Hockey broadcaster Jim Hughson and writer and NHL communications executive Frank Brown have been named as this year’s Hockey Hall of Fame NHL Media Award recipients.
Hughson will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, while Brown will be honoured with the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for excellence in hockey journalism.
Hughson began broadcasting hockey games in the South Peace Hockey League at CKNL Radio in his hometown of Fort St John, B.C. Stops at CKIQ Kelowna and CKNW Vancouver would follow, before Hughson made the move to Toronto in the early 1980s to call play-by-play for the Toronto Maple Leafs on CBC TV. Hughson went on to join TSN from 1986-94, calling both hockey and baseball before returning to CKNW to anchor Vancouver Canucks broadcasts from 1994-99. He returned to national broadcasts and Sportsnet in 1999. He was hired in 2005 by CBC as Hockey Night in Canada’s secondary play-by-play announcer, signing an exclusive six-year contract in 2008 with the public broadcaster that saw him replace Bob Cole as the primary HNIC announcer the following season. In 2014, he re-joined Sportsnet, with Rogers’ acquisition of the national NHL rights in Canada. Hughson is a four-time Gemini Award winner and an inductee of the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Brown’s professional writing career began in 1970, at the age of 18, when his first
story appeared in a New York Rangers game-night program. Brown spent seven seasons
as the principle hockey voice for The Associated Press during which he covered the
Miracle On Ice and the dynasty years of the Montreal Canadiens. He joined The New
York Daily News from 1980-98 covering all three NHL teams, including Stanley Cup
Championships. Brown retired in 2018 after spending the last two decades of
his career as a communications executive with the NHL.
Brown and Hughson will receive their awards at the Hockey Hall of Fame NHL Media
Awards Luncheon in Toronto on Monday, Nov. 18, with their award plaques
to be displayed in the Esso Great Hall at the Hockey Hall of Fame alongside past award
recipients.
Recipients of these awards, as selected by their respective associations, are recognized by
the Hockey Hall of Fame as “Media Honourees” ─ a separate distinction from individuals
inducted as “Honoured Members” who are elected by the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection
Committee.
Named in honour of the late “Voice of Hockey” in Canada, the Foster Hewitt Memorial
Award was first presented in 1984 by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association in recognition
of members of the radio and television industry who have made outstanding
contributions to their profession and to the game of hockey.
The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is named in honour of the late Montreal newspaper reporter and was also first presented in 1984 by the Professional Hockey Writers’
Association.
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