For more than 20 years, Cam Moon was the voice of the Red Deer Rebels.
The long-time play-by-play man began announcing for the city’s WHL club in 1998, after three seasons with the Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL.
The Edmonton native has since taken his commentating skills to the big leagues by becoming the Edmonton Oilers radio announcer. He got the job at the beginning of the 2020-2021 season.
“Honestly it’s a dream come true. I know it’s a cliché, but it’s the absolute truth,” Moon said.
“As someone who grew up in Edmonton and watched the Oilers, … having the opportunity to come back here and work at this capacity is amazing. My expectation level was pretty high and it’s definitely exceeded that.”
In just two seasons, Moon said he has already experienced many highlights.
“Mostly this season because we had actual fans (in the building) and we were able to travel,” Moon said.
His first season was shortened, Canadian teams were only able to play each other and rinks weren’t full of fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I feel like this season gave me more of a true NHL experience. Last season was just bizarre for everybody: players, fans, support staff, broadcasters. It was all pretty weird,” he said with a laugh.
Moon isn’t calling Oilers games during the playoffs, but he is staying busy.
“I’ve been doing some stuff on the radio’s pre-game show, stuff on Oilers TV and some things in-house during the intermission,” he said, adding it’s been fun to be part of the second-round series between the Oilers and Calgary Flames.
While Moon lives in Edmonton during the season, his wife still works and lives in Red Deer. His daughter teaches as well and his son plays baseball in Europe. Moon said it’s exciting to be able to call professional hockey while being so close to home.
“The beauty of this job is that it’s only an hour and a half away from Red Deer,” he said.
The time he spent with the Rebels organization flew by, he added.
“It was 22 seasons and it felt like 20 minutes,” he said.
“When I first went there, I was hired by Wayne and Terry Simpson. They sold the team to Brent and Connie Sutter, who were so good to me. They made me feel like part of the family which made it so fun to work there,” he said.
Watching the team evolve was fun as well, said Moon.
“You have the ups and downs. There are some good seasons and some not-so good seasons. But that’s all the ebb and flow of the WHL. You’re going to have ups and downs,” he said.
“Great fans, some memorable evenings at the rink. It really was outstanding.”
Moon was in Red Deer recently to watch the Rebels host the Edmonton Oil Kings in Game 4 of their WHL Playoff series at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
“That was the first time I’ve seen a game there and not worked it. That was the first time I ever came to the rink where I’m watching a playoff game just to watch a playoff game. It was a very bizarre feeling.”
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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