Rob The Hockey Guy

Every Tuesday, Canuckz.com profiles a Canadian sportscaster. Sometimes they’re sportscasters we like, sometimes they’re ones we don’t. This week we profile a sportscaster that we like to look at but don’t like to listen to! This week’s Sportscaster of the Week: Hazel Mae.

You probably remember Hazel Mae from her days at Rogers Sportsnet, accompanied by a glass desk and little leather skirt, cheerfully providing the day’s sports highlights. After Sportsnet, she moved on to NESN in Boston, working Red Sox games as a sideline reporter. She was probably the most obvious example of a sports network in Canada trying to sell sex in their sports reporting. I’m not sure she ever got the network high ratings, and I’m not sure she was ever taken seriously, given her attire. It’s not like she’s the only good looking female sports reporter to come out of Canada (Jennifer Hedger, Martine Gaillard, Evanka Osmak are other examples), it’s just that she’s like the Anna Kournikova of Canadian sportscasting. Marginal talent, above average looks, and most importantly… a willingness to flaunt it!

But the real legacy of Hazel Mae in Canadian sportscasting is her little leather skirt and its ability to accurately judge hockey fights during Don Taylor’s sportscasts! Well, that, and a reference in the best Canucks rap video ever made: “Trapper’s Delight.”