22 Facts About Hal Sigurdson

Harold Bjorn Sigurdson was a Canadian sports journalist.

Hal Sigurdson started writing for the Winnipeg Free Press in 1951, then covered the Canadian Football League as a writer, television commentator, and radio host.

Hal Sigurdson 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.

Hal Sigurdson 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.

Hal Sigurdson wrote the "Down Memory Lane" series of sports histories, and retired in 1996.

Hal Sigurdson 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.

Harold Bjorn Hal Sigurdson was born on July 1,1932, in Churchbridge, Saskatchewan, and had Icelandic heritage.

Hal Sigurdson grew up on the family's farm near Churchbridge, moved to Winnipeg in the 1940s, and attended Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute.

Hal 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 Hal Sigurdson the opportunity to report on junior basketball.

Hal Sigurdson started his full-time sports writing career in 1951, and began covering Canadian football and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1957.

Hal Sigurdson was a frequent commentator on televised games for the Canadian Football League, and hosted radio shows on CFWM-FM and CJOB-AM in Winnipeg.

Hal Sigurdson later served as the assistant sports editor of the Vancouver Sun from 1966 to 1976, and covered both the Vancouver Canucks and the National Hockey League.

Hal Sigurdson returned to the Free Press in March 1976, to succeed Maurice Smith as the sports editor, who talked Hal Sigurdson into returning to Winnipeg.

Hal Sigurdson covered junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey in Manitoba, and the World Hockey Association.

Hal Sigurdson wrote the "Down Memory Lane" series of sports histories, and served on the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum selection committee.

Hal Sigurdson served as the sports editor until 1989, then as a sports columnist until he retired in 1996.

Hal Sigurdson wrote his final sports column in the Free Press on June 28,1996.

Hal Sigurdson was married to Merelyn, and had two daughters and two sons.

Hal Sigurdson died from Alzheimer's disease on January 16,2012, in Winnipeg, at the Saint Boniface Hospital.

Hal Sigurdson was known to his colleagues as "Siggy", and often joked that the hockey people he met over the years, spared him "the need of getting a real job".

Hal Sigurdson was named to the roll of honour of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in 1991.

Hal Sigurdson 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.