Portion of Maple Ridge Street renamed in honour of Jim Robson

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MAPLE RIDGE (NEWS 1130) – A special honour is being bestowed on a local broadcasting legend.

A portion of 105th Avenue that leads to Planet Ice and the Albion Fairgrounds in Maple Ridge will be renamed Jim Robson Way.

The man himself says he feels incredibly honoured. “Well, I didn’t expect at any time to have a street named after me, but I also didn’t expect so many hockey arenas all over the Lower Mainland. When I grew up in Maple Ridge, the nearest hockey arena was Queen’s Park Arena in New Westminster.”

Robson was born in Saskatchewan, but his family moved to BC when he was young. “I went to Alexander Robinson Elementary School and then Maple Ridge High School from 1944-1952 when I left as a 17-year-old to go into broadcasting in Port Alberni.”

The 83-year-old called the plays on hockey and baseball broadcasts on CKWX (now NEWS 1130) in the 1950s and 1960s. And he was at the helm when the Canucks were heading to the Stanley Cup Final in 1994.

He was also the Canucks play-by-play announcer from 1970 to 1999 before handing over the reins.

The team’s current play-by-play announcer, John Shorthouse, told Sportsnet 650 Robson means a lot to him. “Jim is the soundtrack of my life. It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do. I owe a ton of thanks and I need to credit [him] for me being here and for being inspired by Jim.”

Click here to listen to Robson speak on Sportsnet 650 earlier this week.

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