Jim Robson
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Jim Robson (b. January 17, 1935 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) was a radio and television broadcaster for the Vancouver Canucks from 1970 to 1999. His family moved to British Columbia when he was eight years old and eventually graduated from Maple Ridge High School.
Robson started his career at the age of 17 covering senior men's basketball for CJAV radio station in Port Alberni. In 1955, Robson started working for CHUB radio in Nanaimo covering the Mann Cup lacrosse finals.
By 1956, Robson found himself in Vancouver covering the BC Lions football team, the Vancouver Mounties baseball team and the then WHL Vancouver Canucks hockey team on CKWX.
When the Vancouver Canucks became an NHL expansion team in 1970, Robson moved to CKNW where he was known as the voice of the Canucks for nearly three decades. For the first seven years, he usually worked alone. For road games, he would broadcast the game without a colour commentator and also provide the pre-game, intermission, and post-game shows. In 1977–78, he began working alongside former BC Lions player and broadcaster Tom Larscheid. From 1983–84 until 1987–88, his broadcast mate was ex-Canuck Garry Monahan, before Larscheid returned in 1988–89.
During this period, Jim Robson did additional work for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, covering games from primarily from western Canada. It was for HNIC that he broadcast the Canucks' first NHL game, a 3–1 home loss to the Los Angeles Kings on October 9, 1970. His reputation as one of the top broadcasters in the business became apparent and he was assigned to the Stanley Cup finals in 1975, 1980 and 1982. In addition, he covered the NHL All-Star Games in New York, Los Angeles, Long Island, Philadelphia and Vancouver. He left HNIC after the 1984–85 season, but made a couple of national appearances afterward, for CBC in the 1987 playoffs and Global for the 1988 Smythe Division Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. He also covered the Vancouver Canucks on television broadcasts on BCTV, CHEK-TV and VTV from 1985–86 through 1998–99. From 1987–88 to 1993–94, Robson provided both radio and television play-by-play for the Canucks on simulcasts, alongside colour commentators Monahan and Larscheid.
Robson stepped down as the radio voice of the Canucks in 1994, choosing the lighter workload of television. His last radio broadcast was Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals between the Canucks and New York Rangers. His replacement was Jim Hughson. John Shorthouse now does radio play-by-play for the team and serves alongside Larscheid, while Hughson works on the TV end beside former Canucks goaltender John Garrett. Robson continued as the Canucks television voice for five additional seasons, working alongside colour commentators Darcy Rota (1994–95 to 1995–96) and Ryan Walter (1996–97 to 1998–99).
Nationally, Robson is probably best remembered for his call of Bob Nystrom's Cup-winning overtime goal for the New York Islanders in 1980. Locally, his voice is linked to every significant Canucks moment in the '70s, '80s, and '90s, particularly the 1982 and 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Off-the-air, Jim was involved in the community being in-demand as a guest speaker for numerous fund-raising dinners and banquets throughout the province of British Columbia. He served as a Director of the BC Benevolent Hockey Association and the Canucks Alumni.
Jim became inducted to numerous halls of fame, such as the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992, the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
In 2002, at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters annual meeting in Vancouver, Jim Robson was inducted to the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame.
Jim and his wife Bea currently reside near Vancouver's Kitsilano Beach and maintain one of Galiano Island's extremely controversial 80 acre forest lots.
