He previously worked as a television analyst for NHL on NBC broadcasts in the United States and on The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada.

[2][3][4][5] He grew up in the Montreal area, (Mount Royal, Westmount and Sainte-Adèle) and attended Lower Canada College.

[5][6] In 1977, his family moved to Cresskill, New Jersey, due to anti-anglophone sentiment in Montreal that made it difficult for McGuire's father Rex to run his car dealership.

[9] He was paid $500 a season and made ends meet by working as a substitute English, math and physical education teacher in the Geneva, New York, school district.

When Bowman became director of player development and recruitment for the Pittsburgh Penguins on June 12, 1990, he offered McGuire a job as a special assignment scout.

[15] On November 16, 1993, McGuire was named head coach of the Whalers, replacing Paul Holmgren, who had stepped aside due to frustration with a lack of effort from his players and a desire to focus on his role as the team's general manager.

[18][19] In 1995, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman ruled that McGuire would forfeit half of the remaining salary owed to him by the Whalers for providing confidential coaching evaluations to the Edmonton Oilers.

On July 12, 1997, McGuire exercised an escape clause in his contract to become the radio analyst for CJAD's broadcasts of Montreal Canadiens games.

[24] From 1997–98 until 2001–02, McGuire served as color commentator for the Montreal Canadiens' English-language radio broadcasts on CJAD 800 with Dino Sisto.

When TSN re-acquired the Canadian national cable rights to NHL hockey in 2002, McGuire was hired as its lead color commentator.

[28][29] Not only did he extended that role in TSN beginning in 2006,[30] but he also worked for both networks at the time, including the Ice Hockey - 2010 Winter Olympics.

[34][35][36] McGuire also writes for Sports Illustrated and provides frequent commentary on New York's WFAN, Toronto's Sportsnet 590, Ottawa radio station, the Team 1200, the Ottawa Senators' fan podcast SensUnderground, and Montreal's TSN 690 where he can be heard on the Mitch Melnick show, the TEAM 1040 in Vancouver heard on the Canucks Lunch with Rick Ball,[37] as well as Wednesday mornings on Calgary's Fan 960.

Beyond hockey, McGuire served as a reporter for water polo at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics for NBC, working with his NHL colleague Mike Emrick at the London Games in 2012.