'Oh baby! What a career!' — Hockey world reacts to legendary broadcaster Bob Cole's final game

Rudi Schuller

'Oh baby! What a career!' — Hockey world reacts to legendary broadcaster Bob Cole's final game image

Saturday night marks the end of the NHL's 2018-19 regular season, and along with it the final game for longtime broadcaster Bob Cole.

Nearly 50 years after Cole called his first NHL game, the 85-year-old will do play-by-play for the regular-season finale between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens on Hockey Night in Canada, closing out perhaps the most distinguished career in Canadian sports broadcasting history.

When someone of Cole's stature calls it a day, the rest of the world reacts. And that's exactly what happened, as hockey personalities took to social media to offer their congratulations to a voice that helped shape hockey fandom in Canada.

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The tributes began well ahead of Saturday's contest, with a who's who of hockey media sharing their stories on how Cole impacted their love of the game.

Some of the players who are taking part in Cole's final game made a point to say hello to the veteran broadcaster prior to puck drop. The ones who couldn't congratulate Cole in person took to Twitter to do so.

Cole, a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and a member of the Order of Canada, merits a fitting send-off, and that's exactly what he got.

From April 24, 1969, to April 6, 2019, Cole was the voice of hockey in Canada. His legacy will carry on, long after his headset has been hung up for the final time.

Rudi Schuller