Gene Principe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gene Principe
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Principe in 2006
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| Born | February 26, 1967 |
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| Spouse(s) | Karen Poganiatz |
| Children | 3 |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Team(s) | Edmonton Oilers |
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| Sports | National Hockey League |
Eugenio Principe (born February 26, 1967) is a Canadian sports reporter and broadcaster. He is well-known for hosting the Edmonton Oilers hockey games on Sportsnet. People especially remember him for using lots of funny wordplay, called puns, and props during his pre-game shows.
Gene was born in Edmonton, Canada. His parents were immigrants from Italy. He started his career in broadcasting in 1987. By 1990, he was a full-time sportscaster. He worked in Winnipeg and Toronto before coming back to Edmonton in 1998. There, he began hosting Oilers broadcasts for a local TV station. In 2001, he joined Sportsnet and has been with them ever since.
Early Life and Career
Gene Principe was born in Edmonton to Gina and Franco Principe. His mother, Gina, was a seamstress, making clothes for people. His father, Franco, was a carpenter, working with wood. Gene went to Austin O'Brien Catholic High School. As a teenager, he became very interested in sports broadcasting. This led him to study broadcasting at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). He graduated from NAIT in 1987.
Gene's first job was at a TV station in Kamloops. Later, he moved to Grande Prairie to work as a videographer. This meant he filmed videos for news and sports. After about a year and a half, he became a reporter in Lethbridge. By the summer of 1990, he was a full-time sports reporter.
Later, Gene moved to Winnipeg. He spent three years there, hosting shows about the Winnipeg Jets hockey team. He also co-hosted a sports show called Sportsline. In 1995, he moved to Toronto and continued to host Sportsline. In August 1998, Gene had the chance to cover his hometown team, the Edmonton Oilers. He returned to Edmonton to host their games and an evening sports show.
Work with Sportsnet
Gene Principe joined Sportsnet in October 2001. He became the host for their Edmonton Oilers broadcasts. In March 2002, he even called two National Hockey League games. This meant he was the play-by-play announcer, describing the action as it happened. In 2005, Gene traveled to Dubai. He filmed a documentary about a hockey team there called the Dubai Mighty Camels.
During the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs, Gene was supposed to cover only the first round. He planned to leave for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. However, the Oilers kept winning! They advanced to the second and then the third round. Sportsnet asked him to stay and cover the Oilers. He chose to stay in Edmonton. The Oilers made it to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals but lost. Meanwhile, the Italian national team won the World Cup.
In 2010, Gene covered men's hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He worked for Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.
His Famous Puns
Gene Principe is very well known for his funny puns and skits. He uses them during his pre-game segments for the Oilers broadcasts. A pun is a joke that uses words with more than one meaning. Gene says he was inspired by another broadcaster, Ron MacLean. He started using puns to cheer up fans during the 2006–07 NHL season. This was after the Oilers lost the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006. Fans and his co-workers loved his segments. This encouraged him to keep his unique style in later seasons.
One time, on October 30, 2011, Gene started a segment dressed as a hot dog. He said he "felt like such a wiener" because he dressed up a day too early for Halloween. He wore the costume for the whole game. He even interviewed the Oilers assistant coach, Kelly Buchberger. Gene joked, "This may be the first time in history a hot dog has interviewed a burger."
In December 2015, Gene introduced the Oilers head coach, Todd McLellan. He called him the "Toddfather." Gene was doing an impression of Vito Corleone from The Godfather movie. A trumpet player even played music from the film. Gene later said this was one of his favorite segments. He liked it because it was a "team effort" and had many fun parts.
In January 2017, Gene wore a Donald Trump mask for a segment. He made many Trump-related puns. This happened during a broadcast that was on the same day as Trump's inauguration. Later that year, Gene was covering a special event. It was for the Edmonton Police Service's 125th anniversary. He made several police-related puns. Then, an officer playfully handcuffed him. The officer said Gene had gone over the "legal limit for puns." He was being sent to the "pun-itentiary"!
Personal Life
Gene Principe is married to Karen Principe (née Poganiatz). They met when he was working in Winnipeg. They have three children together. Karen Principe used to be a dental hygienist. In 2021, she was elected to the Edmonton City Council. She is a councillor for Ward tastawiyiniwak.
