Harnarayan Singh

Last updated

Harnarayan Singh
Born (1984-12-21) December 21, 1984 (age 39)
Brooks, Alberta, Canada
Alma mater Mount Royal University
Occupation Sports announcer
Website www.icesingh.com

Harnarayan Singh MSM (born December 21, 1984) is a Canadian sports announcer and journalist. He became known for announcing the Punjabi-language broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada, and currently calls games in English for Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada.

Contents

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 the TSN sports television network in 2004. [2]

Broadcasting career

After leaving TSN, Singh worked as a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's news service in 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. 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] Singh had one of his games turn into a viral video in 2016 when he made an energetic call of goal-scorer Nick Bonino's name. [5] He was the first person to announce an NHL game in Punjabi for television, and, in 2016, became the first Sikh Canadian to broadcast an NHL game in English. [6] He also hosts a weekly online segment for the Calgary Flames organization.

In September 2020, Singh published a memoir, titled One Game at a Time, which details his early life and broadcasting career. [7] On January 13, 2021, Singh made his English play-by-play debut, calling a regular season game between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers for Sportsnet. [8] [9] At the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, Singh won the award for Best Sports Play-by-Play. [10]

Personal life

On June 1, 2022, Singh was given an honorary Doctorate of Law by his alma mater Mount Royal University. [11] He resides in Calgary and is married with two children. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hockey Night in Canada</i> CBC broadcasts of the National Hockey League in Canada

CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the Hockey Night in Canada brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its history in various platforms.

Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was required to divest its stake in the network following its 2001 acquisition of competing network TSN. Rogers then became the sole owner of Sportsnet in 2004 after it bought the remaining minority stake that was held by Fox.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Cole (sportscaster)</span> Canadian sportscaster (born 1933)

Robert Cecil Cole is a Canadian former sports television announcer who has worked for CBC and Sportsnet and former competitive curler. He is known primarily for his work on Hockey Night in Canada.

The 1997–98 NHL season was the 81st regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Washington Capitals in four games.

Jim Hughson is a retired Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of the National Hockey League. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for the NHL on Sportsnet from 2014 to 2021 and Hockey Night in Canada from 2008 to 2021. His career spanned 42 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Hrudey</span> Canadian broadcaster and former ice hockey player

Kelly Hrudey is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. He is a current hockey broadcaster with Sportsnet as a studio analyst for Hockey Night in Canada and colour commentator for Calgary Flames regional broadcasts. During his playing career, Hrudey played in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks from 1983 to 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Robson</span> Canadian sportscaster

Jim Robson OBC is a former radio and television broadcaster who was the play-by-play announcer of the Vancouver Canucks' games from 1970 to 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Hodge</span> Canadian sports announcer (born 1945)

Dave Hodge is a Canadian sports announcer. Hodge worked for TSN, the CBC and CFRB 1010 radio in Toronto.

Hockey Central is the brand used for programs and segments covering hockey on the Canadian sports channel Sportsnet. The Hockey Central name encompasses several programs, including segments aired during Sportsnet Central, pre-game reports for Hockey Night in Canada and other NHL telecasts on Sportsnet, CBC, Citytv, and the Sportsnet 590 radio show Hockey Central at Noon.

John Murdoch Garrett is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and television sports commentator. He played in the World Hockey Association from 1973 to 1979 and then in the National Hockey League from 1979 to 1985. After retiring from playing he turned to broadcasting.

John Shorthouse is a Canadian sports broadcaster based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the lead play-by-play commentator for the Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet Pacific television. He also calls select nationally-televised games on Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada.

David Holland Tomlinson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He attended Boston University on a hockey scholarship from 1987-1991. After graduating, he played in the AHL and IHL and also compiled 42 games in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Florida Panthers. He also played for Canada's National Team in various tournaments. After his NHL career, he went on to play 10 years of professional hockey in Europe. He is currently a colour commentator for the Vancouver Canucks on CBC Sports/Sportsnet.

Dave Randorf is a Canadian sportscaster who serves as the play-by-play announcer for the television broadcasts of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. He is best known for his work at TSN hosting the network's Canadian Football League studio show as well as TSN's and CTV's coverage of figure skating. He also did play-by-play for the NHL on TSN, World Hockey Championship, and the National Lacrosse League on TSN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Cuthbert</span> Canadian play-by-play sportscaster

Chris Cuthbert is a Canadian sportscaster. He currently serves as the lead play-by-play commentator with CBC Sports/Sportsnet for Hockey Night in Canada, and calls most national and regional games for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the network. Formerly, he worked for TSN, NBC, and CBC Sports in a multitude of roles. He and Glen Suitor were the lead broadcast team for the CFL on TSN from 2008 to 2019 before Cuthbert gave that lead play-by-play role to Rod Smith.

<i>NHL on Sportsnet</i> Television series

NHL on Sportsnet is the blanket title for presentations of the National Hockey League broadcast held by a Canadian media corporation, Rogers Communications, showing on its television channel Sportsnet and other networks owned by or affiliated with its Rogers Media division, as well as the Sportsnet Radio chain. Sportsnet previously held the national cable rights for NHL regular season and playoff games from 1998 to 2002. In November 2013, Rogers reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national television and digital rightsholder for the NHL in Canada, beating out both CBC Sports and TSN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHL on television in the 2010s</span>

On April 19, 2011, after ESPN, Turner Sports, and Fox Sports placed bids, NBC Sports announced it had reached a ten-year extension to its U.S. television contract with the NHL worth nearly $2 billion over the tenure of the contract. The contract would cover games on both NBC and sister cable channel Versus, which became part of the NBC Sports family as the result of Versus parent Comcast's controlling purchase of NBC Universal earlier in 2011.

<i>Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey</i> Canadian television series

Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey is the branding used for Sportsnet’s flagship broadcasts of National Hockey League games on Wednesday nights. In November 2013, Rogers reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national television and digital rightsholder for the NHL in Canada, beating out broadcasters CBC Sports and TSN for the rights.

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. 1 2 3 4 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. 1 2 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. ↑ Coppinger, Mike. "Harnarayan Singh becomes first Sikh to broadcast in English at Maple Leafs-Flames". USA Today . Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  6. ↑ Dormer, Dave (November 30, 2016). "Harnarayan Singh makes English debut in NHL broadcast from Calgary". CBC News . Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  7. ↑ Shetty, Aastha (October 3, 2020). "'One Game at a Time': hockey broadcaster Harnarayan Singh publishes memoir". KitchenerToday.com. Citytv . Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  8. ↑ Williams, Rob (January 13, 2021). "Harnarayan Singh calling play-by-play of tonight's Canucks-Oilers game". Daily Hive Vancouver. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ Jeffrey, Andrew (July 21, 2021). "Canadian Screen Award winners named in sports programming". RealScreen.
  11. ↑ Bodnar, Michelle (May 27, 2022). "For the love of hockey … and each other". Mount Royal University . Retrieved June 26, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.