Hockey Hall of Famer Jim Hughson to speak at Annual Summit in Kelowna

September 14, 2022

KELOWNA, B.C. (Thursday, September 15th, 2022) – Jim Hughson, the longtime Hockey Night in Canada play-by-play commentator and Hockey Hall of Famer who broadcast NHL hockey for more than 40 years until his retirement in 2021, will serve as the keynote speaker at the BC Sports Hall of Fame’s Kelowna 2022 Annual Summit next week in Kelowna. He will be the special guest at the Council of Chairs Dinner featuring the Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards and a special tribute to former BC Sports Hall of Fame Chair Anna Nyarady of Vancouver. Nyarady is receiving one of nine Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards to be presented at the Council of Chairs Dinner, along with a special award for lifetime contributions and leadership of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

Hughson’s keynote address will be among the highlights of the Kelowna 2022 Annual Summit, which runs Friday, September 23rd and Saturday, September 24th at the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the Prestige Beach House in Kelowna. Co-hosted by the Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame and the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the Kelowna 2022 Annual Summit will also celebrate three of the biggest Defining Moments in British Columbia sport history: Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion World Tour (1987), Nancy Greene’s Olympic gold and silver medals at Grenoble (1968) and Canada’s upset win at the 16-country Alfred Dunhill Cup Team Golf Championship (1994). Canada’s first and only Dunhill Cup was won by Dave Barr of Richmond, B.C., Ray Stewart of Abbotsford, B.C. and Rick Gibson of Victoria, B.C.

These three BC sport milestones will be the subject of the Defining Moments Luncheon powered by Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, Friday, Sept. 23rd, at the Rotary Centre for the Arts in downtown Kelowna, beginning at 12 noon.  At the same luncheon, the Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame will announce the biggest Okanagan sports milestone of all-time. Hughson will speak at the Council of Chairs dinner that evening.

“The Defining Moments of BC sport history reflect our role as a storytelling organization committed to celebrating the athletes, coaches, builders, teams, media and pioneers who have made BC sports what it is,” said Tom Mayenknecht, Chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame. “We’re thrilled to have the chance to recall these three Defining Moments of BC sport history, delighted to honour trailblazer Anna Nyarady and very happy to have Jim Hughson as our keynote speaker. “We’re of course proud to have the chance to celebrate these timeless accomplishments by Rick Hansen, Nancy Greene, Dave Barr, Ray Stewart and Rick Gibson. Their stories will help to make it a special weekend in celebration of BC sport history, heritage and culture.”

Hughson, a product of Fort St. John, B.C., began his TV and radio career as the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL from 1979-1982 and again from 1994-2008. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for Hockey Night in Canada from 2008-2021 and the NHL on Rogers Sportsnet from 2014-2021. Hughson was awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2019. The Hewitt award recognizes outstanding contributions by a hockey broadcaster on behalf of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hughson has also won five Gemini Awards and is serving as the Chair of the BC Hockey Hall of Fame based in Penticton, B.C. and co-chair of the BC Sports Hall Network. He is a multiple winner of the Paul Carson Broadcast & Media Awards recognizing excellence in sport broadcasting and writing. He has also done play-by-play in baseball, for the Montreal Expos 1987-1989 and for the Toronto Blue Jays 1990-1994 and 2007-2008.

Nyarady is a former trustee and chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame and is currently serving as Chair of the Council of Chairs, the body made up of all living former Chairs of the BC Sports Hall of Fame. A veteran of more than 30 years of experience providing business and consulting services, Nyarady is the President of Dupuis Langen. A Bachelor of Arts graduate from Simon Fraser University and a Chartered Director from McMaster University, she has been a CEO and director of companies in financial planning, securities and banking, real estate development and leasing, mining, oil and gas, to name a few industry sectors.

The other eight Eric Whitehead Inspired Service award winners will be announced next week.

Hansen’s Man in Motion, Greene and Canada’s Dunhill Cup team join six previous milestones heralded at Defining Moments functions at the BC Sports Hall of Fame Annual Summit in 2018 (Vancouver Canucks 1994 Stanley Cup Final run, BC Lions 1994 Grey Cup championship and the XV Commonwealth Games in Victoria) and 2019 (Terry Fox and the 1980 Marathon of Hope, the 1982 Vancouver Canucks and Towel Power born during their Stanley Cup Final run that year and the transformational Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games).

“We’re very pleased to resume the special recognition of Defining Moments in BC sports history, something that we had to put on hold in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic,” said Nicholas Cartmell, Chief Executive of the BC Sports Hall. “We’re excited to do so every year in connection with our BC Sports Hall of Fame Annual Summit, which in turn will move around British Columbia to reflect the true measure of athletes, coaches and builders from throughout the province. “It’s our way of keeping these Defining Moments alive for perpetuity and presenting and celebrating them over time in all corners of the province.”

Tickets to the Defining Moments Luncheon and the Council of Chairs Dinner are available for purchase at bcsportshall.com/summit.

About the BC Sports Hall of Fame
The BC Sports Hall of Fame celebrates extraordinary achievement in B.C. sport history and inspires future generations to make their dreams come true. As a non-profit charitable organization, the Hall curates an astounding collection of 27,000 heritage artifacts and 100,000 archival documents representing 150- years of sport history in British Columbia. Through Hero in You Youth Education Programs, the BC Sports Hall of Fame reaches over 6,500 young learners each year across the province, advancing a mission of building outstanding community legacies by honouring the past and inspiring the future.
For more information, please visit bcsportshall.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram @bcsportshall

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Media Contact Adam Forsythe LBMG
778-989-1469
aforsythe@lbmg.ca