Harnarayan Singh

Harnarayan Singh
Born (1984-12-21) December 21, 1984
Brooks, Alberta, Canada
Alma materMount Royal University
OccupationSports announcer
Websitewww.icesingh.com

Harnarayan Singh MSM (born December 21, 1984) is a Canadian sports announcer and journalist.

Singh was the first Punjabi-language broadcaster in the National Hockey League, having called games for Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition (initially for CBC Sports, and later Omni Television), and having since participated in Sportsnet's overall English-language coverage as well since 2016.

Early life

Singh was born on December 21, 1984, in Brooks, Alberta.[1][2] His parents immigrated to Canada in the 1960s from India.[3] Singh was an avid hockey fan as a child; he and his siblings were fans of Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers, and would do mock announcing using toy microphones. He studied broadcasting at Mount Royal University in Calgary, where he hosted a hockey talk show on the student radio station. Singh was accepted into an internship at TSN in 2004.[2]

Broadcasting career

After leaving TSN, Singh worked as a reporter for CBC Calgary.[2] Singh came to the attention of fellow CBC employee, former NHL goalie, and announcer Kelly Hrudey; Hrudey recommended Singh to the network as a possible new announcer. Joel Darling, the executive producer of Hockey Night in Canada, then approached Singh about calling a hockey game in Punjabi, which Darling believed fit the public broadcaster's goal to "attract new Canadians and people who normally wouldn’t watch the sport of hockey".[4] In 2009, Singh began announcing National Hockey League games in the Punjabi language for Hockey Night in Canada, marking the first ever NHL broadcasts in the language.[5] He continued his work at CBC Calgary to pay for his weekly flights to Toronto, but the CBC eventually found out and paid for his travel.[4]

With the national rights to the NHL moving to Rogers Media in 2014, Singh subsequently moved to Omni Television's Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition. During the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, Singh received attention for his call of Nick Bonino's game-winning overtime goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1, in which he energetically repeatedly chanted Bonino's last name; footage of the call became a viral video, while Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan showed it to the team prior to Game 2 and described it as being entertaining.[6][7][8][9] In November 2016, Singh joined Sportsnet's broadcast crew for a game between the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs, making him the first Sikh-Canadian to participate in an English-language NHL broadcast.[5]

In September 2020, Singh published a memoir, titled One Game at a Time, which details his early life and broadcasting career.[10] On January 13, 2021, Singh made his English play-by-play debut, calling the Vancouver Canucks' season opening game against the Edmonton Oilers for Sportsnet.[11][12] At the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, Singh won the award for Best Sports Play-by-Play.[13]

Personal life

On June 1, 2022, Singh was given an honorary Doctorate of Law by his alma mater Mount Royal University.[14] He resides in Calgary and is married with two children.[2]

References

  1. ^ Singh, Harnarayan (September 22, 2020). One Game at a Time: My Journey from a Small Town to Hockey's Biggest Stage. McClelland & Stewart. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-7710-7390-8.
  2. ^ a b c d Houpt, Simon (September 18, 2020). "Prairie boy Harnarayan Singh becomes leading voice in hockey's racial reckoning". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  3. ^ Deziel, Shanda (April 9, 2016). "How Harnarayan Singh found his calling". Maclean's. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Sax, David (April 26, 2013). "A Punjabi Broadcast Draws In New Hockey Fans". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Dormer, Dave (November 30, 2016). "Harnarayan Singh makes English debut in NHL broadcast from Calgary". CBC News. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  6. ^ Singh, Harnarayan (February 22, 2017). "Hockey Night in Canada, with Mr. Chapared Shot". The Players' Tribune. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  7. ^ "Hockey Night in Punjabi goal calls garner plenty of attention". Toronto Star. June 5, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  8. ^ "Bonino, Penguins embrace HNIC Punjabi's 'spectacular' goal call". Sportsnet.ca. Rogers Media. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  9. ^ "Hockey Night goes viral — in Punjabi". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  10. ^ Shetty, Aastha (October 3, 2020). "'One Game at a Time': hockey broadcaster Harnarayan Singh publishes memoir". KitchenerToday.com. Citytv. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  11. ^ Williams, Rob (January 13, 2021). "Harnarayan Singh calling play-by-play of tonight's Canucks-Oilers game". Daily Hive Vancouver. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  12. ^ Wagner, Daniel (January 13, 2021). "Hockey Night in Punjabi's Harnarayan Singh to call first game in English with Canucks season opener against the Oilers". Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  13. ^ Jeffrey, Andrew (July 21, 2021). "Canadian Screen Award winners named in sports programming". RealScreen.
  14. ^ Bodnar, Michelle (May 27, 2022). "For the love of hockey … and each other". Mount Royal University. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
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