Lengthy-time Newfoundland and Labrador sports activities journalist and broadcaster Brendan McCarthy handed away on Saturday following a years-long battle with most cancers. He was 66. (Submitted by Richard Taylor)
Brendan McCarthy, the St. John’s man who earned the nickname “Hockey Prof” and established himself over the many years as a number one sports activities journalist in Newfoundland and Labrador, has died on the age of 66.
McCarthy handed away Saturday night on the Well being Sciences Centre, following a day of visitation from household, associates and former co-workers.
Even his beloved cat Cheddar made an look as his bedside, McCarthy’s son, Richard Taylor, instructed CBC Information on Monday.
“He mentioned ‘I really feel peaceable,'” mentioned Richard.
McCarthy had battled leukemia for 15 years. His spouse Audrey additionally succumbed to most cancers in April 2019.
An outpouring of tributes
His passing was met with an outpouring of tributes, with heavy reward for his masterful protection of hockey and different sports activities throughout his three many years with The Telegram newspaper, but in addition for his kindness and skill to mentor different journalists.
McCarthy’s long-time Telegram colleague, photojournalist Keith Gosse, mentioned on Fb that McCarthy was the “kindest, funniest, most liked and revered particular person I knew,” and that he was an “unimaginable colleague, pal and true gentleman.”
Mark Dwyer, the director of reports and present affairs at NTV and a former Telegram co-worker, wrote that McCarthy was a “gifted journalist, among the many all-time greats, however he shall be finest remembered as a gentleman and great man.”
McCarthy was from British Columbia, however grew up in New Brunswick. He moved to Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula within the early Eighties to work as a broadcaster at Q Radio. However his repute was made throughout his years with The Telegram, the place he teamed with sports activities editor Robin Quick — who died in August 2021 — to cowl the American Hockey League’s St. John’s Maple Leafs and later the St. John’s IceCaps, starting within the early Nineties.
Brendan McCarthy, centre, was inducted into the N.L. Hockey Corridor of Fame in 2022. He posed for this image together with his household through the occasion. From left to proper, daughter-in-law Alicia Taylor, grandson Alex, Brendan McCarthy, grandson Ryan, and son Richard Taylor. (Submitted by Richard Taylor)
McCarthy acquired the James H. Ellery Memorial Award in 1998 for his excellent media protection of the AHL, and was inducted within the N.L. Hockey Corridor of Fame in 2020.
Over time, McCarthy additionally coated the St. John’s Fog Devils of the then Quebec Main Junior Hockey League, and most lately, the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers.
Nevertheless, McCarthy by no means strayed removed from his radio broadcasting roots and for years supplied color commentary for Leafs and IceCaps AHL video games with play-by-play hosts George McLaren and Brian Rogers on VOCM Radio.
Whereas his beat was elite hockey, McCarthy additionally shined a highlight on native sports activities, and maintained the very talked-about “Newfoundlanders Away” weekly hockey stats part within the paper.
In 2008, he authored the ebook, Ahead Considering: The Danny Cleary Story, which instructed the story of the primary particular person from Newfoundland and Labrador to play for, and win, the coveted Stanley Cup.
McCarthy additionally volunteered his time to help the Most cancers Care Basis and its efforts to construct a brand new chemotherapy unit on the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Most cancers Centre. McCarthy and Quick had been featured in a video, with McCarthy sharing the story of his battle with most cancers, and the way his work and help from colleagues helped him by means of.
‘Big influence on my life’
In the meantime, McCarthy’s son mentioned his father “made a big impact on my life” and that he tries to mannequin himself after his dad.
McCarthy additionally had a particular bond together with his two grandchildren, Alex, 15, and Ryan, 13, mentioned Richard McCarthy.
Whereas the household is saddened by McCarthy’s passing, Richard McCarthy mentioned they’re specializing in the constructive influence that his father had on so many individuals.
“I’m grateful for the way peaceable he was and for what number of peoples’ lives he touched,” Richard McCarthy wrote on Fb. “He was an all-around inspiration together with his kindness, selflessness and positivity. There is a void with him that may by no means be stuffed.”
Richard mentioned guests shall be welcomed at Barrett’s Funeral Residence on Hamilton Avenue from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and seven p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A funeral service is deliberate for Thursday at Barrett’s.
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