By Greg Douglas, Special to The Vancouver Sun September 12, 2014
Columnist Greg Douglas, a.k.a. ‘Dr. Sport.’
Photograph: Vancouver Sun files
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SCENE & HEARD: Tom Larscheid (pictured,below) established himself early in his radio career as a take-no-prisoners Canucks’ broadcaster. In his role as colour commentator, he would steadfastly call the games as he saw them, often times irritating the players and triggering outrage from diehard fans listening at home.
“Tom and I did have some ‘bumps in the road,’ but we also had a lot of good broadcasts,” says Jim Robson, his sidekick in the booth for more than two decades. “He was an entertainer and knew how to get listeners aroused.”
With their respective retirements they went their separate ways, occasionally reuniting at charity functions. This past Thursday Canucks’ Alumni president Gerry Sillers was on a mission as he got radio’s Odd Couple together for a friendly game at Vancouver Golf Club.
Sillers’ assignment was to deliver the news to Larscheid that he would be receiving the cherished Jake Milford Plaque at next Wednesday’s Canucks For Kids Fund charity invitational tournament at Northview Country Club. At the same time, Sillers would nail down Robson as the person to introduce Larscheid to a sold-out crowd of present and past Canucks players and management, as well as corporate sponsors and season ticket holders.
“I scored on both counts,” Sillers says. “But it was a good thing I got to them early because they were both off their games. Robson, of course, took it all in stride but Larscheid wanted a rain check so he could come back and ‘kill’ the course. Nothing’s changed.”
SHORT HOPS: Toronto-based Jon Abbott late of Maple Leafs’ and Marlies’ broadcasts (pictured) has been named to share the Canucks’ radio TSN 1040 Vancouver broadcasts on a rotating basis with John Shorthouse during the upcoming season. TSN Team 1040 regional vice-president James Stuart said in an email late Friday: “As you would expect, we had many applicants for a position such as this and we listened to all of them with a group that included our own management team, John Shorthouse and the Canucks’ key leaders. Our decision was unanimous.” Abbott, 29, has solid credentials and seems to have already fit in with his new West Coast colleagues since his arrival earlier this week.
