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Rick Moffat – the ‘voice’ of the Montreal Canadiens and Alouettes
By
Peter Kerr
“I
haven’t worked a day since I was Program Director for CJAD. I get
to travel with the Montreal Alouettes, the Montreal Canadiens, talk to
the players and go to their games… who would call that
work!” I’m in conversation with Rick Moffat, the voice you
hear calling the play-by-play action of Montreal’s favourite
sports teams on CJAD radio.
The players have been given an
elevated status by sports fans. They’re more than professional
athletes, they’re our champions. By extension, being closely associated
with either team incurs special status. Being involved with both
legendary teams is… well - it’s off the scale.
Let’s back up a little to see how Rick’s career path brought him to broadcasting and the world of sports. |
Rick Moffat has a “dream job” of
travelling with The Montreal
Canadiens and Alouettes |
Rick is one of 5 children; 4 boys and a girl. “My Dad is from
Timmins, and I guess you could say he had a tough childhood. He went to
work in the mines when he was a teenager to help out with the
family.” During the War, Rick’s father tried to enlist
while underage – but a suspicious recruiting officer
double-checked his age and he was turned down. However, when he was 18
Moffat senior enlisted in the RCAF. “He was shot down, but was he
was able to avoid being captured; and spent much of the war assisting
the Belgian and French Resistance fighters.”
One of Rick’s broadcast career highlights doesn’t involve
sports. “My greatest pride and joy was getting my Dad into a
broadcast studio at CJAD, and listening to him talk about his war time
experiences as part of our Remembrance Day programming a couple of
years ago. He was instrumental in re-uniting the Resistance families
with those of the flyers they helped to rescue from capture.”
“My Mom is made of sturdy stuff too. She grew up in Saskatchewan
in the 30s, and survived the Depression and the Dustbowl.”
Rick’s introduction into the world of sports was inauspicious.
“My parents worked hard, there wasn’t much extra money, and
so we didn’t play organized team sports.” Road hockey and
sandlot football were young Rick’s sports world.
After graduating from Lachine High School, Rick went to Carleton to
study Journalism. “At the time, the Concordia program was not a
degree program, and that’s why I chose Carleton.” While he
was able to obtain part time radio work in Ottawa, there were no
fulltime positions available in the spring of 1982. “Since we
couldn’t find a job, my buddy and I decided to travel across
Canada.” It was an experience that would serve Rick well in later
life, because he could relate to the young hockey and football players,
having visited the small towns where so many of them come from.
The employment prospects had improved
when Rick returned to Ottawa that fall. “The last available position
was for a weekend sports guy.” Risk accepted the position - and his
life as a sports broadcaster had begun.
Unlike many
broadcasters who hone their skills in small towns, Rick’s next career
move brought him back to Montreal. Perhaps it was a positive comment on
the quality of his work that he didn’t have to take the circuitous
small-town route to a major market. Rick soon moved from Ottawa to
Montreal, working in the Sports Department at CJAD’s FM sister station
Mix 96. “I was also doing reports and updates during the game, plus
locker room interviews. After the Canadiens’ Stanley Cup win in ’86, I
was in the wild dressing room scene – champagne everywhere! The party
continued during the flight home – I remember breaking into the bar
during the flight with the back-up goalie Sotard.”
In 1991 the National Football League started a spring league called the
World Football League, which included a team from Montreal – The
Montreal Machine. “The late Ted Blackman was the CJAD Sports
Director, and he asked me to come and talk about the broadcasts. I
figured that he’d want me to do more half-time interviews.”
Ted had other plans for Rick, and asked if he’d like to do the
play-by play, calling the games. “Myles Gorrell was the colour
man. The team practiced in Florida before the season – so the
first time we saw them was just before their first game in
Jacksonville.” The league lasted for two years, and Rick thought
that his play-by-play career was over.
“Then the Als came back from oblivion in ’96, and Ted gave
me the green light”. Ted also brought former Alouette defensive
star Tony Proudfoot into the booth as the colour commentator. “I
was at the 1977 Grey Cup Game as a fan when Tony came up with the idea
of putting staples into their shoes to provide traction on the frozen
field that gave the Alouettes the game-deciding advantage.”
Rick and Tony would work together for 12 years, providing Montrealers
with exciting and informative game coverage, creating vivid imagery for
tens of thousands of people listening in their cars, taxis, trucks,
workplaces, balconies and backyards – wherever there was a radio
and a football fan.
“Tony is a true student of the game. When other players would
read a magazine whose main attraction was beautiful girls, Tony would
open up his copy of Scientific American.”
Tony’s affliction with ALS – Lou Gerhig’s Disease
unfortunately meant that he couldn’t continue with his broadcast
duties. Former defensive lineman Ed Philion has joined Rick for the
Alouette broadcasts.
Opportunity knocked again for Rick during the Canadiens' playoff run in
2004. He was asked to step into the CJAD broadcast booth to pick up the
play-by-play duties alongside former Canadien and colour commentator,
Murray Wilson.
Rapid fire play-by-play requires a lot of pre-game preparation.
It’s not just a case of knowing the players on the home team. In
the NHL there are 31 other teams, and in the CFL an additional 7 teams.
Rick’s preparation includes learning the players’ names,
their statistics, biographies, and any other bits of information that
will enhance the broadcast. Despite his easy going temperament, Rick
sets high standards for himself. “My professional goal is to
always keep honing the skills. It’s pretty much wall-to-wall
preparation in order to be able to have an entertaining description of
the game.”
The constant travel and late nights are offset with a solid home front.
Rick and his wife Sheri grew up four blocks from one another, and they
have two daughters, Valerie (21) and Erin (19). “I tend to see
days as game days or travel days. It’s Sheri who reminds me what
day of the week it is.” Continuing on his family life, Rick
notes, “My wife is a sports fan as well. She grew up going to
games with her Dad. He still goes to every home game. He’s a
great fan, and I remind him that he won the Trifecta; he saw Jackie
Robinson play baseball for the Montreal Royals at Delormier Downs; Sam
Etchevary win the Grey Cup, and The Rocket score the winning goal
against the Rangers in a Stanley Cup!”
Rick and Sheri recently purchased the chalet in the Laurentians that
they had been renting. This is where Rick is able to unwind.
“Sometimes after a game, I’ll drive up and take the canoe
out for a paddle at 1am. It’s very peaceful and it helps me to
relax.”
When it comes to hobbies or leisure activities, the time demands of
travel and calling so many games takes a toll. I took up organized
hockey as an adult, playing for the Dorval Old Timers. I went to goalie
school, and played for the CJAD Mighty Yuks hockey team, playing for
charitable organizations. Unfortunately my erratic schedule means I
can’t play now.”
“Unless its sports, I don’t get to watch much
television… one of my guilty pleasures is to read a piece of
fiction. I don’t have the time or patience for golf – but I
do enjoy the few team tournaments that I participate in during the
summer.”
Of all the games, playoffs, and championships he’s covered, there
are a few that have special significance. “Being in the dressing
room when The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1986 was terrific; the
Alouettes Grey Cup win in 2002 remains a special memory. I scooped up a
handful of confetti from the field, and I still have it in a plastic
bag.”
Rick’s third item doesn’t involve professional athletes. It
centers on a boy named Jabbar, who Rick first met as a toddler at the
Children’s Hospital where Jabbar was waiting for brain surgery.
“I met Jabbar a decade later when we were broadcasting live from
the Children’s for the station’s Radiothon. We raised just
about a $1million, which was 4 or 5 times what we expected!”
“Jabbar challenged me to a swimming race, and so for the past
four years we’ve had a race at the MAB/Mackay Centre. This year
we turned it into a fundraiser…The Jabbar Challenge.”
Rick is generous with his time in supporting various charities.
“I became involved with Amnesty International during my
University days and I still support them. I’m involved with the
ALS Society because of Tony Proudfoot’s ongoing battle with Lou
Gehrig’s Disease.” Rick is also Honorary Chairman for the
MAB/Mackay Centre School Foundation, and of course the various
organizations supported by CJAD.
“Five years ago Anthony Calvillo came up with the idea that
he’d donate $100 to charity for every touchdown pass he threw,
and CJAD would match his contribution. When Anthony’s wife Alexia
was undergoing her cancer treatments at the Royal Vic – they
spent a lot of time in the hospital’s 7th floor family room which
needed to be refurbished.”
The Calvillo’s, working with Jim Hindley of the Cedars Cancer
Institute, decided to make the family room renovation their project.
This year, Anthony threw a lot of touchdown passes, and he and the CJAD
Touchdown Club have each contributed $4,300. The hospital will
recognize their contribution by naming it The Calvillo Family Room.
This is a project that is very close to Rick Moffat’s heart, and
for more information or to make a donation, please visit www.cjad.com
or www.cedars.ca
During our conversation, Rick mentioned that while attending Carleton
he was nominated as The Face Best Suited to Radio; a not-so-subtle
suggestion that he wasn’t television material… Montreal
sports fans are fortunate that Rick took his ‘election’ to
heart and stayed with radio. As are the thousands of children who are
helped every year by Rick Moffat, his friends and colleagues who take
time out from busy schedules to give of their time, their talent and
energy to help raise the much needed funds to make a positive
difference in the lives of Montreal-area children.
During our 12 years together as the Alouette broadcasters, Rick was always considerate and professional.
Rick was the easiest guy to work with in the booth; always
well-prepared and able to handle four or five things interchangeably;
so all I had to do was wait until he stopped talking before I jumped
in. Often it was very easy, because Rick seldom stopped talking. I used
to threaten him with a forearm from time to time when I got bored and
wanted to say something.
Rick almost never gets flustered,
even when faced with the dilemma of not being connected to CJAD in
Regina.
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Tony Proudfoot (left) and Rick Moffat worked
together for 12 years calling games for
The Montreal Alouettes |
We once missed the entire pre-game show. Rick was steaming
inside but he never let on that he was upset with the host crew… when
we came back on the air he carried on as if we had been away on a
commercial break. I could always; I mean always count on Rick to make
the job easy for me and extremely professional in all possible ways.
Rick
and I as well as our wives, Sheri and Vicki have become friends outside
the booth as well and I plan on keeping up this wonderful relationship
well into the future.
Tony Proudfoot
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