Daniel Leo Gallivan (April 11, 1917 February 24, 1993) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
radio and television broadcaster and sportscaster.
Early life
Born in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Gallivan was an avid athlete and was a baseball pitcher on the St. Theresa's parish team from Sydney that won the Maritime Intermediate Baseball Championship in 1937.
[Cape Breton Post. Saturday, March 5, 2005. Page C3.] Gallivan started the deciding game against the Pugwash Maple Leafs in the best-of-three series and pitched a three-hit gem while striking out 11 batters in the game.
In 1938, Gallivan was invited to a
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
training camp as a power pitcher, but an early injury to his arm ended any thoughts of a major league career.
Gallivan began his broadcast career at a
local radio station in
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
, settlement_type = Town
, image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg
, image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral
, image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...
while attending
St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada.
History
St. Franc ...
. While at St. Francis Xavier, he was once roommates with Hollywood film director
Daniel Petrie
Daniel Mannix Petrie (November 26, 1920 – August 22, 2004) was a Canadian film director, film, television director, television, and stage director who worked in Canada, Hollywood, and the United Kingdom; known for directing grounded human dram ...
around 1940 or 1941.
He taught high school
algebra
Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics.
Elementary a ...
and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
in Antigonish following graduation and took a stint in the
Canadian Army
The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...
before returning to continue his broadcasting career.
During the summers Gallivan worked in the blast furnace department of the steel plant at
Dosco, a Sydney-based manufacturer of steel, coal and assorted products, to pay his way through school. His late father, Luke, was a Dosco employee for 58 years and was a foreman at International Piers, Sydney. Gallivan graduated from St. FX in 1942. Following overseas service with the Knights of Columbus Hostel Auxiliary Services in the war, Gallivan returned to Antigonish as a sportscaster for CJFX.
''Hockey Night in Canada''
In 1946, Gallivan moved to a
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
in
Halifax where he became sports director, and voice of the St. Mary's junior hockey team.
He was spotted by a
CBC producer of ''
Hockey Night in Canada
CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...
'' while in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
to broadcast a junior
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
playoff between Halifax and Montreal and was asked to fill in for a sick announcer in 1950.
In
1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...
, Gallivan began a 32-year stint with ''
Hockey Night in Canada
CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...
'', mostly calling games involving the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
, before retiring after the
1983–84 season. Immediately after
Bill Hewitt was forced to retire in 1981, Gallivan motored to Toronto to announce mid-week Maple Leaf games during the
1981-82 season – he announced the night when
Rick Vaive
Richard Claude "Rick" Vaive (; born May 14, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the final season of the World Hockey Association (WHA), before playing the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NH ...
scored his 50th goal of the season, a first in Maple Leaf history. Gallivan did
play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
for at least 1,900 regular season and playoff matches, including 16 Stanley Cup victories for the Canadiens.
[Canadian Sports Hall of Fame http://www.sportshall.ca/hall-of-famers/hall-of-famers-search.html?proID=272&catID=all&lang=EN "Canada Sports Hall of Fame". Honoured Members] His colour commentator for 28 years was
Dick Irvin Jr., from 1966 until Gallivan's retirement in 1984.
On October 9, 1970, he had the distinction of announcing the
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...
' first-ever game in the NHL, a 3–1 loss to the
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
on
CKNW
CKNW is a news/talk formatted radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, owned by Corus Entertainment. It broadcasts on an assigned frequency of AM 980 kHz, and is unusual in that it is a 50,000-watt, Class A station broadcasting on a region ...
radio.
"Gallivanisms"
Gallivan was known for his colourful descriptions of action on the ice. Hard shots became "cannonading drives"; saves were "scintillating", "larcenous" or "enormous" rather than merely spectacular, and after a save the puck tended to get caught in a goalie's "paraphernalia" (goalie equipment). If the goaltender made a fantastic or impossible save, he would refer to it as a "hair raising save" or that the goalie "kicked out his pad in rapier-like fashion" to foil a "glorious scoring opportunity".
He would use words such as "anemic" to describe an ineffective offence or powerplay. He also coined phrases like "nowhere near the net" when a shot would go wide, and comment that "there has not been a multitudinous amount of shots" to describe a game with a "dire dearth" of shots on net. Passes from the corner and through the crease area would always feature Gallivan shouting "centred right out in front!!". Players were also known to "dipsy-doodle" with the puck or come out of their own zone "rather gingerly".
Gallivan would comment that late in the game was an "inopportune time" for a team to take a penalty, would mention that a penalty killer was "wasting valuable seconds in the penalty" when he was ragging the puck, and would almost always announce, "and the penalty has expired!" at the end of a penalty.
When a
university professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
wrote to Gallivan protesting that there was no such word as "cannonading", Gallivan wrote back: "''There is now.''"
The ultimate Gallivanism was another word he coined: the "spinarama," which described a player evading a check or deking a defender with a sudden 180- or 360-degree turn. Its chief practitioner was Montreal Canadien Serge Savard so that the move was also known as "The Savardian Spinarama". The
Canadian Oxford Dictionary
The ''Canadian Oxford Dictionary'' is a dictionary of Canadian English. First published by Oxford University Press Canada in 1998, it became a well-known reference for Canadian English.
The second edition, published in 2004, contains about 300 ...
now includes an entry for "spinarama".
Later life
Gallivan retired after the 1984 NHL Playoffs when a severe illness rendered him blind in one eye.
He was active in retirement, working with several charities, and was the recipient of several television/broadcast industry awards. He made a cameo appearance in the 1975 Canadian feature film ''The Million Dollar Hockey Puck''. Gallivan also had a cameo as the voice of sportcaster Ferlin Fielddigger in the 1981 animated TV special, ''
The Raccoons on Ice
''The Raccoons on Ice'' is the second of four animated television specials leading up to the television series ''The Raccoons''. It initially aired on CBC in Canada on December 20, 1981 and in syndication in the United States on November 21, 1982 ...
''.
Death
According to a Canadian Press report, Gallivan died on Thursday, February 24, 1993 in his sleep at his Montreal apartment, where he lived alone. The obituary said heart failure, possibly brought on by bronchitis, was the apparent cause. Gallivan was 75 years old.
Personal and legacy
Gallivan was married to Mary "Eileen" Gallivan (née MacPhee, 1925–1981) of Prince Edward Island, until her death three years prior to his final year on ''Hockey Night in Canada'' in 1984. In the early 1940s, Eileen transferred from UPEI to St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish where she eventually met Gallivan. Together they had four children: a son Danny Jr., and daughters Pat, Paula and Susan.
In the mid-1950s, Gallivan was known to assist with the Department of Education's Physical Fitness Division's annual hockey school in PEI, along with NHL chief referee
Red Storey
Roy Alvin "Red" Storey, (March 5, 1918 – March 15, 2006) was a Canadian athlete, referee and broadcaster. He played football, lacrosse and ice hockey. While active as an athlete, he turned to officiating in all three sports and continued as ...
and NHL star
Buddy O'Connor
Herbert William "Buddy" O'Connor (June 21, 1916 – August 24, 1977) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League between 1941 and 1951. He won the Hart Trop ...
.
Cape Breton University
, "Diligence Will Prevail"
, mottoeng = Perseverance Will Triumph
, established = 1951 as Xavier Junior College 1968 as NSEIT 1974 as College Of Cape Breton 1982 as University College of Cape Breton 2005 as Cape Breton ...
awards The Danny Gallivan Memorial Fund Bursary in his honour, and St. Francis Xavier University awards an annual scholarship in his name.
The Danny Gallivan Golf Tournament was created by Gallivan,
Red Storey
Roy Alvin "Red" Storey, (March 5, 1918 – March 15, 2006) was a Canadian athlete, referee and broadcaster. He played football, lacrosse and ice hockey. While active as an athlete, he turned to officiating in all three sports and continued as ...
and a group of Halifax businessmen 30 years ago to raise research funds for the fight against cystic fibrosis. It continues to be one of the longest-standing, and most successful fundraising events of its nature in Atlantic Canada. The Tournament has raised nearly $1,400,000 for cystic fibrosis.
Tribute
Upon learning of Gallivan's death, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman issued the following statement, "I join with hockey fans throughout the world, and particularly the millions in Canada whose lives were touched by Danny Gallivan, in expressing the NHL's sadness at the loss of a broadcast legend."
Honours and awards
*1974 - ACTRA Sportscaster of the Year Award
*1980 - Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame - builder category
*1984 - Hockey Hall of Fame Media Honouree
*1985 - St. Francis Xavier University bestowed upon him an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree
*1989 - Inducted into Canadian Sports Hall of Fame
[Danny Gallivan ]
*1990 - Broadcast Recognition Award - Atlantic Broadcasters' Association, in acknowledging Danny's contribution to the broadcast industry
*1991 - Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame
2015 - Inducted into the inaugural class of the Maritime Sport Hall of Fame, (Builder category)
TV video
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References
"Hockey's Great Voices Echo Through Generations" at NHL.com Retrieved October 20, 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallivan, Danny
1917 births
1993 deaths
Canadian people of Irish descent
Canadian radio sportscasters
Canadian television sportscasters
Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winners
Ice hockey people from Nova Scotia
Montreal Canadiens announcers
National Hockey League broadcasters
People from Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sportspeople from Nova Scotia
Washington Capitals announcers
20th-century Canadian people