Dan O’Toole of ‘Jay and Dan’ among TSN cuts

It’s hard to imagine “Jay and Dan” without Dan, but the executives at TSN apparently have — and Dan O’Toole has seen his last day at The Sports Network.

The @JayandDanonSC Twitter account is now just @JayonSC.

“Had I known last night was my final show, I would have tried a little harder,” O’Toole tweeted in announcing his dismissal. “Ahhhh, who am I kidding. I probably wouldn’t have. It was a wild ride. If you got our show, then you laughed along with us. Thank you! Peace and love and let’s raise a glass together once Covid is over.”

O’Toole — repatriated from the U.S. along with his co-host Jay Onrait in 2017 — was the highest-profile TSN personality to lose a job as Bell Media laid off more than 200 employees.

But many familiar faces have left our screens, according to sources, including SportsCentre anchor Natasha Staniszewski and soccer analyst Kristian Jack. Ottawa-based TSN reporter Brent Wallace was among the first to tweet his departure.

“Pivot,” Wallace tweeted. “We’ve heard that a lot from people and businesses lately. Now it’s time for me to pivot. After 23 years with TSN my time has come to an end. Thank you all for watching and listening. I will miss you. Be kind to one another.”

The Bell layoffs — from TV and radio outlets across the country — have been trickling out since the telecommunications giant confirmed Tuesday that cost-cutting would include some on-air positions at stations including Toronto’s Newstalk 1010 and Montreal’s CJAD 800.

The layoffs also come during a week in which media outlets, including the Star, ramped up protests against social media giants such as Facebook that profit from newspaper content without paying for it.