The voice of the Montreal Canadiens, Danny Gallivan

A Visit to the Voice of Hockey

On my wife’s recent visit to the Maritimes, I asked her to make a special stop on my behalf: the Gates of Heaven Cemetery in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. There, she located the final resting place of a true Canadian broadcasting legend—Danny Gallivan, the unmistakable voice of Hockey Night in Canada and a proud native of Sydney, Nova Scotia.

In 1952, Gallivan began what would become a remarkable 32-year career calling games for Hockey Night in Canada, most for the Montreal Canadiens. He retired following the 1983–84 season.

Danny Gallivan wasn’t just a play-by-play announcer—he was a master of language, painting vivid pictures with his words. To him, a hard shot was a “cannonading drive.” A great save might be “scintillating,” “larcenous,” or “enormous”—never merely “spectacular.” After a stop, the puck would often disappear into the goalie’s “paraphernalia.” If a powerplay was going nowhere, it wasn’t weak—it was “anemic.”

One of my favourite stories about him involves a university professor who once wrote to Gallivan, arguing that “cannonading” wasn’t a real word. Gallivan’s reply?

“There is now.”

The late Ken Dryden once acknowledged Gallivan’s iconic place in hockey, calling him the “voice of the Montreal Canadiens” and placing him in the same league as the legendary Foster Hewitt.