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Thursday, February 18, 1999
Producer stands by post-game effort
John Brunton, whose Insight Productions teamed with the Leafs and Hockey Night In Canada to produce the post-game ceremony that was broadcast coast-to-coast on CBC, said the show met its objectives.
"In retrospect, the show could have been shorter," Brunton said of criticisms that it dragged because some of the more than 100 Leafs players on hand were introduced twice. "There were some redundancies in introducing the players, but we wanted to give those players a chance to take a bow in front of the fans one more time.
"The general philosophy of the night was that it was for the players and that. if we erred on that side of the equation, then so be it. I am proudest of the fact that the show was able to embrace all those players."
Ron MacLean, who was the master of ceremonies at Hockey Night's insistence, was criticized for his role. Many felt there were too many inappropriate references to his Coach's Corner sidekick, Don Cherry, and that some of his ad-lib lines lacked taste.
But Brunton defended the CBC star for making the best of a complicated assignment.
"Ron MacLean is a down-to-earth guy, a folksy guy who loves the game and know the Leafs history and the players," Brunton said. "He was the obvious choice."
Too bad cameramen didn't know the players, as well. There were several confusing moments during the coverage when players were introduced but not shown.
Another criticism was that because of time constraints, popular superstars such as Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming and Lanny McDonald weren't accorded extended applause.
"It's pretty tricky to get a show like that done in a certain time frame," Brunton said. "Some people say the bows should have been longer some say it didn't move quickly enough. It all depends on the individual relationship the viewer would have had with a particular player."