Rick Ball Explained

Rick Ball
Nationality:Canadian
Alma Mater:British Columbia Institute of Technology
Occupation:Sportscaster

Rick Ball is a Canadian sportscaster who currently works as a hockey play-by-play announcer on Chicago Sports Network's Chicago Blackhawks broadcasts. Ball worked the Stanley Cup Playoffs for TNT in 2023.

A British Columbia Institute of Technology graduate, Ball began his radio career in 1993 in his native Kelowna.[1] From 1995 to 2000 he was the play-by-play announcer for the Kelowna Rockets.[2] He then worked for CFAX in Victoria, British Columbia.[3] In 2001 he filled in for Jim Hughson on ten of VTV’s Vancouver Canucks broadcasts. That same year he joined The Team 1040 in Vancouver, where he hosted the noon-to-3 p.m. show.[4] In 2004, The Team acquired the rights to the BC Lions and Ball was named the new play-by-play voice. In 2008, Ball and Joe Kenward were chosen as fill-in voices for lead Canucks announcer John Shorthouse. In 2011, the CBC chose Ball to call Winnipeg Jets games for Hockey Night In Canada.[5] In 2013 he became the main western play-by-play voice for Hockey Night in Canada. In 2014, Ball left Vancouver to become Sportsnet's regional television announcer for the Calgary Flames.[6] Ball will join Chicago Sports Network as the television play-by-play broadcaster of the Chicago Blackhawks in October 2024.[7]

Notes and References

  1. News: Beamish . Mike . Lions have a new voice on airwaves . The Vancouver Sun . June 17, 2004.
  2. News: Ullrich . Lowell . A bouncing Ball: Ex-junior broadcaster relishes opportunity . The Vancouver Sun . April 6, 2001.
  3. News: Douglas . Greg . Ball living the dream following Cole to Hockey Night in Canada's prime team . The Vancouver Sun . January 19, 2013.
  4. News: McIntyre . Gordon . He's both on the Ball and on the airwaves; Getting back to hockey this season . The Province . November 30, 2008.
  5. News: Ball gets the call to do Jets play-by-play on HNIC . The Province . September 23, 2011.
  6. News: Douglas . Greg . Ball, Taylor suit up for air battles; Programming: Radio, TV roll out recycled 'all-stars' . The Vancouver Sun . August 30, 2014.
  7. Web site: RELEASE: Blackhawks Announce Veteran Broadcaster Rick Ball as New Television Play-by-Play Voice . NHL.com . June 6, 2024 . June 6, 2024.