Behind the Scenes is a new column that will appear today and Next Monday looking at the people who walk the walk and talk the talk during Ottawa Senators’ games. Today, we look at the main guys behind the booth, the men who scream and cheer when Daniel Alfredsson puts one away. Enjoy.
Have you ever wondered who your favourite play-by-play announcer is? Although I hate the Pittsburgh Penguins, my all-time favourite announcer is and will always be Mike Lange. He’s the master of doing what he does best—bringing the fan closer to the game. His quotes as “Oh scratch my back with a hack-saw” or “He beated him like a rented mule!”. However, there are some guys who are going up my charts, and one them is the Sens’ own Dean Brown.
Click “Continue Reading” to find out more on the Senators’ play-by-play men, Dean Brown and Dave Schreiber.
Dean Brown is widely regarded by all Senator fans as “The Voice of Ottawa”. His way of saying “Scores!”, and “Scraaamble” really light up the evening. Brown first started in his hometown of Winnipeg as a news reporter, and then went on to the play-by-play for the former Ottawa Rough Riders. He started on the Team 1200 during the Senators’ inaugural season and was paired with Greg Millen. Brown now does every single Senator games, either on Rogers Sportsnet, CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, or the Team 1200. Brown also does step in for HNIC when needed. It’s lead to many rumours of him becoming the #2 announcer for CBC on the 7:00 games, when Bob Cole retires.
The holy god of Senators play-calling, Dave Schreiber has been with the Team 1200 for 34 freakin’ years! He started calling Rough Rider games as Brown did on the OSR (Ottawa Sports Radio), and moved on to Ottawa 67’s games in the OHL. Even though the first season was primarily called by Dean for the Senators, Schreiber became the main guy after Brown worked for television broadcasts. With famous calls such as “Marian Hossa! Oh my lord, what a move, what a goal!” and “DANIEL ALFREDSSON HAS FINALLY BROUGHT THE CITY OF OTTAWA TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS!” after Game 5 against the Buffalo Sabres. Dave has announced he will be retiring within the next 3 years, but he will always be remembered for bringing the citizens of Bytown on it’s feet. Think about it, fans came to Scotiabank Place, brought their radios and listened to Schreiber. Crazy good.
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