Cole Waldie grew up watching the Prince George Cougars play their home games in his hometown and like other Cougar fans he made a point of listening to their road games on the radio.
Now that he’s been hired to become the team’s play-by-play broadcaster and director of communications and public relations, Waldie won’t miss a minute of the action on the ice.
Waldie will be there behind the mic for all 68 games when the Cats return to the ice for the 2022-23 season.
“I could not be happier to join the Prince George Cougars’ family…. this is truly a dream come true,” said Waldie. “As a young kid who used to be a season-ticket holder and witnessed the magical playoff run in 2007. Working for this franchise, in this capacity, has always been a dream of mine and I can’t wait to get started.
“I can’t thank Mike Hawes, Alex Evin, Kyle Anderson, David Keough, and all the Prince George Spruce Kings staff and players for an amazing three years that I will never forget. I am forever grateful for being part of such a great program.”
Waldie, a Prince George native who grew up playing high school volleyball and rep baseball, moves up to the WHL ranks from the Prince George Spruce Kings of the B.C. Hockey League. He joined the Spruce Kings as communications manager in September 2019 after several seasons calling the games for the Cariboo Cougars and Vancouver Northeast Chiefs U18 teams in the BC Elite Hockey League.
The 25-year-old is a graduate of the broadcast arts & entertainment program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
“Cole is a talented, young broadcaster who has local ties, and we feel will fit in seamlessly with our team,” said Cougars general manager and head coach Mark Lamb. “His enthusiasm and dedication stand out and we look forward to him delivering an exciting product to our fans.”
Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes says Waldie’s move to the Cougars is right in line with the community-owned club’s philosophy and continual push to advance players, coaches and staff to higher levels of hockey.
“Cole comes from a solid background. I've known his family for a lot of years and based on that I was thrilled when he joined us fresh out of school,” said Hawes. “He's done an amazing job for us not only with the broadcast but in many other ways as well. He got better and better every season and took a lot of pride as he delivered our product to our fans.
“I feel that he worked his way up over the past few seasons and became one of the best play by play announcers in the BCHL. Combine that with the terrific job he did with the communications side of his job and I'm not surprised that this new opportunity came his way. The Spruce Kings, and I personally, wish Cole nothing but success in this new venture. I know he will do very well.”
Waldie replaces Fraser Rodgers, the voice of the Cougars for the past five seasons, who was hired by the Penticton Vees of the BCHL as vice-president of business operations communications and public relations. The 34-year-old Rodgers was with the Vees for seven seasons as their play-by-play announcer, prior to joining the Cougars in 2017.
The Spruce Kings are now looking for a replacement to fill Waldie’s position. Potential candidates are asked to send a resume, demo reel including 5 minutes of continuous play-by-play, and three content samples (minimum of one photo and one video content sample) to [email protected].
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