Rob Simpson is a Michigan-born sportscaster, comic and author residing and working in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and in Seattle. He is a citizen of both countries and the founder and editor of seattlehockeyinsider.com and vancouverhockeyinsider.com. He co-hosted Stellick and Simmer in the morning with Gord Stellick on Sirius-XM NHL Network radio for four full hockey seasons beginning in September, 2015.[1][2] Simpson previously hosted NHL Live and the Cisco All-Access Pregame Show on the same network, a simulcast program produced at the NHL headquarters in New York that also aired on NHL Network television.[3][4] He previously worked as the rinkside reporter for Boston Bruins games on NESN for three seasons beginning in 2005, followed by the Madison Square Garden Network as a host, web columnist, and live rink reporter in 2010. He created and hosted the program Maple Leaf America on Leafs TV in Toronto for four seasons beginning in 2001.[5][6]
Simpson began covering professional sports at the age of 16 as a credentialed media member at games of the Detroit Pistons of the NBA and later the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL, interviewing the likes of Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. He and his high school cohort's presence in the postgame scrums brought occasional teasing and ridicule from the athletes, as described in the book No Heavy Lifting. At that point his career path was set, continuing the efforts at Central Michigan University and then professionally around the world. At one point he was Hawaii's first, fulltime TV weatherman.[7]
Simpson has authored three books about the National Hockey League. Between The Lines - Not So Tall Tales From Ray 'Scampy' Scapinello's Four Decades in the NHL in 2006,[8] Black and Gold: Four Decades of the Boston Bruins in Photographs in 2008 and 2010,[9] and The Winged Wheel: A Half-Century of The Detroit Red Wings in Photographs in 2012.[10] All were published by John Wiley and Sons. His fourth book, No Heavy Lifting - Globetrotting Adventures of a Sports Media Guy, was published by ECW Press in 2018.
Simpson has taken part in and written about the NHL's humanitarian efforts in Africa with the non-government organization Right To Play. In 2007, he documented the visit of players Andrew Ference of the Boston Bruins and Steve Montador of the Florida Panthers to orphanages in Tanzania, and in 2008, joined Bruins Captain Zdeno Chara's fundraising effort while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.[11][12]
31 in 31 in 31
editFrom November 16 to December 16, 2018, Simpson embarked on an unprecedented journey, attending 31 NHL games in the 31 different cities over 31 consecutive days.[13] The trip eclipsed the previous record of 30 NHL cities (the total number of teams at the time) in 30 straight days, completed successfully by hockey fan Rob Suggitt of Edmonton in March and April 2015.[14] Both men used the trips to raise funds for charity, in Simpson's case, for the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative. The NHL added its 31st franchise in 2017 making the new record possible. The league added a 32nd team in 2021.[15]
References
edit- ^ "Hockey Coverage on Sirius XM Hits the Ice with Live Game Coverage, GM and Player Alumni". Sportscaster.ca. Sportscaster.ca. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ "SiriusXM announces full coverage of 2015-16 season". yahoo finance. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ Shields, Mike. "NHL to Launch Daily Stanley Cup Pre-game Web Series". Adweek.com. Ad Week. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ "World Juniors on NHL Network". IIHF. International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ^ Byrne, Christopher. "Talent Profile". Eyeonsportsmedia.com. Eye on Sports Media. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
- ^ "Former ECHL Broadcaster Simpson Returns on NHL Live". ECHL.com. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
- ^ "No Heavy Lifting review". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- ^ Wharnsby, Tim. "Scampy Wrote Book on Officiating". Globe and Mail. Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 September 2006.
- ^ Dobrinski, Rebecca. "Hockey Book Review". The Hockey Writers. The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ "Meet author Rob Simpson". Nicola's Books. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ^ Ference, Andrew. "Andrew Ference's African Diary Day 1". Bruins.com. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
- ^ "Chara's Career Reaches New Peak". Boston Herald. 13 July 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
- ^ Myers, Tracey. "sportscaster's marathon trip for Hockey Fights Cancer in home stretch". NHL. NHL. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ "Edmonton Oilers fan visiting 30 NHL cities in 30 days". CBC. CBC. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- ^ Rosen, Dan. "Seattle NHL expansion approved by Board of Governors". NHL. NHL. Retrieved 4 December 2018.