There are many great things about being a Montreal Canadiens fan; a historic franchise, a pretty cool arena and a plethora of hall-of-famers are just a few reasons why I love my team.

There’s always been one drawback, though; I can’t watch the games in English.

At least, I thought it was a drawback until I ordered RDS, the French equivalent of TSN, last season so I wouldn’t miss any games. I barely speak a word of French, so I was apprehensive at first. Then I started watching the games and realized something very quickly: English coverage sucks.

In fact, it sucks so much I’ll watch Soirée du Hockey Molson Export every Saturday, even if the Habs are playing on Hockey Night in Canada.

Gone are the days when Bob Cole and Harry Neale captivated an audience. Now, the CBC broadcasts are marked by an overall lack of excitement mixed with a quickly-progressing case of Alzheimer’s.

RDS commentators Yvon Pedneault and Pierre Houde, on the other hand, bring electricity to the game. The French duo actually fluctuate their voices throughout the broadcast, raising pulses when a big play is about to happen.

Furthermore, the production values of the French network are far better. During HNIC, you can’t hear the crowd or the skates the way you can on RDS, where they make a point of cranking the volume on the game mics.

Why muffle the sounds that truly define the game in favour of two senile has beens stumbling over jersey numbers?

The English broadcasts are also known for blatant camera blunders. How many times have you missed the faceoff because the cameraman forgot to pan away from Rod Brind’Amour’s ugly mug?

Many would argue I’m an idiot for watching coverage in a language I don’t understand when the English alternative is readily available to me, but that further proves my point.

The French coverage is so superior I’m willing to watch an entire hockey game oblivious to what the commentators are saying.

The only real advantage Hockey Night in Canada has over Soirée du Hockey is Don Cherry’s Coach’s Corner. However, former Stanley Cup champion coach Jacques Demers’ intermission segment on RDS is as informative and entertaining as Cherry’s signature ramblings.

I can easily switch to CBC during intermission, though, and during that time I really don’t care about the play-by-play guys.

What should be done? For the moment, not a whole lot can be — there simply aren’t any English commentators right now who can match the calibre of old staples Foster Hewitt and Danny Gallivan, or even pre-senility Cole and Neal.

TSN’s Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire are the broadcasting equivalent of Wade Belak and Aki Berg, so until somebody can establish themselves it looks like the English coverage isn’t going anywhere.

Basically, the feeling of watching HNIC after Soirée du Hockey is the same lacklustre sense you get watching American coverage. That’s why, until the English coverage picks up its performance, I’ll take “Et le but!” before “He shoots, he scores!” any day of the week.