Pat Connolly, iconic sports broadcaster, dead at 84

A Nova Scotia sports broadcaster died Tuesday, leaving behind a legacy of a gentle, sincere man who loved his job.

Pat Connolly was 84-years-old. He was battling throat cancer and melanoma.

"He's right up there with the Bob Coles and the Foster Hewitt's with the voices that you recognize," said Cam Russell with the Halifax Mooseheads. He worked alongside Connolly for 10 years.

"It's such a, just a gentleness, sincerity about him that everybody liked."

Connolly began his radio career in the late 1940s in Sydney, N.S. He eventually became the announcer for the Halifax Mooseheads.

"He would come to the Mooseheads games and he would come to the press box and he always stopped to say hello," said Russell.

Connolly's influence is hard to miss at the Halifax Metro Centre. The press box is named after him, and above the ice, a banner bears his name.

Mooseheads supporter to the end

Joel Jacobson was friends with Connolly for 50 years. He's currently writing a book on the broadcaster's life.

"When you listened to him, you knew what was happening on the other side of the radio, and knew it was accurate," he said.

Jacobson said Connolly continued to attend Mooseheads' games up until two weeks before his death.

Over the years, Connolly worked at several media outlets in Nova Scotia, including the CBC. He was also made a member of the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame.

The funeral for Pat Connolly will be held Saturday in Dartmouth.