Al Strachan

Strachan joined the Montreal Gazette as a journalist in 1973 while also working as a radio show host in Montreal.{{cite news |last1=Housten |first1=William |title=Van Horne, two others out of work |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/van-horne-two-others-out-of-work/article732039/ |access-date=April 9, 2019 |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=September 21, 2006}} While working for the Gazette, Strachan was promoted to sports editor. He subsequently hired Glenn Cole in 1977 to fill his former position.{{cite news |title=Sportswriter Cole died of stroke at age 63 |url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/montreal-gazette/20110517/282248072143560|access-date=April 9, 2019 |publisher=Montreal Gazette |date=May 17, 2011|quote=Cole joined the Gazette in 1977, hired by former sports editor Al Strachan...When I became sports editor, we needed to fill the hole that my promotion had created}} In 1980, Strachan joined The Globe and Mail where he was the 1993 recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award.{{cite web |title=Five chosen for Hockey Hall of Fame |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/04/02/Five-chosen-for-Hockey-Hall-of-Fame/8472733726800/ |website=upi.com |access-date=April 9, 2019 |date=April 2, 1993}} He was likewise named a lifetime member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.{{cite web |title=Lifetime PHWA Members |url=https://www.thephwa.com/page/show/1185071-lifetime-phwa-members |website=thephwa.com |access-date=April 9, 2019}} A year later, in 1994, Strachan was hired by the Toronto Sun. He worked for the Sun until 2006 when it was announced his contract would not be renewed.

Throughout his career, Strachan worked a panellist on Hockey Night in Canada. This was cut short in 2005 when he was fired from Hockey Night in Canada's Satellite Hot Stove panel. Although the full reason was unknown, Strachan stated it was because "they said it was time to change direction."{{cite news |last1=Housten |first1=William |title=Strachan kicked while he's down |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/strachan-kicked-while-hes-down/article18250826/ |access-date=April 9, 2019 |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=October 18, 2005}} This did not deter Strachan from continuing his sports journalism career. In 2008, Strachan collaborated with Don Cherry to write Don Cherry's Hockey Stories and Stuff.{{cite news |last1=Woosly |first1=Garth |title=Winter reading for the hockey fan |url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/2008/12/14/winter_reading_for_the_hockey_fan.html |access-date=April 9, 2019 |publisher=Toronto Star |date=December 14, 2008}}

Shortly after the release of his book Why The Leafs Suck: And How They Can Be Fixed in 2009, Strachan was let go from Hockey Night in Canada a second time.{{cite news |title=The Leafs and HNIC really do suck |url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-province/20091023/283214439268473 |access-date=April 9, 2019 |publisher=The Province |date=October 23, 2009}}{{cite news |last1=Dowbiggin |first1=Bruce |title=On Hotstove, head shots and Gemini honours; Strachan gets dropped from HNIC intermission feature, broadcasters are doing a better job tackling the concussion issue and TSN scores a broadcasting awards hat trick|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/on-hot-stove-head-shots-and-gemini-honours/article1332002/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091024032357/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/on-hot-stove-head-shots-and-gemini-honours/article1332002/|archive-date=October 24, 2009|publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=October 21, 2009|access-date=April 9, 2019}} CBC stated this was because the cover of the book portrayed Strachan with a Hockey Night in Canada tag without permission.{{cite news |last1=Gallagher |first1=Tony |title=Was it something he wrote?; HNIC fires Strachan over book on how Maple Leafs suck|publisher=Montreal Gazette|date=October 26, 2009}}{{cite news |last1=Zelkovich |first1=Chris |title=Canadian committee losing race to start cable channel|date=October 30, 2009 |quote=First, CBC has jettisoned Hotstove semi-regular Al Strachan. CBC says Strachan used a reference to Hockey Night In Canada on the cover of his latest book without permission. "We are no longer using Al on Hotstove this year,"said CBC Sports head Scott Moore. The CBC has its own HNIC books}} He subsequently moved back to St. Andrews, New Brunswick before Thanksgiving.{{cite news |last1=Blatchford |first1=Christine |title=Bickering as sport with the best husband I never had |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bickering-as-sport-with-the-best-husband-i-never-had/article4390069/ |access-date=April 9, 2019 |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=October 15, 2010}}

In 2010, Strachan published a book titled "I am not making this up: my favourite hockey stories from a career covering the game" which detailed untold stories from his career in hockey journalism.{{cite web |last1=Ralph |first1=Christopher |title=Al Strachan’s "I Am NOT Making This Up" Book Review |url=https://thehockeywriters.com/al-strachan-i-am-not-making-this-up-%E2%80%93-book-review/ |website=thehockeywriters.com |access-date=April 9, 2019 |date=January 21, 2011}} A year later, his book "Over the line: wrist shots, slap shots, and five-minute majors" published more insight into inside stories and anecdotes from his career.{{cite news |title=Seven hot new books about hockey |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/seven-hot-new-books-about-hockey/article4182740/ |access-date=April 9, 2019 |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=November 5, 2011}}

The following is a list of publications:{{cite web |title=au: Strachan, Al. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3A+Strachan%2C+Al.&qt=results_page |website=worldcat.org |access-date=April 9, 2019}}

• 100 years of hockey: the chronicle of a century on ice (1999)
• Why the Leafs suck and how they can be fixed (2009)
• Don Cherry's Hockey Stories and Stuff (2009)
• I am not making this up: my favourite hockey stories from a career covering the game (2010)
• Over the line: wrist shots, slap shots, and five-minute majors (2011)
• 99, Gretzky: his game, his story (2013)

Strachan is married and has two sons. Despite his career in hockey, Strachan stated his wife kept their son out of hockey due to the violence.{{cite news |last1=Witt |first1=Howard |title=HOCKEY IN CANADA HARD TO FATHOM |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-02-21-8804010342-story.html |access-date=April 9, 2019 |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=February 21, 1988 |quote=- One of the country`s leading hockey sportswriters, Al Strachan of the Toronto Globe and Mail, loves the game and defends it against any suggestion that it is excessively violent. But, he adds, his wife kept their 9-year-old son out of hockey because it's too violent.}}

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Category:Living people

Category:Canadian sports journalists

Category:Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients

Category:Journalists from Toronto

Category:The Globe and Mail people

Category:Montreal Gazette people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)