Hockey fans’ early evenings will be different next fall. RDS has announced that Marc Labrecque, host of the daily HOCKEY 360 since 2013, retired.
Labrecque’s departure, however, means other changes. It will also be the end of the show HOCKEY 360 in its format as we know it.
In the press release announcing Labrecque’s retirement, it is written that HOCKEY 360 “will feed a wider number of RDS digital platforms, including its YouTube channel.” In effect, this means that the show will disappear from the schedule, where it occupied a slot from Monday to Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
So, on Canadiens game nights, 5 to 7 will end at 6:15 p.m. The pre-match will then begin, hosted by Alain Crête. This show will broadcast content produced by the team of 360.
On evenings when the Canadiens are not playing, 5 to 7 will continue until 7 p.m.
Labrecque, 62, is hanging up his microphone after 37 years in the business, including thirty at RDS. An employee of the station since its opening weekend in September 1989, he first worked as a commentator for Canadian Football League games, alongside Jean-Paul Chartrand Sr.
He spent seven years at Radio-Canada from 1993 to 2000 before returning home. Since his return, he has alternated between the roles of host of Sports 30CFL and NFL football, as well as Sports 30 Magazine.
Originally from Mauricie, he played university football at McGill before beginning his career in the media in 1987 at station CJTR, of the Radio-Mutuel network, in Trois-Rivières.
At RDS, as during his time at Radio-Canada, he was unanimously appreciated by his colleagues for his great kindness.