Hal Sigurdson

Harold Bjorn Sigurdson (July 1, 1932 – January 16, 2012) was a Canadian sports journalist. He started writing for the Winnipeg Free Press in 1951, then covered the Canadian Football League as a writer, television commentator, and radio host. He became the sports editor of The Albertan in 1964, then served as the assistant sports editor of the Vancouver Sun from 1966 to 1976, where he covered the National Hockey League. He returned to Winnipeg as sports editor of the Free Press from 1976 to 1989, and reported on hockey in Manitoba and the World Hockey Association. He also wrote the "Down Memory Lane" series of sports histories, and retired in 1996. He was named to the roll of honour of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, and was inducted into the media sections of both the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Early life Harold Bjorn Sigurdson was born on July 1, 1932, in Churchbridge, Saskatchewan, and had Icelandic heritage. He grew up on the family's farm near Churchbridge, moved to Winnipeg in the 1940s, and attended Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute. and basketball.

Journalism career Sigurdson began working for the Winnipeg Free Press as a copy boy during the late-1940s, when the paper's sports editor, Maurice Smith, gave Sigurdson the opportunity to report on junior basketball. He was a frequent commentator on televised games for the Canadian Football League, and hosted radio shows on CFWM-FM and CJOB-AM in Winnipeg.

Sigurdson returned to the Free Press in March 1976, to succeed Maurice Smith as the sports editor, who talked Sigurdson into returning to Winnipeg. He covered junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey in Manitoba, and the World Hockey Association. He also wrote the "Down Memory Lane" series of sports histories, and served on the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum selection committee. In his recreational time, he participated in curling, golf, and ten-pin bowling. and often joked that the hockey people he met over the years, spared him "the need of getting a real job". He was inducted into the media category of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993, and was inducted into the Football Reporters of Canada section of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1994.