Ron MacLean

Ron MacLean (born April 12, 1960) is a Canadian sportscaster for the CBC who is best known as the host of Hockey Night in Canada.

Early life and career
MacLean was born in West Germany. His father was stationed at Zweibrücken Air Base in Germany as an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force when MacLean was born, but 14 months later the family moved back to Canada, and he grew up in Chester, Nova Scotia, and Red Deer, Alberta, where his broadcasting career began in 1978 when he took a part-time position at CKRD Radio, which eventually led to a position doing weather with CKRD-TV.

Hockey Night in Canada
MacLean has worked on Hockey Night in Canada since 1986–87. He began anchoring telecasts out of western Canada, but near the end of the season was moved to Toronto games when Dave Hodge was fired for flipping his pencil on the air to protest a CBC programming decision. He worked his first Stanley Cup Final that spring and has been the primary game host ever since. Part of his duties include hosting Coach's Corner with Don Cherry.

Contract negotiations with CBC Sports Executive Director Nancy Lee and the president of English television had hit a standstill in the 2001–02 NHL season. MacLean threatened to leave CBC on the advice of his agent Don Meehan. That made headlines across Canada and following a huge public outcry, the CBC quickly gave in to his demands.

In addition to hosting HNIC, he has been a part of the CBC's Olympics coverage since 1988. He took over as chief anchor following the departure of Brian Williams to CTV. MacLean was the main sportscaster and host for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing until his mother died, causing him to hand over duties to Scott Russell. In 1993, MacLean served as an ice level reporter for NBC Sports' coverage of the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal.

Controversy
On January 16, 2010 Ron MacLean presented a pre-game piece together with NHL representative Colin Campbell focusing on Vancouver Canucks player Alexandre Burrows, in follow up to an earlier incident between Burrows and referee Stéphane Auger where the credability of Auger was called into question. The piece was considered by a number of prominent sports writers, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault as well as fans and to be a one sided smear against Burrows. Ron MacLean appeared on Vancouver based sports radio show Team 1040 on January 18, 2010 and strongly denied being biased or one sided in his presentation.

Hockey Canada
In addition to his work at the CBC, MacLean is a Level 5 referee with Hockey Canada. He has refereed in junior, minor pro, senior, and university leagues across Canada, but mostly in the Southern Ontario region. He served as a referee in the September 29, 2006 NHL preseason matchup of the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins calling one penalty in the final minute of the game. His interest in refereeing extends to his career in broadcasting.