Iconic play-by-play NHL announcer Bob Cole dies at 90

Legendary play-by-play NHL announcer Bob Cole died Wednesday at the age of 90, his daughter told CBC News' John Gushue.

Cole had been a mainstay on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada for five decades. The Newfoundland native was the network's lead NHL commentator from 1980-2008.

He frequently worked Toronto Maple Leafs games, including his final broadcast in February 2019 between the Buds and Montreal Canadiens.

Cole was also behind the mic for some notable international hockey events. He called the 1998 Olympics, which was the first Games to feature NHL players.

"Bob Cole's voice was the iconic and incomparable soundtrack of hockey across Canada for more than 50 years," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

"From countless winter Saturday nights on Hockey Night in Canada to the 1972 Summit Series to multiple Olympic Games to dozens of Stanley Cup Finals, his distinctive, infectious play-by-play made every game he called sound bigger."

Cole was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996 as the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for broadcasting excellence.

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