Strombo to host Hockey Night

George Stroumboulopoulos is the new face of Hockey Night in Canada.

The veteran CBC personality will anchor NHL coverage beginning in October. This is the first major personnel change announced by Rogers Communications after acquiring the NHL rights in a blockbuster 12 year, $5.2 billion deal.

Veteran broadcaster Ron MacLean says today’s announcement is just one more step in what he sees as the evolution of sports broadcasting.

“Obviously we saw with the Olympic app in Sochi, that’s probably the biggest change even in Coach’s Corner. Don you can now PVR it if you wanted to, we don’t recommend it.”

“I don’t think the biggest thing is the twitterverse, things like that social media people are yea or nay on everything. But by and large it doesn’t change like Guy Laurence, not trying to suck up but he has this clean desk policy at five o’clock in the afternoon. Anybody that leaves anything on their desk, it goes in the incinerator because he doesn’t want anybody to own the desk, they just own the task, they just own the idea of coming to work and delivering on something.”

Don Cherry and Ron MacLean will continue to host Coach’s Corner. Darren Millard and Jeff Marek round out the Sportsnet team.