TORONTO (CP) - Hockey Night in Canada has a gaping hole to fill following Monday's announcement that host Ron MacLean would not be back after 17 years with CBC Sports.
As the straight man to Don Cherry on Coach's Corner and host of the media panel in the Hot Stove Lounge segment, MacLean was the face of CBC's Saturday night NHL show and was also an integral part of the network's Olympic Games coverage. MacLean's previous contract was to expire Monday at midnight.
"I don't know what the future holds - you always hope you'll be back in the loop, that some divine intervention will occur, that someone has a bright idea that none of us thought of," MacLean said in Calgary. "I'm done, I'm out of work. My contract expires at midnight tonight and I'm looking for work."
Nancy Lee, the CBC's head of sports, said her department just wasn't able to reach an agreement on a new contract with MacLean.
"We made an offer, we had discussions on Friday and again (Monday) and it wasn't accepted," said Lee, who added she was surprised an agreement couldn't be reached with MacLean.
"I am and I'm very disappointed by it. As of last week I wouldn't have said that we couldn't reach a deal."
But Don Meehan, MacLean's representative as well as the agent for several high-profile NHL players, said a tentative contract had been reached.
"She (Lee) had to bring it to her superiors and they negated the whole process," said Meehan.
"We had a deal and then they said 'No, you don't have a deal and go back and tell him he's going to take this much less.' That in itself tells you a lot."
Reports had MacLean looking for $600,000 a year in his new deal after earning $400,000 a year in his old contract, but Meehan said the two sides were not $200,000 apart.
"That's erroneous in every respect," said Meehan. "I'm not going to talk numbers other than the difference was marginal."
Lee also would not go into details about the negotiations.
"I think money played a part in it," she said. "It was a gap in the expectations and that's the No. 1 thing that kept us from reaching an agreement.
"Offers go back and forth. At the end of the day, the offer that the CBC put forward, that was the offer that Ron was unable to accept."
When CBC unveiled the look of its revamped HNIC in September, MacLean was part of a conference call that included executive producer Joel Darling. At the time, both were confident that MacLean would be part of the show's lineup.
But negotiations began to break down last week.
"I didn't go into this blindly," MacLean said. "I was a little afraid of being too big for my britches and over-valuing myself, knowing I was working without a net, that I had no leverage and an opposing offer.
"But I also understood what the show commands in terms of advertisers and I thought we were more than fair."
CBC now has less than two weeks to replace MacLean until its season opener set for Oct. 12. Lee said the search will begin Tuesday.
"We have excellent talent that work on Hockey Night in Canada," said Lee. "It won't be a scramble."
Don Cherry, MacLean's longtime partner on Coach's Corner, signed a new deal last week reportedly worth $700,000 a year.
"All I'm going to say is I can't believe it and I really believe that they both will get back together," said Cherry. "I didn't think it would get this far."
Cherry said he is not yet wondering who will be his sidekick on the Coach's Corner segment.
"No way," said Cherry. "I'm thinking positive that Ron will be there."
MacLean said his nose was never out of joint by how much Cherry is paid.
"I never worried about what Don made - he's worth every penny and more," said MacLean. "But Wayne (Gretzky) didn't win alone, Mario (Lemieux) didn't win alone. We need an infrastructure of good people.
"I'll be darned if I'm going to acquiesce to the idea that I'm lucky to have the job."
MacLean said it will be weird to watch the hockey season start without being involved. And it will be strange to see someone else in the Coach's Corner chair next to Cherry.
"He'll be great with or without me - I can guarantee that."
MacLean is uncertain what direction his career would go, but said he's prepared to leave Canada.
"I have to go where I can find work," he said, adding that he's not looking for the same money to do another show.
Meehan isn't worried about MacLean finding a new job.
"What we're going to do now is take a step back and what Ron's going to do now is consider what and how and where he's going to go and what options he might have," said Meehan.
"I'm not the least bit concerned about Ron MacLean looking for work, given his ability to do what he does."
MacLean indicated he hadn't completely given up hope that a contract with CBC couldn't be worked out.
"We're a bit stunned and hope there's an out-of-the-box idea that we haven't thought of that would see a resolution," MacLean said.
MacLean's work has earned him four Gemini awards as best sports broadcaster in Canada.
He began his career in his native Red Deer, Alta., before joining the CBC in 1986. He became national host of HNIC in 1987, replacing Dave Hodge.
