Popular Post Rocket-68 Posted April 2, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 2, 2023 (edited) Seems @OldFaithfulCap is too busy today (hey, he can't be expected do all the GDT) so whipping one together. A Random Hockey Story Personal Note: In this time of division and uncertainty, I do find it heartening that at least here in Canada, hockey brings us all together. We are all Canadians We are all Canucks ------------------------------------------------------------------ The voice behind Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi says his love of the game is what moulded him into a patriotic Sikh Canadian while he was growing up in small-town Alberta. Harnarayan Singh became a household name in the Canadian hockey world with his energetic, over-the-top commentary of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Nick Bonino's playoff goal against the Washington Capitals in 2016. And his show has been groundbreaking. Singh was the first person to call the play-by-play of NHL games in Punjabi, and also became the first Sikh to take part in an English-language NHL broadcast. He chronicles his journey from childhood hockey diehard to real-life NHL commentator in his new memoir, One Game at a Time: My Journey from Small-Town Alberta to Hockey's Biggest Stage. Singh spoke with The Current's Matt Galloway about his new book and the challenges he's faced in his career. Here is part of their conversation. These are things that one could not have possibly imagined growing up as a kid in the 1980s in Alberta. What was it like in Alberta in the '80s for you? I was the centre of curiosity because, as a Sikh, I wear a steel bracelet, I have a turban.And, you know, we listened to different music, we spoke a different language at home. So when I was growing up there, for me to find commonality between my classmates and I, it would have taken something pretty drastic. My passion and obsession for hockey, when I reflect back, that's what really helped me create a rapport and friendship with classmates and teachers. And I would actually say that my entire experience growing up as such a patriotic Canadian would have been totally and completely different had it not been for the game of hockey. A lot of this book in some ways is a bit like kind of the history of the Sikh community in Canada. Why did you want to do that? I have so much respect for my parents, their generation and past generations who went through so much for a person like me to be even sitting here today. They had to go through the rough time. They had to go through the major racism and try to fight for opportunities. When I learned that my great grandfather came to Canada in 1907, for me that was revolutionary as a young Canadian, because … when I was hearing racist comments ... I had something that I could say back to them. I could say that I'm just as Canadian as you, and that was literal proof ... just the fact that my parents came here and they were able to maintain their heritage and their faith, despite all the challenges. What were the barriers that were placed in front of you in getting to the place that you're in right now? Kids get asked all the time: What do you want to be when you grow up? And if you say a hockey commentator and you have a turban and it's the 80s, it's the '90s, you might get a laughing response instead of encouragement right away. And I did receive that from other professionals, from some teachers and even people within the CBC. It was a cautionary tale from their end, because they didn't want me to be disappointed, and they wanted me to go for something they felt that I would actually have a shot at. And that would be encouraging me to go behind the scenes for [the] production side or ... in news and not sports. Watch Harnarayan Singh's famous 2016 goal call I don't blame them, but I realize now, just even learning more about what being a person of colour and a visible minority does to your psyche in North America ... it does plant the seed of doubt in your mind. A lot has changed and I'm excited to see the change that we're having. If you don't see yourself, it can be difficult to believe that you're supposed to be there, to your point. But if others don't see people like you there, they don't think that that's a place for you to be in as well. So what changed to get you in a position where you could be not behind the scenes? There are a number of reasons. But the one that's closest to my heart and very near and dear to me is Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi has a big role in changing the mindset of the sports world, especially in Canada. You start off as almost a novelty and people are kind of curious. But then we start realizing that this is growing the game at the grassroots level, and instead of it being a want for the community, it's a need. And then you start seeing the impact in the community, where I go speak to students and they come and tell me that, "We never thought that there would be a role for us on TV. But seeing you on there, it's helping give us inspiration." That's exactly the message I want to provide. You were on air, so you didn't see it at the time, when Don Cherry went on his rant about "these people." And this was around who was wearing poppies and who wasn't wearing poppies. He goes on this rant, which people said was racist, which people said targeted immigrants. What did it mean for you to see something like that? It was a difficult situation, to be honest with you, because Don Cherry was such an icon in the hockey world. But when your own community feels offended, you have to kind of stand up and explain why. When you do create that us versus them mentality, what happens is it creates divisions in society. And all of a sudden, instead of us being united as Canadians, we start looking at ourselves differently just based on how we look. We're seeing the ramifications of the divisiveness ... south of the border and this type of stuff creeping up here is really worrisome to me. Well, the question ends up being whether hockey has changed as much as we want it to have changed. After the [shooting] of Jacob Blake, leagues [stopped] around the world. So the NBA stops its games and players go on strike against play. Happens in the WNBA, happens in Major League Soccer, and the NHL continues to play on. The NHL has a moment of reflection and then the games continue. Eventually, those games were put on hold, but it didn't happen immediately. Does hockey need to catch up in some ways? Hockey's in a very unique situation in comparison to the NBA, WNBA, even Major League Baseball. The difference is that hockey at a professional level is much, much less diverse. Up until now, it's taken players like Evander Kane and Matt Dumba from the Hockey Diversity Alliance. It's been kind of their battle to fight. But I think what we're seeing change is that while this conversation is happening, more and more hockey players are understanding and realizing that this is not just a fight for people of colour. This is a human rights issue. I think the NHL is taking this seriously and sometimes it's better late than never. I know you do a lot of speaking. What do kids ask you when they meet you? First of all, it's this curiosity of like, how is it to be at the arena? How is it to be with the players? Or a lot of times if they're Punjabi kids, they will ask me specifically about something I've said on the air. But my message to them is always encouraging in this sense that if I can do it, you can do it. So make sure whatever your goal and dream is, you go for it. Because we're so lucky to be in a country that we have those opportunities in front of us. Written by Kirsten Fenn. Produced by Idella Sturnio. Source: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-sept-22-2020-1.5732605/how-harnarayan-singh-s-hockey-obsession-shaped-his-life-in-small-town-canada-1.5734081 ************************** Now for the Game Day Thread ************************************ Overview Current Records Vancouver Canucks sport 75GP with 34 - 34 - 7 good for 75 points record and sadly sit outside the playoffs with virtually no hope of making it this year (unless Winnipeg and Calgary suddenly decide to quit playing hockey) LA Kings sport 76GP 44 - 22 - 10 good for 98 points and sadly are in the placeoffs instead of our beloved Vancovuer Canucks Media As always in person is the best, so go buy a ticket followed closely by swilling beer at your favorite watering hold while throwing chicken bones at the TV every time the opposing teams scores. If neither are an option, then we have: TV: Sportsnet Pacific, BSW (USA) Radio: Sportsnet 650, iHeatRadio Matchup Info Our beloved Canucks have played against the LA Kings 290 times and sport a 131-116-32-11 (W-L-T-OTL) record filling the Kings net 932 times while conceding 942 goals against The Canucks have an all time PP% of 20.8 and a PK% of 80.8 Brock Beoser and Ellias Pettersson each have 3 goals against the Kings this year Fun Fact: Trevor Linden, Pavel Bure, Tony Tani, Petri Skriko and Greg Adams have 33, 30, 27, 23 and 18 goals against the LA Kings all time. Alexander Edler, Carl Drundstrom and Blake Lizotte each have a goal against the Canucks this season Fun Fact: Marcel Dionne, Luc Robitaille, Dave Taylor and Bernie Nicholls have 46, 39, 37 and 25 goals against the Vancouver Canucks all time By the Numbers JT Miller has played 74 games and has a 29 - 46 - 75 (G-A-Pts) record on the year with 201 shots on net ... last 10 games is 5 - 10 - 15pts with a +4 Brock Boeser has played 67 games and has a 16 - 36 - 52 (G-A-Pts) record on the year with 147 shots on net ... last 10 games is 4 - 6 - 10pts with a +5 Elias Pettersson has played 73 games and has a 36 - 6- - 96 (G-A-Pts) record on the year with 240 shots on net ... last 10 games is 6 - 8 - 14pts with a +4 Quinn Hughes has played 71 games and has a 7 - 66 - 73 (G-A-Pts) record on the year with 143 shots on net ... last 10 games is 2 - 10 - 12pgs with a +3 Connor Garland has played 74 games and has a 14 - 27 - 41 (G-A-Pts) record on the year with 155 shots on net ... last 10 games is 2 - 4 - 6pts with a -1 Very lazy today (and wasn't expecting to do a GDT) Teams Da Udder Dudes ************************** Now for some Fun Stuff ******************************* Top 10 Pavel Bure Goals - one of my favorite Canucks all time Top 10 Elias Pettersson Goals (Rapidly becoming one of my top 5 Canucks - I have his jersey, the Black Skate one) FIRST EVER CANUCKS GAME - against the LA Kings (radio broadcast) Edited April 2, 2023 by Rocket-68 2 10 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post -Vintage Canuck- Posted April 2, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 2, 2023 Full image: 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarnBurner Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 19 minutes ago, Rocket-68 said: Seems @OldFaithfulCap is too busy today (hey, he can't be expected do all the GDT) so whipping one together. A Random Hockey Story ************************** Now for the Game Day Thread ************************************ Overview Current Records Media Matchup Info By the Numbers Teams ************************** Now for some Fun Stuff ******************************* That looks like Samuel L. Jackson in your sig! Pulp Fiction? Haha! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphouse Canuck Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 18 minutes ago, Muttley said: Realistically we were out of the playoffs by Christmas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kootenay Gold Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 25 minutes ago, Muttley said: (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) Kevin Fiala VS Elias Pettersson 72 points. 96 points. ************************************************** Love these old vids. Linesman Randy Mitton was a high school classmate of mine back in the late 60's. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 The Gavrikov preview game? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Vintage Canuck- Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Vintage Canuck- Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Give me a hard fought 4-3 loss in regulation with Petey getting a point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Vintage Canuck- Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post -DLC- Posted April 2, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 2, 2023 I'M GOING TO THE GAME WOOOO!! Love our team 3 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket-68 Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 (edited) 5 minutes ago, -DLC- said: I'M GOING TO THE GAME WOOOO!! Love our team What section? See if we can spot the rabib Canuck fan spilling beer/wine/pop over everyone around you when JT Miller scores! Edited April 2, 2023 by Rocket-68 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-DLC- Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 13 minutes ago, Rocket-68 said: What section? See if we can spot the rabib Canuck fan spilling beer/wine/pop over everyone around you when JT Miller scores! Not sure...a friend has tickets and we're meeting there. Upper bowl...just listen for me when JT scores!! I'll be wearing my 9 jersey that says: "Hey Deb, you're the very best person on this earth and I'm glad we're bff's forever love JT". Something like that. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket-68 Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 (edited) I don't know about you, or the Team Tankers (which by the way I do hope the Canucks now finish in the 5 - 8 range given playoffs are officially over once Winnipeg gets one more win) ... but I really want the Canucks to win 2 more games this year (Calgary and this one). That "Team Like That" should be a battle cry every time Doughboy steps onto the ice in a Kings Uniform. Feel free to lob beer in his general direction if you are fortunate enough to be sitting within spitting distance of the Kings bench. Just Kidding, verbal abuse is fine (mostly) but please don't physically abuse anyone (no matter how deserving they maybe) at a Canucks game at any time. Edited April 2, 2023 by Rocket-68 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Primal Optimist Posted April 2, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 2, 2023 I know folks want to see a tank job for the best lotto odds, but I am still not interested in that style of sportsmanship, and so I am proud of our Canucks since the deadline: fighting for their own jobs and to prove they belong in the NHL> I feel next year will be a huge step forward for the club and we have a lot of the right pieces: the next advances will be by subtraction. Trade before the season starts and a buyout will move out two defenders that eat a lot of cap space. We already have a new Dman to more than fill those shoes and a free agent attraction isn't unlikely this summer. Go Team!!! Keep up the winning culture. (even the best odds of winning the new shiny kid are 75% against winning the lotto so imo not worth the culture impact to lose for) Also: for those interested in trying keeper league fantasy hockey that is based right here on CDC, send me a message, I will gladly answer any questions you may have. Two openings in GML Fantasy Keeper League Hockey. 2 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Vintage Canuck- Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 14 minutes ago, Primal Optimist said: the next advances will be by subtraction. Trade before the season starts and a buyout will move out two defenders that eat a lot of cap space. We already have a new Dman to more than fill those shoes and a free agent attraction isn't unlikely this summer. Agreed that the new advances will happen through subtraction, but the buyout is a terrible option IMO. Besides Myers, you're also looking at moving on from one of the wingers that we have. A quick look at the upcoming UFA class shows that it's going to be a barren wasteland. Moving on from Myers and one of the Boeser/Garland/Beauvillier trio would open up 10-12 million minus any deals that come back our way. That's plenty of money to bank some space and bring in a 3rd line center and one more d-man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryElf Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 I usually cheer for the team regardless even though I'm on team tank, but my Fantasy team has Korpisalo and my opponent has Demko. Go *barf* Kings *barf* Go 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Vintage Canuck- Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket-68 Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 Meanwhile, in Russia, Sergei and Vanya are getting ready to try out for the Canucks next season ... bodes well for toughness, less so on brains ... ummm ... ahhh ... perhaps I can post here if enough clamor for it, LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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