Foster Hewitt

Foster Hewitt began broadcasting hockey games on Toronto radio in the 1920s, reportedly calling one of the first hockey games ever broadcast over the airwaves, and became the signature voice of Maple Leaf Gardens once it opened in 1931. He called games from a small, cramped broadcast gondola suspended high above the ice, a perch that became as much a part of Maple Leaf Gardens' identity as the rink itself.

A catchphrase that outlived the man

Hewitt's signature call, "He shoots, he scores!", delivered in his distinctive rising cadence, became one of the most recognized phrases in Canadian broadcasting history, repeated by generations of hockey fans and later broadcasters who grew up listening to him call Maple Leafs games on Hockey Night in Canada. Hewitt's decades behind the microphone helped turn Saturday night hockey broadcasts into a genuine national ritual, and his gondola perch and catchphrase remain touchstones of Toronto hockey history even for fans with no memory of hearing him call a game live.

Sources

• The Canadian Encyclopedia — Foster Hewitt
• Wikipedia — Foster Hewitt

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