- John McKeachie, a fixture of Vancouver sports broadcasting for four decades, has died at 82
- He anchored sports at BCTV for 27 years and hosted CBC Vancouver’s Hockey Night in Canada postgame show
- Read below for the video, the tributes and the Hall of Fame honour he was set to receive this fall
Vancouver has lost another voice of its hockey past.
John McKeachie, the longtime BCTV sports anchor who spent years around Canucks broadcasts on both television and radio, died Wednesday at 82. The Canucks posted a tribute that evening.
Born and raised in Victoria, McKeachie put together a 40-year career in the business. The centrepiece was a 27-year run as a sports anchor at BCTV from 1973 to 1999, which included work as an on-air host and colour commentator on Canucks and Whitecaps broadcasts.
He also hosted CBC Vancouver’s Hockey Night in Canada postgame show, “McKeachie’s Hockey Talk,” from 1998 to 2000. That show eventually went national and became the long-running “After Hours.”
Radio kept him just as busy. CKNW had him hosting Canucks and BC Lions coverage, and he later ran “McKeachie in the Morning” at Team 1040 from 2001 to 2003 before a stretch at Mojo Sports Radio through 2005. He wrote a weekly sports column for The Province from 1997 to 2000.
Global BC’s Jay Janower dug up old footage of McKeachie on the BCTV News Hour desk. Watch the clip:
Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma framed the loss against what has already been a brutal year for Vancouver hockey media:
Kuzma named Ernie “Punch” McLean, Jim Robson and John Garrett, who died in April at 74.
Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal, who worked alongside McKeachie at 1040, called him one of the great storytellers:
The BC Sports Hall of Fame picked McKeachie in April as a Class of 2026 inductee in the media category, with the formal ceremony set for this fall. He was asked about the honour in an April interview and made no attempt to play it cool.
“It was quite humbling, I can’t say how proud I am of it. I’ve received so many texts and emails, FaceTimes and phone calls… I’m just thrilled to be a part of it.”
We at Gino Hard send our condolences to McKeachie’s wife Sandi, his daughters, and everyone who shared a booth or a scrum with him.
