Canada's Hockey Night in Canada Anthem Challenge

July 13, 2008 | 2,123 views | Trackback | |

There's a wee storm brewing over here in Canada over a much loved and recognised jingle that has opened the broadcast of NHL games on Saturday nights in Canada for 40 odd years.

You see "The Hockey Theme" (click play above to listen) composed by Vancouver resident Dolores Claman way back in 1968 and has been used by the CBC as their prime hockey broadcast anthem ever since, has been dropped following the expiration of it's most recent licensing agreement at the end of the 2007-08 NHL season.

With Canadians being as fanatical about hockey as they are, the song, which has cost the CBC about $500 in licensing fees per game, has become like a second national anthem to most. Understandably then, the decision to opt out of renewing any sort of new licensing agreement has angered and disappointed hockey fans country-wide.

I guess in a bid to appease fans and essentially "give back" to the viewers who have made Hockey Night in Canada the success that it has become, the CBC has invited everyone to submit their own interpretations of a new anthem in a contest that will ultimately see someone walk away with $100,000 (CDN), and receive half of the royalties for public performances of the Theme with the other half being donated by CBC to minor league hockey.

All in all a pretty good PR exercise for the CBC I think.

There's a running "gallery" of submissions available on the official "Anthem Challenge" website which you can browse, rate and comment on at your leisure. Now there's hundreds if not thousands of submissions so far, and to be blatantly honest most of what I have listened to so far have been ordinary at best. But in a bid to save you, my readers, the time and effort required to browse through and find the gems in a sea of jingle mediocrity, I present to you what I consider to be 4 worthy contenders:

The Ultimate Game by Colin Oberst of Beaumont, Alberta

Game Revolution by Hari Sivan of London, Ontario

Coast to Coast by Doug Biggar of Lower Coverdale, New Brunswick

The Moment by Matthew P. Vecera of Kingsville, Ontario

Check them out, and let me know which one you like best in the voting poll below. By all means if you find what you consider to be a worthy entrant, leave the link to the anthem in the comment section below.

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Your Comments

36 Responses to “Canada's Hockey Night in Canada Anthem Challenge”

Comment by Ryan on July 14th, 2008 @ 8:13 am

Can't say I'm a huge fan of any of them, but I'd choose 'Coast to Coast' if I had to pick one...

Comment by Masey on July 14th, 2008 @ 8:52 am

@Ryan: See if you can find something better and post it in here.

Obviously my opinions come from a limited exposure to the old theme so I, once again don't have the emotional bias involved here like you guys do.

I'd love to hear what you think would be something considered acceptable.

Comment by Willow on July 14th, 2008 @ 9:24 am

I think it was time for Delores' tune to be wound down.
Comment by Hazel on July 15th, 2008 @ 10:58 am

Wow - this is crazy! I can't believe they're changing the theme! Two thumbs up for "the ultimate game"

Comment by hockeyfan4life on July 19th, 2008 @ 6:28 pm

I just stumbled upon this very cool website. I am friends with the "Game Revolution" composer and you should change that link above to his most current and complete version, thanks!

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/264783

Comment by Masey on July 19th, 2008 @ 7:34 pm

Noted and updated. Thanks for that mate.
Comment by jonesy on July 20th, 2008 @ 8:42 pm

Game revolution totally rocks!!! My pick, easy choice.

Comment by Markus on July 23rd, 2008 @ 8:23 pm

I like the first three, with my top pick being Game Revolution. Not sure if techno & hockey are a fit, but it's certainly a modern anthem. What do you think of Showdown by Jonathan Seet, Toronto, ON: http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/273598 ?

Comment by Masey on July 24th, 2008 @ 9:06 am

Hmmmm... not a huge fan. Isn't "Ballsy" enough for my liking.
Comment by Raine Sumner on August 5th, 2008 @ 8:31 pm

Please check out the anthem I wrote for this contest. The link is here:

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/290972

Comment by Rick on August 8th, 2008 @ 6:24 pm

Good evening

I listened to your picks and your right , they are much better than most I've heard but still not the ones for my vote.

There is one Anthem that I have listened to several times that I think captures the feeling with a great new energy.

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/287475

Thanks
Rick

Comment by Robert on August 12th, 2008 @ 6:42 pm

Hey, I've listed to quite a few entries and must say that most sound amateurish. My current favourite has to be http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/292963 .
Comment by Emile Deon on August 13th, 2008 @ 1:48 pm

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/297671

This is my entry. There are a couple of really good efforts.
Comment by Steve on August 16th, 2008 @ 10:40 pm

A worthy contender...IMHO of course

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/304580
Comment by Ryan on August 21st, 2008 @ 1:19 pm

Okay, new one:

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/281797

Thoughts?
Comment by Masey on August 21st, 2008 @ 1:22 pm

Like it - nice mix of organ and electric guitar - good stuff!
Comment by David on August 22nd, 2008 @ 3:48 pm

What about this one ? That's one of my best...

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/312525
Comment by kgmusik on August 29th, 2008 @ 1:14 pm

This theme is called Timeless Ice. Check it out!

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/318197
Comment by Ryan on August 31st, 2008 @ 3:45 pm

Okay, I have found the winner:

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/320036

For me, it beats all the others hands down.
Comment by Masey on September 2nd, 2008 @ 9:15 am

Agree with you 100% Ry - this one (as hard as it is to give kudos to a Habs fan) is a dead set winner!

Comment by Jeff Nicholson on September 2nd, 2008 @ 7:08 pm

Can I throw my hat into the ring...

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/324926

Nice blog, by the way! And kuel photos. Will stop by later to read and see more...I stumbled across this after doing a search on the anthem challenge...

Comment by Masey on September 2nd, 2008 @ 9:26 pm

Sure you can throw your efforts out there Jeff - and well done BTW!

Comment by Kathy on September 3rd, 2008 @ 6:20 pm

I think they are all well produced but I think we should be looking for something different. Something that kicks! Get's your attention!

Check out this one!

I am linking to the wrong anthem for some reason - search
"Donachie Clan's Theme"

Kathy's last blog post: Hockey Never Ends

Comment by Kathy on September 3rd, 2008 @ 6:23 pm

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/321137
Okay the link directly above works. Check it out - it's worth the effort!

Kathy's last blog post: Hockey Never Ends

Comment by Masey on September 3rd, 2008 @ 11:17 pm

Sorry Kathy... can't agree with you there - not a fan of that one at all.

I don't know if I just don't "get it" or something, but it sounds pretty unpolished compared to a lot of the others. There's no real "journey" with the tune - it doesn't "take" you anywhere, but instead seems to just yell at you...

I dunno...

Comment by FloydT on September 4th, 2008 @ 4:33 am

This one has the right attitude...
http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/318850

Comment by production man on September 4th, 2008 @ 7:50 pm

You know 1% or less of these entries have any melody at all. There are probably a dozen out of 16000 that have a memorable one. Yet the melody is the most important not the production, anyone would agree, you have to be able to sing it along or it's just not going to do the job. But no one gets it, they are all praising anthems that don't leave the safe yet melodramatic "two alternating notes" melody. Or worse, the notes go all over the place and are impossible to remember much less follow. Anyway...

I accidently came across one called It All Starts Now. It is not produced as well as the flashy ones, but the melody is like a monster. It is totally powerful, it goes places, it's catchy, I am sure that once you hear it you will wonder why this person did not go to a pro studio to do such a great sounding piece. If the cbc is open minded, this piece is totally going to win despite it's production shortcomings because it quite simply just sort of effortlessly and gracefully blows away any song I have put it up against since I heard it. In fact, I now sit here with two browser windows side by side, one with It All Starts Now open and one with "next", next, next and I tell you not one anthem I come up with can compare to the solid melody line of this. I would add this one to the list of the best of the best, for sure, the way it is. See if you agree, this one is it.

production man's last blog post: Let's all watch the hockey game tonight

Comment by FloydT on September 5th, 2008 @ 2:02 am

With a recommendation like that, I had to check that one out!
Not entirely convinced, I have to say. Melody seems over complicated and not the kind of thing 'the crowd' could sing along with.

Comment by sann on September 5th, 2008 @ 11:52 am

Hey about production mans comment, I had the same experience I guess, I have been listening to so many of these anthems now, and it's kind of sad. I was expecting to hear like hundreds of melodies to choose from, all good to varying degrees. but very few if any have one as good as old HNC theme. I always thought that if you can sing a song with an accoustic guitar at a campfire and it's still interesting then it's a good song. If you can't, it's not. I propose that you imagine meeting the top cbc decision maker at the airport, he says to you "If you can sing me your anthem right here I may just make you the winner" Try to use most of the entries I heard and you would be humming something boring as hell. Looking down you see the spectacular icing but there is no cake underneath.

sann's last blog post: No Title

Comment by Raine Sumner on September 5th, 2008 @ 4:10 pm

Concerning the melody being important, that is what I strongly kept in mind when working on the 3 entries I have. The first one is here and the links to the others are on that page where it says 'more from Raine Sumner'.

I would appreciate you having a listen and letting me know what you think!

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/290972?sort=upload+DESC&uid=105452&moderationstatus=1&offset=2

Raine Sumner

Comment by kev_81 on September 5th, 2008 @ 11:42 pm

I have heard every submission, and i heard 3 that sound like they could betop contenders. First one is called Showtime http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/321606

I really enjoy this one and felt the heart of the game. It has a few melodies that really stick. I

also enjoyed Raise the Cup http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/320036 but i feel that it lacked the feel and inspiration for hockey and was like any other theme out there.

the third one is called A winner is a Winner. i liked it also but it was more like a sportsdesk theme then HNIC

WE'll just have to wait and see i guess

Comment by james on September 15th, 2008 @ 6:24 pm

This composition I wrote is impressionistic art. Imagery that reflects
the event called hockey.
I left a detailed explanation of its design under comments.
Yep ...DESIGN
http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/324976

Comment by james on September 15th, 2008 @ 6:31 pm

Claman's nhl tune was a jingle written for hnic. Absolutely no design whatsoever went into it to depict action, excitement. It was simply a jazzy composition adopted by cbc,
cbc reworked it over the years.
Not many know of the middle section thats been cut. beginning and end of the piece spliced together.

Comment by steve on September 15th, 2008 @ 10:05 pm

I've also had a heck of a time finding any anthem submissions that I thought were great. After going through hundreds I thought I should post the one I think has the best chance. It has a strong melody and an up-beat groove:
http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/273635

Comment by Chris Pennington on September 18th, 2008 @ 3:22 pm