Jim Hughson

Jim Hughson (born 1956 in Fort St. John, British Columbia) is a Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of professional ice hockey and baseball.

Biography
Hughson has won five Gemini Awards, the most recent coming in 2004, where he was named the best sports play-by-play or analyst. He is known for his very clear, accessible voice, enthusiastic delivery, and articulate use of the English language. His versatility has earned him the title of official play-by-play announcer for the EA Sports NHL series of video games, from 1997 to 2007. From 1997-2001, Hughson was added, along with Buck Martinez, as the play-by-play voice for EA's Triple Play series for PlayStation and Personal computer.

TSN
Hughson and Martinez were actual broadcast partners from 1990 to 1994 when they both covered the Toronto Blue Jays for TSN. During that time, Hughson was most famous for calling all three of the games in which the Jays' clinched first place in the American League East during the 1990s (1991, 1992, & 1993). Previously, Hughson had worked on Montreal Expos broadcasts for the network.

From 1987-88 to 1997-98, Hughson also did play-by-play for NHL games with Gary Green on TSN. In 1991, he called the World Junior Hockey Championship in Saskatchewan, which climaxed with a dramatic game in Saskatoon between Canada and the USSR, in which John Slaney scored the winning goal late in the third period to deliver the gold medal to Canada.

During Hughson's time at TSN, he often enthusiastically proclaimed "That's Hockey!" when describing an exciting play during NHL broadcasts. TSN later adopted the phrase as the name of it's popular program That's Hockey, a talk show covering NHL happenings.

CTV Sportsnet/Rogers Sportsnet
In 1998, he joined CTV Sportsnet (now Rogers Sportsnet) as their lead NHL play-by-play commentator alongside Craig Simpson From 2002-03 onwards, former NHL goaltender John Garrett was his partner. During its existence, he was also the host of Snapshots on Sportsnet.

CBC Television
In 2005, Hughson began working on CBC Television's Hockey Night in Canada, where he mainly called the late games of the network's Saturday night doubleheaders and one series through the first 3 rounds of the playoffs. In 2006, he was the secondary hockey broadcaster at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. On March 11, 2008, he signed an exclusive six-year contract with the CBC to call hockey and baseball for Canada's public network, leaving Rogers Sportsnet at the conclusion of the season. The following season, he replaced Bob Cole as the lead play-by-play announcer for HNIC and the Stanley Cup playoffs and Finals. His partner on the top broadcast team is Craig Simpson. He also called men's ice hockey at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. His partner on the top broadcast team was his former Sportsnet partner Craig Simpson and, until 2016, former NHL goaltender Glenn Healy.

In October 2014, Hughson re-joined Sportsnet, as its parent company Rogers Communications had acquired sole national television rights to the NHL in Canada, taking effect as of the 2014-15 season. He, Craig Simpson, and, until 2016, Glenn Healy remain the lead commentary crew for HNIC (which remains on CBC as part of a sub-licensing deal), but may now also appear on other Sportsnet national games when needed.

When CBC picked up a package of Toronto Blue Jays games in 2007, it was announced that Hughson would call the games for them. His first Blue Jays broadcast for the CBC on June 22, 2007 was the first Blue Jays game he called in 13 years.

American sportscasting appearances
In addition to CBC, TSN, and Sportsnet, Hughson has also done spot work for ABC and ESPN, covering both hockey and baseball.