When Fredericton Raceway opens the doors for its 126th
season of harness racing on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm, Chris Connor will be
in his familiar position in the announcer’s booth high atop the grandstand
calling the races for the afternoon card.
He has been the track announcer at Fredericton Raceway
since the 2009 racing season, a position he assumed after returning home from
Toronto following eight-plus years of working for Woodbine Entertainment Group
in their broadcasting department.
Connor has had a long association with harness racing in
Fredericton, dating back to when he was barely a teenager in the early 1980’s.
“The first race I ever saw was with my dad and his friend
Ed McGuigan,” he said. “It was right
after Clipper Seelster paced the first sub-2:00 mile in Maritime history and I
was immediately intrigued by it. I saw
these numbers in the program and I thought of it as a challenge. I could pick the winner and argue with
someone else about their picks and maybe they knew more than me - but maybe
not.
“And I loved the animals.”
It wasn’t long before he was exposed to the workings of the
stable area and felt immediately accepted by the friendly backstretch
community. “When I first started coming
around the barn area, I remember Wade McCoy looked at me going with a race bike
and four coolers stacked up on the seat, trying to keep them from falling in
the mud. He said, ‘Look at Mr. Connor
going. Someone must have finally given
him a job,’” he recalled fondly.
That someone was Eric Lakes. He had a barn full of horses and when his
son, Kevin, left home after graduation, Lakes had no one to help him on race
nights. Connor quickly jumped at the
chance to be a part of the action. “I
helped out to the best of my ability,” he said proudly.
He was hooked.
* * *
* *
Connor has a natural inclination to broadcasting.
“When I was three years old I was reading and my parents
gave me a tape recorder with a microphone and I started reading books into this
cassette and playing it back,” he said.
“I was doing it so much that I ended up with nodules on my vocal chords
because I was reading out loud all the time.
I knew, even way back then, I wanted to be a broadcaster.
“I went to St. Thomas University after graduating high school,
but I did look into some broadcast schools and I even took some semesters off
to go to different schools to see what they were like. What I found was that they weren’t really
teaching me anymore than what I was learning part-time in Fredericton.”
While attending university, Connor had been doing some
part-time work for Brian Embleton at Fredericton Raceway which included voicing
a two-minute segment called Racing Roundup on Saturday mornings at CFNB radio.
“I wrote it myself and went in to record it,” he said. “After a couple of months of doing that, I
got a call from (CFNB sports director) Ray Bradshaw to read sports on the air
part time. Dave Morrell was there at
that time and he may have put a good word in for me as well. I had been involved in Characters
Incorporated with Philip Sexsmith, and they were both aware of that, so I
believe all of that opened up an opportunity for me in radio.”
By the time Connor graduated from St. Thomas in 1994 he had
moved into a full time position with Radio One Ltd., operators of CFNB at that
time. He credits Morrell - who was the
Marketing Director for Radio One Ltd. and the esteemed radio voice of the American
Hockey League (AHL) Fredericton Express and later the Fredericton Canadiens -
for his development as an announcer which eventually led to a stint as
play-by-play man for the Canadiens beginning with the 1996-1997 hockey season.
“With Dave I would get a chance to do something and he had
confidence in me - and he showed me that he did,” Connor said gratefully. “He would say, ‘Here is what you did right
and here is something you could work on.
Now go try it again.’ In a
challenging field like radio broadcasting, that is exactly what I needed to
hear.”
Prior to Connor assuming the his role as play-by-play man,
the Canadiens didn’t have a current radio contract until Radio One Ltd. owner,
John Eddy, made an agreement for CKHJ-FM to start hosting their
broadcasts.
“I remember he called me up on a Monday and said ‘We have a
deal. Do you want to do a game in
Worcester (Massachusetts) Thursday night?’
I said yes and I was on my way,” said Connor. “Until that moment I had
no idea I was being considered (for the play by play position).”
He said Morrell was instrumental in his transition from
being a radio broadcaster to becoming a skilled hockey analyst.
“Because of his own experience, Dave helped me prepare for
the broadcast in many different ways and some of the best advice he gave me
included recording the two intermissions pieces prior to the game,” he
said. “I was by myself and the
intermissions gave me time to take a ten to twelve minute break and prepare for
the next period. Bill Scott was my producer
and he was the best producer in the American Hockey League.”
That wasn’t the only practical advice Morrell gave
him. “I’ll never forget one of the first
things he told me. He said, ‘Don’t talk
through the national anthem!’” Connor laughed.
Morrell, now the Marketing and Events Manager for UNB
Varsity Red Athletics, was always impressed with Connor’s professional
presentation.
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| Dave Morrell |
“I always liked Chris because he did his homework before
going on the air with a hockey broadcast,” Morrell said. “When you are broadcasting at the
professional level – or any level for that matter – you need to be prepared in
order to provide the best experience possible for the listener. Chris did that.
“Chris also had a love for the game and his background
knowledge of sport in general was excellent.
And you cannot overlook his enthusiasm.
That is something a sportscaster needs in order to give the listening
audience that feeling of being there at the game. You have to be the eyes and ears of the
listener.”
Connor had very little experience doing play-by-play when
he first started though he recalled a prior experience in the old Montreal
Forum he had with current Daily Gleaner sports editor, Bruce Hallihan.
“We did a volunteer game during a time when Montreal Canadien’s
season ticket holders had the opportunity to see the Fredericton farm club play
some games at the old Forum as part of their season ticket package,” he
said. “We did the broadcast on Fundy
Cable 10 (local television station) and what I remember most about that was
that I was occupying the seat help by legendary Canadians broadcaster, Danny
Gallivan, right at center ice. He was
the best and someone I really admired.”
* * *
* *
Connor has many fond memories of his time with the Fredericton
Canadiens including some time he spent with fan favorite Gerry Fleming that
occurred off the ice.
“He was the only player on the team who was older than me,”
he said. “So it was kind of natural to hang out sometimes when we were on the
road. Gerry would take me to see the
sites in some of the cities we visited.
We went to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto one time. He was looking for his uncle’s name on the
Stanley Cup because he had never seen it before. His uncle’s name was Reggie Fleming.”
Reggie Fleming won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blacks
Hawks in 1960-61 but he may be best known for assisting on Bobby Hull’s 50th
goal in 1962 that matched the NHL record for goals scored in a single season at
the time. Hull was only the third player
in history to score 50 goals.
“It was really interesting to see him look for Reggie’s
name on the Cup knowing his name may never be on there,” Connor said. “He was so proud. It was an unbelievable moment for both us in
different ways.”
Fleming was one of the most popular people ever to play in
Fredericton during his AHL years and is the all-time penalty minute leader
(1,035) on either the Fredericton Express or Canadiens hockey teams. He played seven seasons and scored 38
goals. He also had two short stints with
the Montreal Canadiens.
 |
| Gerry Fleming |
“People related to Gerry,” Connor said. “They felt a connection to what he had been
able to accomplish with his life. He was
a big guy, somewhat imposing, but he had studied to be a nurse at UPEI. He
played a certain style of game and people here (in Fredericton) appreciated him.
“He also played senior hockey for a while and people still
remember when he tore down the glass at the Aitken Centre when Fredericton was
playing the Saint John Vitos. There was
a natural rivalry there and he was a big part of that. Billy Watts, from the racetrack, was on the
team at the time. A few years ago, I had
lunch with Gerry in Toronto and one of the first things he said to me was,
‘How’s 'Whipper' Watts doing?’”
Fleming is now an assistant coach with the AHL’s Oklahoma
City Barons.
Connor also recalls a memorable occasion that involved then
rookie AHL coach, Michel Therrien, now the head coach of the Montreal
Canadiens.
“We were on a 13-day road trip and we stopped in New Haven,
Connecticut,” he said. “The team had
been playing well and Coach Therrien had offered the players an opportunity to
go to New York City on their day off, instead of practicing. I had just checked into my hotel room when
the phone rang and it was Therrien.
“He said, ‘What are you doing? You’re getting on the bus!’ I said, 'No', I was
tired and he said, ‘No. You’re
coming. You’re getting on the bus. That’s it!’
I heard this bang and it was the phone hanging up and I thought that I
better hurry and get on the bus!”
Therrien ended up taking him to Madison Square Garden that
night to watch the New York Rangers play the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Rangers had Wayne Gretzky in the lineup
and he recorded an assist that gave him one more assist than Gordie Howe had
career points (1,769), a notable achievement at that time.
“Therrien included me and I appreciated that. He was a better guy than most people knew,”
he said.
Connor said that being an AHL broadcaster also gave him
other opportunities to see many NHL prospects as well as alumni.
“I remember a young New York Islanders draft pick named
Zdeno Chara in his first AHL season (1997-1998) with the Kentucky
Thoroughblades,” he said. “He couldn’t
skate at all then, yet when I see him play (with the Boston Bruins in the NHL)
now, I can’t help but think of how hard he has persevered and worked hard to
get where he is today.
“I also did an interview with Ken Morrow for a taped
intermission piece I was doing. He was
the first guy ever to win an Olympic gold medal (with the United States Miracle On Ice team) and a Stanley Cup
(with the New York Islanders) in the same year (1980). He was very gracious and giving of his
time. I was inexperienced but he didn’t
mind.”
* * *
* *
On May 8, 1998, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC)
signed an agreement with racetracks in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward Island to operate, market and promote the harness racing industry for a
minimum of three years and Bert McWade, vice-president of harness racing with
ALC and former manager of Champlain Raceway in Moncton, would direct
operations.
"I left the Fredericton Canadiens to work for ALC in Truro
(Nova Scotia) because I loved harness racing but also because I sensed that the
writing was on the wall, concerning the future of the AHL in Fredericton,” he
said. Indeed, after the 1998-1999 hockey
season, the Montreal Canadiens ended up moving their farm team in Fredericton
to Quebec City where they became known as the Quebec Citadelles.
“I wanted to do my best to help harness racing in the
Maritimes as much as possible,” he said.
“It was to be for a minimum of three years and hopefully longer if the
partnership with harness racing in the Maritimes flourished during that time.
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| Brent Briggs, Chris Connor and Greg Blanchard on the Atlantic Harness Racing Network at Fredericton Raceway in 1999 |
However it didn’t and, ironically, ALC pulled the plug on
its partnership with harness racing in much the same way the Montreal Canadiens
did with its AHL team in Fredericton and Connor was, once again, on the move.
“I knew in October (1999) that I would be out of a job by
the following spring,” he said. “Greg
Blanchard, who I had worked with at ALC, had joined Woodbine Entertainment
Group (WEG) in Toronto, contacted me. He
said that they were looking for somebody in the broadcast booth and I should
give David Naylor (Vice President of Broadcasting at WEG) a call to get an
on-air interview.
“I flew to Toronto and went into the booth at The Racing
Network (TRN). I did one shift and I had
a job offer directly following that.”
Connor started out at WEG doing the simulcast feed that was
going out to off-track betting facilities.
WEG had also initiated a new way of reaching out to harness racing fans
with TRN that allowed fans and bettors to subscribe to the channel and have it
delivered into their own home, which was new to Canada at the time. Although some major racing events like the
thoroughbred’s Queens Plate and harness racing’s North America Cup were
broadcast individually on other national networks, TRN was bringing entire
harness racing programs into people’s homes on a nightly basis with the ability
to wager on them. It eventually
developed in to what is now known as HPItv.
While working at TRN, Connor was exposed to thoroughbred
racing for the first time and, while his real interest was harness racing, he
decided to educate himself about this style of horse racing that was very
different from what he had known his entire life.
“There were a number
of thoroughbred racetracks on TRN and my work schedule allowed me to work four
days shifts of primarily thoroughbred racing and three shifts of primarily
harness racing at night.
“I think that because of my experience in broadcasting, I
had the ability to learn on the fly about thoroughbred racing at first,” he
said. “I didn’t even know what a furlong
was starting out.
“Most TRN
broadcasters are either one or the other.
But to develop and expand my career I told myself to go for it. ‘You’re
going to learn and you are going to learn by listening, hanging out at the
tracks, reading about the history, ask a lot of questions and doing whatever
you have to do.’ I wasn’t turning down the job down because I
had an opportunity to talk about thoroughbred racing at one of the top tracks
in North America.”
* * *
* *
While working in the WEG broadcasting booth doing the
simulcast, Connor was often part of a team that included Ken Middleton, who
later would become the track announcer for Woodbine and Mohawk race tracks.
“I worked really well with Ken,” he said. “When we first
started the broadcast we were thrown together to do a television show that we
didn’t have time to rehearse a whole lot.
From the start we had a good sense about where each other was going. We ‘shared the air’ quite well and I always
felt we maintained good energy. I really
didn’t know him well when he first got started though he had been established
in Ontario for quite some time. He was
very helpful to me and I always appreciated that.”
 | |
| Ken Middleton |
Middleton says Connor was a valuable member of the broadcast
team.
"I admired so many things about
Chris' on-air work,” he said. “The thing
that stood out among everything else was how genuine he came across on-air as
the host for WEG's simulcast and network shows. He had an incredible
knowledge for the sport of harness racing - and for thoroughbred racing, as
well - but what I always marveled at was the fact that Chris always had a smile
on his face and such a genuine love of racing - and it was contagious when
you watched his on-air work."
Racing analyst Mike Hamilton was also a valuable part of
the team.
“Mike Hamilton is Canada’s answer to Bob Heyden,” Connor
said. “ He can tell you any kind of statistic from any racetrack in Canada,
what a horse was able to accomplish; the breeding of the horse; what the horse
sold for at any auction; who trained it as a yearling; who trained is as a
two-year-old. He has an extensive
knowledge of the game and if everyone could only have his passion for harness
racing.”
The Score Television Network - which developed from what
was originally known at Sportscope and then Headline Sports - launched in March
2000 and would give harness racing national exposure on a weekly basis. John Levy, the founder of the network was a
horse owner and wanted to see the sport of harness racing on his television
network. “Race Night On The Score”
became a Monday night standard that Connor became a part of.
“The first national television broadcast I did was the
Maple Leaf Trot in 2001,” he said. “Doug
Brown, who is a legendary Canadian driver, was the winning driver (with
Plesac). My job was to interview him
and I couldn’t help but think about how fantastic that occasion was. He got back to the winners circle and he had
never won the Maple Leaf Trot before. So
I came up to him and he had tears in his eyes and I was live so I said to him,
‘I can clearly see that you are moved to tears with this win and you have been
attempting to win this race for so many years’ and he said, ’Well
actually. I am allergic to horses.’
“So I said to myself, ‘Where do you go from here?’” Connor
chuckled. “I was nervous that night but
after the show I was in the broadcast department and Mr. Naylor came up and
offered his hand and told me I did a good job.
I got the sense that I would have an opportunity to do a few more.”
* * *
* *
After a few years, Connor began to feel that he had had
enough of big city life in Toronto and began to prepare to return to
Fredericton.
“I had been looking at jobs in New Brunswick for quite some
time,” he said. “Both my mother (Anita)
and father (Robin) were there and my brother (Kevin) had started a family and I
wanted to be a part of all that. It was
all about a change of lifestyle in a small town environment.
”I wasn’t looking to make a change in respect to work. If I could have moved the track here (to
Fredericton) I would have. I still wish
I could do that.”
He recalls a funny moment of clarity while sitting in a
drive-thru in Toronto one day, at MacDonalds of all places.
“There was two ladies in front of me in different cars and
the one in front was taking too much time to put her order in and the one
behind her got out of her car, after honking her horn several times. She started screaming at the woman. I had never seen that in New Brunswick and I
don’t think I ever will. At that point I
decided to apply for jobs back home,” Connor said laughing.
In the fall of 2008 Connor returned home and took a
position with the Provincial Government.
“I am working in the Department of Government Services for
the Province of New Brunswick,” he explained.
“I am one of two people in the Media Monitoring unit and my job,
essentially, is to gather information from newspapers and radio programs every
morning and generate reports for the Premier’s office and other government
departments.
“I start every morning at 5:00 am. I read five newspapers; I listen to five
radio stations and put together a report by 7:00 am so everyone is aware of the
things that they need to be aware of before they get to the office.”
It is a job that he takes pleasure in and the fact the he
is finally putting his degree in Political Science and English degree to use is
not lost on him.
“I am using my education for the first time in my
life. I have a natural interest in
politics and it is something I enjoy and the time goes by quickly,” he said.
Connor still has a lot of fond memories of broadcasting and
he says the friendships he made with the hockey players and horse racing
trainers and drivers are what he treasures most.
“They all learned to trust me after a while,” Connor said
proudly. “They knew if I was sitting
down with them having a beer, I wasn’t working, and they could say what they
wanted to say and it wouldn’t be broadcast the next day.”
He currently lives on Fredericton’s north side - not far
from the family home he grew up in - with his fiancée, Erica Parker, who is
enjoying life in Fredericton after leaving her native Toronto.
Besides his family, Chris Connor will tell you he has two
passions in his life – harness racing and hockey. When he realized that he didn’t have the
talent to be a John Campbell or a Wayne Gretzky, he became a radio and
television broadcaster so he could be a part of both.
“It was my way of being involved,” he said. “I wanted to drive the winning horse in the
North America Cup. I wanted to score the
winning goal in the Stanley Cup. I have
a passion for both and as a broadcaster I wanted to establish a connection
between the listener or the viewer and what was happening, so they felt the
same kind of passion and electricity for it as I did.”
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