron MacLean gave George Stroumboulopoulos almost three years ago when Rogers announced its landmark NHL deal, and that the former MuchMusic and CBC personality was taking the reigns as host of Hockey Night in Canada.

MacLean was shuffled off to host Hometown Hockey Sunday nights.

Two seasons in and — as first reported by the Star’s Dave Feschuk that MacLean is in talks to return to Saturday night hosting chair of the main show — Rogers executives look to have thrown in the towel on change, preferring to go back to the steady old hand.

MacLean’s only comment so far has been: “Nothing’s official.”

Stroumboulopoulos has yet to comment.

Rogers have fallen on the old standby: “We do not comment on rumours or speculation.”

However, most of the hockey world is expecting confirmation of the news sometime this week, with other potential fallout to follow.

Here’s a look at some reasons why this is happening, and some of the interesting reaction around the hockey and broadcast world: RATINGS DOWN: There were some ugly numbers thrown around during the Stanley Cup playoffs, fuelled by the lack of Canadian teams. The overall average for the Stanley Cup final was 2.08 million, a decrease of 13 per cent compared to the previous year (2.4 million).

Ratings grew throughout the rounds: Round 1 averaged 526,000 viewers; Round 2 series garnered 724,000 viewers and Round 3 climbed to 1.22 million.

As a point of comparison, in 2014 the NHL playoff series on CBC averaged more than double that in each round. Round 1: 1,274, 000, Round 2: 2,445,000 and Round 3: 3,003,000.

The TV numbers are significantly down, and much of it can be attributed to the historical anomaly of no Canadian teams making the playoffs. Despite all the gloom and doom about how the game has changed with less scoring, it is important to note NHL hockey still remains king.

With the Raptors’ impressive run, and an exciting NBA Finals, the league reported an incredible 173 per cent increase in year-over-year growth in terms of overall playoff viewership in Canada. But the NBA Finals’ average ratings of 808,000 on TSN and 606,000 for the three games on Sportsnet were still dwarfed by these supposed poor Stanley Cup playoffs.

As well, another bright spot for the NHL is that the draft lottery reached 2.45 million Canadians, and no doubt the draft will return similar numbers. THE REACTION: As this is HNIC, it’s clear every Canadian has some stake or thought on how the show should be delivered. What has been most interesting has been the outpouring of social media that looks to be incredibly pro-MacLean, even from a younger audience.

“I am a 24-year-old female . . . Ron MacLean wasn’t stale (to me),” Cassie Klein, who also ran a “Bring back Ron MacLean” Facebook page, told the Toronto Sun. “So at the end of all this, I and many hockey-loving Canadians would be overjoyed to see him back.”

In the Globe and Mail,an editorial titled “George Stroumboulopoulos a victim of hockey’s inherent conservatism,” stated “The habits of hockey are powerful, and every now and then they provide this useful reminder: Sometimes the old ways are the good ones.”

The most vocal critic of Rogers’ potential move so far has been U.S. broadcaster Keith Olbermann, who fired off a series of tweets criticizing the move: “The decision to replace @strombo as host of @hockeynight is the dumbest thing I’ve seen in 36 years in TV sports.” WHATEVER SUITS YOU: What does it say that one of the biggest complaints about Stroumboulopoulos is his choice of suits, and yet most hockey fans have little trouble accepting Don Cherry’s garish suits?

One is old and accepted, and the other was new and different. One speaks to hockey’s traditional base and the other screams ‘hipster Toronto.’ In a way, this is another example of the split that exists between rural and urban Canada, although when it comes to hockey, it seems most Canadians are traditionalists.

Some industry watchers are disappointed at what is says about the audience reaction to change to hockey. Brian Cooper, president and CEO of S&E Sponsorship Group, likes both MacLean and Strombo, and also applauds Rogers and Sportsnet’s attempts at updating HNIC, like the new, large flashy NFL-style set.

“I think they have innovated, and I think they will continue to innovate. Look, they have taken a step back, because the public has said, ‘This is what we want.’ But as the demographics change, you have to change. As the technology changes, you have to change, and remember, they are a technology company.”

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, who covers sports media (in the interest of full disclosure does a weekly spot on Sportsnet The Fan 590 and has previously been a summer fill-in host) admits he doesn’t watch HNIC with regularity but has seen and liked both Stroumboulopoulos’ and Maclean’s work.

“They’re both very different stylistically, but both talented.”

He can understand the outpouring for MacLean and points out that in the U.S., the two most popular figures in baseball and basketball are long-time broadcasters — Vin Scully and Craig Sager.

“There is a benefit to consistency on sports television when it comes to broadcasters, but I admire organizations that are willing to make changes if things are working,” he says. “I think the audience likes continuity, unless the grouping is not appealing to them, and then they want change.”

That’s the unfortunate thing in that HNIC’s problems are bigger than Stroumboulopoulos, but this is a fairly easy and crowd pleasing fix.

With more changes likely coming, it makes sense to return to a familiar face to helm of the broadcast.

At the very least, it gives the company room to make other moves.