MJHL GETS IT RIGHT WITH RADIO BROADCASTS

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League announced a partnership with NCI-FM this week that will see former National Hockey League broadcaster Curt Keilback call the play by play and former Winnipeg Free Press sports reporter Scott Taylor provide color commentary.  Taylor is the current Sports Director of NCI.

The MJHL is often criticized by its own fans for a lack of just about anything.  Often times, I find it unfair.  The MJHL does a lot of things right and it's often ignored by those same anonymous message board posters (people with keyboard courage, I call it).  The league has had a real strong success at sending players towards National Hockey League dreams with several hearing their name called at the NHL Entry Draft, and I'm seeing more and more attention being paid by mainstream media in Winnipeg, which is something the league has long desired.

Now, with the announcement of Keilback and Taylor working on 10 radio broadcasts this year, it will sound as if MJHL players are already in the NHL!  You would be hard pressed to find 5 better play by play guys in North America when it comes to calling hockey games.  To me, I rank Jim Hughson and Chris Cuthbert as the cream of the crop.  After that, Keilback is right there.  It's a shame he's not working somewhere in the NHL.  Maybe that's his choice?  I have met him a few times and I find him to be a quality individual and they say imitation is the best form of flattery....well, I admit to attempting a few Keilback impersonations in my lifetime.

Taylor can be a polarizing figure, but the bottom line is that he's been around the block a time or two and despite a 2004 incident that resulted in his no longer working for the Winnipeg Free Press, I find him to be a credible name for the MJHL to hang its hat on.  He'll definitely bring opinion to the broadcasts and, therefore, they will be interesting.

I will even say Keilback and Taylor will be more entertaining than anything on Sportsnet (Oilers, Flames, Senators, Canucks) or TSN (aside from Cuthbert).

Two big thumbs up for the MJHL on this one.