Foster Hewitt Memorial Award

The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award is an annual accolade honoring ice hockey broadcasters in North America.^[1] It was named for the Canadian hockey radio broadcaster and newspaper journalist Foster Hewitt,^[2] and it has been presented every year at a media luncheon ceremony that occurs late in the year at the Hockey Hall of Fame in BCE Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada since 1984.^[3][4] The winner is chosen by a committee of members composed of radio and television figures that make up the NHL Broadcasters' Association.^[3][5] It is given "to recognize distinguished members of the radio and television industry who made outstanding contributions to their profession and the game during their career in hockey broadcasting."^[1] Each recipient receives a glass plaque,^[6] which is put on display in the Hall of Fame's media section.^[4] The ceremony associated with the award is staged separately to the induction of players into the Hockey Hall of Fame because media honorees are not considered full inductees.^[7][8]

The first four winners were Fred Cusick, Foster Hewitt, Danny Gallivan and René Lecavalier in 1984. The award was given out twice in two further consecutive years to both Budd Lynch and Doug Smith in 1985 and Wes McKnight and Lloyd Pettit the following year.^[9] It has presented posthumously on four occasions, to Smith in 1985, McKnight the following year, Dan Kelly in 1989 and Bill Hewitt in 2007.^[9][10] Dave Strader was named the recipient in April 2017 but he died of a rare form of bile duct cancer called cholangiocarcinoma on October 1, 2017 before the ceremony to commemorate his career that was held the following month.^[11] His three children accepted the award on his behalf.^[12] It has been presented to broadcasters who have been affiliated with the CBC Television sports program Hockey Night in Canada seven times, followed by the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs on six occasions.

Inductees

Recipients of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award^[9]

Year	Image	Recipient	Affiliation	Ref
1984	—	Fred Cusick	Boston	[9]
		Foster Hewitt	Toronto
	—	Danny Gallivan	Montreal
		René Lecavalier
1985	—	Budd Lynch	Detroit	[13]
	—	Doug Smith†	Montreal	[9]
1986	—	Wes McKnight†	Toronto
	—	Lloyd Pettit	Chicago
1987	—	Bob Wilson	Boston
1988	—	Dick Irvin Jr.	Montreal
1989	—	Dan Kelly†	St. Louis, CBS, Hockey Night in Canada
1990	—	Jiggs McDonald	Atlanta, New York Islanders, Los Angeles	[14]
1991	—	Bruce Martyn	Detroit	[15]
1992		Jim Robson	Vancouver, Hockey Night in Canada	[16]
1993	—	Al Shaver	Minnesota	[17]
1994	—	Ted Darling	Buffalo	[18]
1995	—	Brian McFarlane	Hockey Night in Canada	[9]
1996		Bob Cole		[19]
1997	—	Gene Hart	Philadelphia	[20]
1998		Howie Meeker	Hockey Night in Canada, TSN	[9]
1999	—	Richard Garneau	Montreal
2000		Bob Miller	Los Angeles	[21]
2001		Mike Lange	Pittsburgh	[22]
2002		Gilles Tremblay	Montreal	[9]
2003		Rod Phillips	Edmonton	[23]
2004		Chuck Kaiton	Hartford/Carolina	[24]
2005	—	Sal Messina	New York Rangers	[25]
2006	—	Peter Maher	Calgary	[26]
2007	—	Bill Hewitt†	Toronto	[10]
2008		Mike Emrick	Philadelphia, Versus	[27]
2009	—	John Davidson	New York Rangers, Hockey Night in Canada, ESPN/ABC, Fox, MSG Network, NBC	[28]
2010	—	Ron Weber	Washington	[29]
2011	—	Mickey Redmond	Detroit	[30]
2012	—	Rick Jeanneret	Buffalo	[31]
2013	—	Harry Neale	Buffalo, Hockey Night in Canada, Toronto	[32]
2014	—	Pat Foley	Chicago	[6]
2015	—	Nick Nickson	Los Angeles	[4]
2016	—	Sam Rosen	New York Rangers, Fox, ESPN	[33]
2017	—	Dave Strader	Detroit, Florida, Phoenix, Dallas, ESPN/ABC, NHL International, NBC/NBCSN	[34]
2018		Joe Bowen	Toronto	[35]
2019	—	Jim Hughson	Vancouver, Toronto, Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet, TSN	[36]
2020	—	Rick Peckham	Hartford, Tampa Bay	[37]
2022	—	Bill Clement	Philadelphia, ESPN/ABC, NBC	[38]
2023	—	Dan Rusanowsky	San Jose	[39]
2024	—	Pierre Houde	Montreal, RDS	[40]

Statistics

See also

• Ford C. Frick Award
• Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award

References