John Shorthouse (born January 31, 1970) is 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 ...

sports broadcaster based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia. He is the lead

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 ...

commentator for 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 ...

Sportsnet Pacific Sportsnet Pacific is a Canadian regional sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications serving British Columbia and Yukon. It is one of four Sportsnet regional feeds. It is the main television ...

television. He also calls select nationally-televised games on

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 ...

and

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 ...

Broadcast career

Born in

, British Columbia, Canada, Shorthouse began his broadcasting career on local station

CKVU-TV CKVU-DT (channel 10) is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CHN ...

in 1993. He was one of the anchors of a popular late-night sports program called ''

Sports Page ''Sports Page'' was a Canadian sports highlights television program that aired on CKVU-TV Vancouver from September 5, 1977 until August 31, 2001, and later on CHEK-TV Victoria, British Columbia, from September 2, 2001 until September 2, 2005. It ...

''. In

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, while still working for CKVU, he began working as a reporter on Canucks pay-per-view telecasts and called his first NHL hockey game in the play-by-play role as a substitute on March 24, 1998 against the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

. This game was significant because it featured the return of popular ex-Canucks

Trevor Linden Trevor John Linden (born April 11, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former president of hockey operations and alternate governor of the Vancouver Canucks. He spent 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), play ...

and

Gino Odjick Wayne Gino Odjick (September 7, 1970 – January 15, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1990 to 2002 for the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Philadelph ...

for the first time. The following season, with the inception of CTV Sportsnet (now

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 ...

), the Canucks greatly expanded their local television coverage and Shorthouse was hired to split play-by-play duties with hall-of-famer

Jim Robson Jim Robson OBC (born January 17, 1935) is a former radio and television broadcaster who was the play-by-play announcer of the Vancouver Canucks' games from 1970 to 1999. Broadcasting career Robson started his career at the age of 17 covering ...

. He also filled in on radio broadcasts when

Jim Hughson Jim Hughson (born October 9, 1956) is a retired Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of the National Hockey League. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for the ''NHL on Sportsnet'' from 2014 to 2021 and ''Hockey Night in Ca ...

was assigned to national Sportsnet telecasts. The following year, Robson retired, and Shorthouse became the permanent radio play-by-play personality, while Hughson moved to television full-time. He was the radio voice of the Canucks from 1999–2000 until 2007-08, working alongside

colour commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

Tom Larscheid Tom Larscheid (born April 6, 1940) is a former Vancouver-based radio sports broadcaster and football player. After a career playing college and CFL football, he was the colour commentator for the CFL's BC Lions and the NHL's Vancouver Canucks f ...

. The two moved over from radio station

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 ...

to CKST when the Canucks' broadcasting rights changed in 2006. Shorthouse was often seen as the more even-handed of the two in comparison with his exuberant colleague Larscheid. In March 2008, Hughson left his Canucks' play-by-play position on Rogers Sportsnet to take on CBC telecasts full-time. On June 3, 2008, it was announced that Shorthouse would take over that position. Shorthouse currently calls all Canucks regional television games on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific paired with John Garrett. Beginning in 2014, when Rogers acquired the national television rights to the NHL in Canada, Shorthouse also gets occasional network assignments on Sportsnet or Hockey Night in Canada.

References

External links

John Shorthouse on Canucks.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shorthouse, John 1970 births Canadian radio sportscasters Canadian television sportscasters Living people National Hockey League broadcasters People from Vancouver Vancouver Canucks announcers British Columbia Institute of Technology alumni