Ed Note: It’s late February.  A bitter cold is sweeping through much of the lower 48.  So what better time to honor the top Canadian imports in American sports media with this polar vortex of a listicle!  It might surprise you to know just how big of an influence and impact our neighbors to the north have had on sports broadcasting south of the border.  From writers to anchors to some of the top play by play in the business, there’s plenty of key contributors currently across the American sports landscape (so keep that in mind when you don’t see Bob Cole on the list).  We enlisted one of our own canucks, Andrew Bucholtz, to rank the Top 15.  So grab a Molson and some poutine and enjoy.

15) Julie Stewart-Binks, Fox Sports 1

Stewart-Binks has become a significant part of Fox Sports One since joining the network in 2013, hosting Fox Soccer Daily, doing daily segments live from the Sochi Olympics in February 2014 and providing reports from the field during last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. She’s played important roles on Fox Sports Live and America’s Pregame, and her star may continue to rise over time. Even Mike Francesa knows who she is now.

14 & 13) J.E. Skeets and Tas Melas, NBATV

The founders of The Basketball Jones video podcast have seen it evolve from an independent show to a property of The Score to what’s now “The Starters” on NBATV, a regular early-evening show, and they’ve become an important part of the daily conversation about the NBA.

12) Ariel Helwani, Fox/MMAFighting.com

Helwani has a tremendous profile within MMA circles from his years covering the sport, and he’s getting substantial TV time these days both on UFC on Fox broadcasts and on Fox Sports One’s regular UFC Tonight show. If you follow the UFC, you see a lot of him.

11) Barry Melrose, ESPN/NHL Network

Barry Melrose  -  February 4, 2014

Melrose is one of the mainstays on this list, but with ESPN not having NHL rights, though, the airtime hockey gets (and thus, the airtime Melrose gets) there is relatively limited. Decide amongst yourselves if a few minutes on Sportscenter (and a weird appearance on the ESPN Voices part of the College Football Megacast) is more notable than actually calling games.

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About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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