Pierre McGuire

Pierre McGuire
Born August 8, 1961 (1961-08-08) (age 50)
Englewood, New Jersey
Nationality United States
Canada
Occupation Sportswriter, sports commentator
Spouse Melanie
Children Son, daughter
Parents Rex and Sally McGuire

Pierre McGuire (born August 8, 1961), is an ice hockey analyst for National Hockey League broadcasts on NBC and Versus in the United States. Until 2011, he was a prominent hockey analyst on The Sports Network in Canada. Previously, he was a player, coach, and scout.

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Hockey career

McGuire won two Stanley Cups as a scout and assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992. He then joined the Hartford Whalers as an assistant coach and was later named assistant general manager. On November 17, 1993 he was named head coach, leading the team to a 23-37-7 record in the 1993–94 after replacing Paul Holmgren in mid-season.[1] Holmgren replaced McGuire as head coach following that campaign.

From 1994 to 1996, McGuire worked as a pro scout and assistant coach for the Ottawa Senators.[2]

Broadcasting career

From 1996–97 until 2001–02, McGuire served as colour commentator for the Montreal Canadiens English-language radio broadcasts on CJAD 800 with Dino Sisto.

When TSN re-acquired the Canadian national cable rights to NHL hockey in 2002, McGuire was hired as its lead hockey analyst. With TSN, McGuire called the games along with the play-by-play voice of Gord Miller or Chris Cuthbert. He also did special hockey events for TSN, including the NHL Entry Draft, and international events like the IIHF World Junior Championships. He also hosted a segment known as "McGuire's Monsters", where he covers a player with a significant impact through a combination of skills.

McGuire joined NBC Sports acquired the rights to NHL games in 2006. He usually works as an "Inside the Glass" reporter with the broadcast team of Mike Emrick and Ed Olczyk.

After the 2011 NHL Draft, McGuire left TSN to work full time for NBC Sports and Versus. He will continue to appear on TSN Radio.[3]

McGuire also writes for Sports Illustrated and provides frequent commentary on New York's WFAN, Toronto's Sportsnet 590, Ottawa radio station, the Team 1200, the Ottawa Senators fan podcast SensUnderground, and Montreal's TSN 990 where he can be heard on the Mitch Melnick show, the TEAM 1040 in Vancouver heard on the Canucks Lunch with Rick Ball,[4] as well as Wednesday mornings on Calgary's Fan 960.

While some people enjoy McGuire's analysis and commentary his style does lend itself to criticism. Even members of the media, who are normally very reserved in their criticism of peers, have taken shots at McGuire. Some have pointed to his lack of credibility as an analyst due to dubious performance as a hockey executive[5] while others have mocked his style as a broadcaster.[6]

Stances on issues in hockey

McGuire has been outspoken as an advocate of removing the red line and allowing skilled players to play a skilled game without clutching and grabbing impeding them. His views of hockey have him campaigning for all players to wear partial visors. With respect to fighting, McGuire has professed that he loves this aspect of the game but he believes, for the game to sell in the United States and for the game to progress, this aspect of the game must be removed. McGuire's outspoken nature provided one of the more interesting stories during the 2004–05 NHL hockey lockout. After McGuire claimed that, if asked to vote privately, more than 70% of NHL players would accept an owner-imposed salary cap, NHL player Tie Domi countered that McGuire was completely off-base. McGuire later retracted part of his claim by saying he never should have given a percentage but that he still believed strongly that assertion was true.[7] In the end, the players accepted a salary cap arrangement in the 2004 CBA.

Personal

McGuire was born in Englewood, New Jersey and has split his life and citizenship between the United States and Canada.[8] He has in the past been a resident of Alpine, New Jersey[9] and currently resides in New Canaan, Connecticut after previously residing in Montreal, Quebec for several years.[3]

Coaching record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish Post Season
Hartford Whalers 1993-94 67 23 37 7 (63) 6th in Northeast Missed Playoffs

References

  1. ^ "Franchise Timeline - Carolina Hurricanes - Team". Hurricanes.nhl.com. http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=45638. Retrieved 2011-12-26. 
  2. ^ "TSN talent - Pierre McGuire". TSN. http://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/bio/?fid=2457. 
  3. ^ a b "McGuire leaves TSN for full-time gig in U.S". Vancouver Sun. June 28, 2011. http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/McGuire+leaves+full+time/5015684/story.html. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  4. ^ "TEAM Radio | TEAM 1040 AM | TEAM 1410 AM | Home of the Canucks, Whitecaps FC and BC Lions". Team1040.ca. http://www.team1040.ca/shows/canucks_lunch/. Retrieved 2011-12-26. 
  5. ^ "What’s wrong with the Toronto Maple Leafs?". Chatham-Kent Daily Post. October 29, 2009. http://ckdp.ca/whats-wrong-with-the-toronto-maple-leafs. 
  6. ^ "McGuire means it, he really does". The Ottawa Citizen. March 30, 2007. http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/sports/story.html?id=05f33e96-3302-4668-85f1-5c750937037b&k=39606. 
  7. ^ "Faceoff 2004-05: Lockout chronology". CBC Sports Online. July 13, 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/cba/features/chronology.html. Retrieved 2006-07-21. 
  8. ^ Dellapina, John. "USA, Canada rivalry has evolved over time", National Hockey League, February 20, 2010. Accessed February 16, 2011. ""I think it really started to heat up when Gary Suter hit Wayne Gretzky from behind in the Canada Cup, said Pierre McGuire, the hockey analyst for NBC in the U.S. and TSN in Canada who was born in Englewood, N.J., now lives outside of Montreal and has split his life and citizenship between the two nations."
  9. ^ Gulitti, Tom. "MCGUIRE OPEN TO RANGERS", The Record (Bergen County), April 5, 2000, accessed April 17, 2007. "Alpine native Pierre McGuire among those who will be keeping a close eye on the reconstruction of the Rangers' management. The former Hartford Whalers head coach and Bergen Catholic graduate would like to get back into coaching after spending the last three seasons as a color commentator for an English-language radio station ..."

External links

Preceded by
Paul Holmgren
Head coach of the Hartford Whalers
1993-94
Succeeded by
Paul Holmgren