Darren Dreger (born June 13, 1968) is a Canadian sportscaster for

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

, and currently serves as one of TSN's Hockey Insiders. He had previously hosted ''

Leafs Lunch ''Leafs Lunch'' is a sportstalk show on TSN 1050 and simulcasted on TSN4. It is currently hosted by Julia Tocheri and Michael Distefano. The show, which currently airs between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm in the Toronto radio market, primari ...

'' on CFMJ AM640 Toronto Radio.

Broadcasting career

After graduating from the Western Academy Broadcasting College, Dreger was immediately offered a job from a radio station in Winkler, Manitoba. However, in the same day, he was offered another job closer to home, which he accepted. Beginning in 1992, Dreger lent his voice as a play-by-play announcer for the

Brandon Wheat Kings The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. They are members of the Western Hockey League (WHL) since joining the league in the 1967–68 season. Previously, they played in the Manitoba Junior Hoc ...

. This lasted until 1993 when he was hired to replace Daren Millard at CTV Winnipeg. While there, he also conducted play-by-play for the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and a member of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre, the home arena of its parent club, Winnipeg Jets o ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. From Winnipeg, Dreger moved to Edmonton in 1997 to report on

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

games and was subsequently hired by

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...

as a national host for their NHL package in 1998. Dreger was the former host of ''

Hockey Central ''Hockey Central'' is the brand used for programs and segments covering hockey (particularly the National Hockey League) on the Canadian sports channel Sportsnet. The ''Hockey Central'' name encompasses several programs, including segments aired ...

'' on

Rogers Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...

between 1998 and 2006. On July 14, 2006, it was announced that Dreger would leave Sportsnet and join TSN on July 31, 2006, hence ' crossing the parking lot'. Dreger won a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

in 2010 in the Best Sports Reporting category for his coverage of the firing of NHLPA Executive Director Paul Kelly. He was the only reporter in Chicago when the news broke and therefore had sole coverage. In October 2014, Bob McKenzie and Dreger began appearing as a full-time contributors on

NBCSN NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...

, until

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

lost the NHL hockey rights to both

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and

Turner Sports Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...

in 2021. This was due to the fact that TSN lost their NHL broadcasting rights package to

Personal life

Dreger was born in Red Deer, Alberta and grew up in Saskatchewan. Dreger and his wife Holly have two children together, a son, and a daughter.

References

External links

TSN profile

TSN adds Darren Dreger to hockey team

Wheat City Journal article on Darren Dreger
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreger, Darren 1968 births Living people Canadian television sportscasters National Hockey League broadcasters People from Red Deer, Alberta Canadian radio sportscasters