Jim Robson, the Canadian sportscaster who served as the play-by-play announcer for the Vancouver Canucks for three decades, died Feb. 10, 2026. He was 91.
Robson started his career at age 17, broadcasting senior men’s basketball in Port Alberni. He later moved to Nanaimo to cover the Mann Cup lacrosse finals before arriving in Vancouver in 1956. During his early years in the city, he provided play-by-play coverage for the BC Lions football team, the Vancouver Mounties baseball team, and the Western Hockey League version of the Canucks.
When Vancouver became an NHL expansion team in 1970, Robson moved to CKNW to lead the team's broadcasts. He earned the moniker "voice of the Canucks" during a tenure that spanned nearly 30 years. For the first seven seasons, he typically worked alone on road games, providing the play-by-play as well as the pre-game and post-game analysis. He eventually called games alongside partners Tom Larscheid and Garry Monahan before finishing his time with the team in 1999.
The Hockey Hall of Fame presented Robson with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 1992. He also earned inductions into the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame, the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, and the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame. The broadcast booth at Rogers Arena, the home of the Canucks, is named in his honor.