The Ontario Hockey League is mourning the loss of an alumnus and sports broadcaster. Brent Pope played four OHL seasons between the Peterborough Petes, Hamilton Dukes, Guelph Storm and Ottawa 67’s from 1989-93. He passed away in Hamilton on Tuesday following a battle with cancer at the age of 49.
Originally from Copetown Ont. outside of Hamilton where he played his minor hockey at the Beverly Community Centre, Pope was a third round pick of the Peterborough Petes in the 1989 OHL Priority Selection from the Grimsby Peach Kings Jr. C club. The big 6-foot-2 blueliner would develop into a productive OHL defenceman, scoring 10 and 15 goals in his final two seasons in the League. Pope, who was an original member of the Guelph Storm, played in 213 career regular season games, recording 29 goals, 84 assists and 113 points along with 225 penalty minutes.
The big blueliner played three seasons between the AHL and ECHL following his graduation from the OHL. Pope, whose mother is British, took his career overseas in 1996 and he would spend the majority of his 15-year professional tenure playing in the United Kingdom. He played parts of four seasons with the Cardiff Devils and also went on to serve as the club’s managing director and head coach for an additional seven. In addition to coaching Cardiff’s EIHL club, he also spent time coaching minor hockey in the UK while also completing his MA in Sports Development & Coaching at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Upon returning to Canada, his final coaching assignment in 2015-16 saw him become the first head coach in the history of the Hamilton Steelhawks Senior A club.
A big personality, Pope also developed broadcast talents, serving as a sports commentator and voice-over artist. He covered hockey for BBC Sport at the 2006 Turin, 2010 Vancouver and 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games. Pope worked for the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) during the London 2012 Olympics commentating on Hockey, Handball, Table Tennis, Fencing and Water Polo. His extensive broadcasting resume also included working as Head of English Ice Hockey Commentary for the Champions Hockey League in Europe between 2014-17 becoming Host of the CHL Centre Ice Online Programme in 2015-16.
Pope is survived by his wife Fegie Ann and their two young children. The OHL sends thoughts and condolences to Brent’s family and friends.
The most famous local broadcaster you probably don’t know #HamOnt #Olympics2022 https://t.co/ZRg2HkcINT via @thespec
— Scott Radley (@radleyatthespec) February 10, 2022
