Pierre McGuire | |
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Born | August 8, 1961 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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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]
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]
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.
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]
Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | ||||||
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G | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Finish | Post Season | ||
Hartford Whalers | 1993-94 | 67 | 23 | 37 | 7 | (63) | 6th in Northeast | Missed Playoffs |
Preceded by Paul Holmgren |
Head coach of the Hartford Whalers 1993-94 |
Succeeded by Paul Holmgren |