Bob McKenzie, one of the country’s foremost hockey commentators, spoke to students and community residents at Algonquin’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus on Nov. 4.
Although he had driven by it countless times over the years, the well-known TSN analyst never had the opportunity to stop and visit the town.
“I’ve been trying to lure him for a couple of years now,” said Jamie Bramburger, manager, student and community affairs and the Pembroke campus. “It’s taken a while for sure. He has an extremely busy schedule.”
McKenzie admits it’s difficult to juggle the requests with his demanding timetable.
“I get a lot of requests, and it’s tough to get to them all,” he said.
To the delight of the audience, the broadcast legend spoke about his career and commented on the latest hockey topics.
Brett Murdock, a first year computer systems technician student in Pembroke, was very impressed with McKenzie’s talk.
“He has so much knowledge of the game, it just blows me away,” he said. “I’m a huge hockey fan, so to have a hockey insider it’s amazing. It’s a big deal or him to come to Pembroke, especially since we’re ‘Hockeytown’ Canada.”
According to college support staff 148 people attended the event, included 50 students and 80 members from the community.
“That was great especially since it was held in the middle of the afternoon,” said Jane Hebert.
Fifty eight copies of McKenzie’s new book Hockey Confidential were also sold.
The proceeds of the event went towards the Art Gallagher Memorial Bursary, which provides funding for members of the Pembroke Lumber Kings Junior “A” hockey team who attend the college.
“Junior ‘A’ hockey has always been a real passion of mine,” McKenzie said.