Roszell joins Wildcats

MONCTON - In an unexpected turn of events, former Saint John Sea Dogs radio voice Tim Roszell has joined the Moncton Wildcats.

The Times & Transcript reported this morning (paywall) that Roszell will be the new voice of the rival Wildcats, replacing Marty Kingston. The Wildcats will continue to have games broadcast on the FM dial, which the Sea Dogs dropped this off-season.

Roszell's dismissal this summer left many fans outraged, partly because of Roszell's popularity and partly because it seemingly meant the end of Sea Dogs hockey on the radio.

The Sea Dogs announced plans this week on how the team's radio broadcasts will be replaced, hiring former Mooseheads radio voice John Moore to handle home games and Halifax based contests. Maritime road games will be called by various hosts while Quebec based games not be covered, meaning there will be no English audio available. In total, 56 games will be broadcast via an online stream.

"They made a business decision," Roszell told the Times & Transcript. "There's not much more to it than that."

Roszell had been the voice of the Sea Dogs since the 2006-07 season, calling all home and away games on News 88.9 and then 96.1 NewSong FM.

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats meet this Sunday, Aug. 26 at 2 p.m. at St. Stephen's Garcelon Civic Centre in pre-season action. The two teams meet for the first time in the regular season on Sunday, Sept. 23 at Harbour Station, which will marks Roszell's return. Saint John will be the opposing team in Moncton's home opener on Friday, Sept. 28, which will be the first game played at the new downtown arena.

Here's who will be broadcasting Sea Dogs games in each Maritime city this season:

Home games and Halifax: John Moore and Scott Squires
Cape Breton: Kyle Moore
Moncton: Mike Sanderson
Charlottetown: Peter Ruttgaizer and Denny King
Bathurst: Peter Assaf

Assaf and Sanderson both have Rogers TV and radio experience while Moore, now a reporter with CTV, used to be the Screaming Eagles' radio voice. King, meanwhile, comes from the legendary UPEI men's hockey broadcasts.