Brian McFarlane

Brian McFarlane (born August 10, 1931 in New Liskeard, Ontario) is a Canadian television sportscaster and author. He is also the Honorary President of the Society for International Hockey Research. He is the son of the prolific writer Leslie McFarlane who wrote many of the early Hardy Boys books.

Biography

Early life and career

Brian McFarlane attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, on a hockey scholarship, graduating in 1955. In his four years he scored 101 goals for the Skating Saints, which remains a St. Lawrence record. On three occasions, he scored five goals in a game, a school record shared with several others.

After graduating, he worked in television at WRGB in Schenectady, New York, before moving to CFCF-TV in Montreal, Quebec (where he was sports director) and CFTO in Toronto, Ontario. He had a lengthy career in broadcasting and journalism.

National Hockey League broadcasting

He is perhaps best known as a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada for 25 years. He made similar broadcasts on NHL games for the major American networks CBS and NBC and has written more than 50 books on hockey. McFarlane is an expert on hockey history and has compiled several volumes of NHL lore titled "It Happened in Hockey," as well as a 1999 series detailing the colorful history of the Original Six NHL teams. His memoirs, published by Stoddart Publishing in 2000, are entitled Brian McFarlane's World of Hockey.

McFarlane was also a colour commentator on Toronto Maple Leafs local telecasts until 1980, when he made on-air comments that were critical of Leafs owner Harold Ballard. He was subsequently banned from the Maple Leaf Gardens press box. For Hockey Night in Canada, he was moved off Toronto games at this point.

Peter Puck connection

McFarlane is often incorrectly cited as the creator of the cartoon character Peter Puck. The cartoon puck, which appeared on both NBC's Hockey Game of the Week and CBC's Hockey Night in Canada during the 1970s, was actually the creation of NBC executive Donald Carswell. After the network stopped carrying NHL hockey, McFarlane purchased the rights to Peter Puck from NBC's production partner, Hanna-Barbera.

Personal life

In 2006, Brian sold much of his hockey collection to the Municipality of Clarington, and it now comprises most of Total Hockey, a multi-media, interactive museum located at the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex in Bowmanville.

McFarlane currently resides in the Toronto area. He is the author of several hockey-themed books.

Achievements

• 1995 inducted into the media section of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• Admitted into the Ontario Sports Legends Hall of Fame.
• Admitted into the Ottawa Sports Legends Hall of Fame.
• Admitted into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame.
• Admitted into the St. Lawrence University Hall of Fame.

Bibliography

• 50 years of hockey, 1917-1967: an intimate history of the National Hockey League, 1967
• Peter Puck: Love That Hockey Game!, 1975
• 60 years of hockey: the intimate story behind North America's fastest, most exciting sport : complete statistics and records, 1976
• McFarlane, Brian (1984). Brian Mcfarlane's NHL Hockey 1984. McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 9780771054310. 
• One hundred years of hockey, 1989
• More, It Happened in Hockey, 1994
• The Leafs, 1995
• Clancy: The King's Story, with King Clancy, 1997
• Brian McFarlane's History of Hockey, 1997
• The Red Wings, 1998
• The Best of It Happened in Hockey, 1998
• The Rangers: Brian McFarlane's Original Six, 1999
• Stanley Cup Fever: More Than a Century of Hockey Greatness, 1999
• Hockey for Kids: Heroes, Tips, and Facts, 1999
• The Bruins, 2000
• The Ultimate Hockey Quiz Book, 2000
• Brian McFarlane's World of Hockey, 2001
• Real Stories from the Rink, with Steve Nease, 2002
• The Blackhawks: Brian McFarlane's Original Six, 2002
• Leslie McFarlane's Hockey Stories: Volume 2, with Leslie McFarlane, 2006
• Best of the Original Six, 2007
• From the Broadcast Booth: A Career in the World of Network Hockey, 2009
• Legendary Stanley Cup Stories, 2009

External links

• Brian McFarlane at the Internet Movie Database