Bryan Hall—A Year To Remember

Edmonton legend Bryan Hall has always brought something a little different to his football broadcasts. Hall is best known as the long-time voice of the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos, but the old-school radioman is no stranger to Oiler hockey. In the 1972-73 campaign, Edmonton’s first in the now defunct World Hockey Association (WHA), Hall was the man behind the microphone for CJCA.

"I followed everything that was going on with the WHA," said Hall, a close friend of the team’s late founder "Wild" Bill Hunter. "There was talk about the league getting Bobby Hull. And then, it all comes to fruition."

"It was quite an atmosphere."

The Toronto native recalls his single year of doing Alberta Oiler broadcasts as an interesting one. Everything was new, including the Oiler visits to cities like Philadelphia and Cleveland. Back in Edmonton, the benefits of the WHL were becoming realized.  Although costs would need to incurred, like replacing the diminutive 5,200 seat Edmonton Gardens, the city could watch talented hockey players at a professional level. As well, inroads were made for future sporting events—like the Commonwealth Games in 1978—when Edmonton acquired a WHA franchise

Hall had covered hockey before, including local games for the old Flyers and Oil Kings. He differentiated himself from other game callers with a unique style.

"I’m a broadcaster first, not a sportscaster," he said. "A lot of the ways I was then, most people had a very much different style. It was rip and read. My approach was that I wanted it to sound like I was in a room talking to people, saying this is how it is."

"Sports are exciting. It’s fun. Controversy is the lifeblood of sports. You have to make it interesting for the fan by forming a ‘word picture.’"

Some of the most gratifying compliments Hall ever received were from blind listeners who praised his descriptive calls of the games. Strangely enough, his experience working horse races helped him make the transition to hockey and football easier. He has over 10,000 races under his belt and according to Hall, calling the ponies is the most difficult thing he has done because it forced him to identify the riders and their horses by the colour of the silks.

"Hockey is easy to do," he said. "There’s six a side, two are goaltenders, they’re in a confined space and you’re hanging over them."

As for his greatest memory of that special inaugural Oiler season, Hall claims it is too difficult to narrow down to one.

"I’ll remember the whole happening," he said.

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