Doug Sellars knew his way around a hockey rink.

The Toronto native in 1985 followed up graduation from Ryerson University by taking a job with the CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada telecast when he was just 25 years of age.

Two years later, he produced the CFL Grey Cup Game for the pubcaster and by 1989 was promoted to head of sports production.

By now, Sellars oversaw all CBC Sports properties, including several Olympic Games and two Commonwealth Games.

Then in 2000, Sellars surprised the Canadian TV industry when he moved from the CBC to take a job at Fox Sports stateside, where he worked his way up to a recent promotion to EVP of the Fox Sports Media Group in August 2011.

Besides championing the National Hockey League on Fox, now Sellars was overseeing all studio and event production for the networks and entities within the Fox Sports Media Group, including Fox Sports, Fox Sports Regional Networks, Speed, Fox Deportes, Fox Soccer, FueL TV and FoxSports.com.

Sellars had earlier oversaw Fox Sports Regional Network’s production of nearly 4,000 pro baseball, basketball and hockey games,as well as national collegiate programming.

But last Friday, while Sellars was playing a pick-up hockey game in Los Angeles with friends, he suddenly collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack.

He was 50 years of age.

“While unfortunately I didn’t know Doug personally, I understand he had a wonderful disposition, and his calm and kind way made him a gifted leader, respected by everyone who had the pleasure of working for him. On behalf of Doug’s many friends at CBC, I extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to his family,” Kirstine Stewart, EVP of English Services at the CBC said in a statement.

Fox paid tribute to Sellars on all its Fox Sports Media Group networks on Sunday.

From Playback Daily