Paul Morris (born June 20, 1938) is the former public address announcer for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and sound engineer at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

. He held the announcing job for 38 seasons, from October 14, 1961 to May 31, 1999 and was the PA announcer for 1,585 consecutive Leaf games. Morris was known for his dispassionate, monotone voice, instantly recognizable to two generations of Leaf fans. Morris's father, Doug Morris, was an electrician at

from its opening in 1931. Paul Morris began working at the Gardens in the summer of 1958 while a student at the

Ryerson Institute of Technology Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

. He quit school and stayed at the Gardens, becoming PA announcer three years later when

Red Barber Walter Lanier "Red" Barber (February 17, 1908 – October 22, 1992) was an American sports announcer and author. Nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", he was primarily identified with broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four d ...

was fired. During his tenure at the Gardens, Morris, along with Bob Wood, designed and assembled the modern four-sided scoreboard that was used between 1966 and 1982. When the team moved from the Gardens to the

Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena ( French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Rap ...

in February 1999, Morris was not given a full-time job at the new building."Voice of the Gardens bids a fond farewell: Paul Morris moves on after more than 38 years with Leafs," ''

Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation,''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. History ''The Hami ...

'', September 1, 1999. p. F5. Instead, he was offered $300 a game to continue as announcer. He finished the season and then retired at age 61. Andy Frost was hired as his successor in September. At the Leafs' 1999-2000 home-opener on October 4, 1999, Morris was honoured during a

pre-game ceremony A pre-game ceremony or pre-match ceremony is an on-field ceremony occurring before a sporting event. Such ceremonies may celebrate a past event, honour a retiring athlete, commemorate a deceased athlete, or promote a cause. Celebrating past event ...

and in the third period announced "last minute of play in this period" one last time. Since then Morris’s "last minute of play" is played on occasion at Leafs home games. Paul is considered the standard by which most PA announcers are judged and has been widely known as the most memorable of his position.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Paul 1938 births Living people Canadian sports announcers National Hockey League public address announcers