The Athletic Hockey Show - Jason Robertson’s early Hart Trophy credentials, Hockey Night in Canada’s Harnarayan Singh joins the show, surprise teams of the NHL season, Jack Adams Winner of the Week, Multiple Choice Madness, and more

Episode Date: November 28, 2022

The Athletic Hockey Show is back with a brand new Monday edition as Ian and Julian discuss Rachel Doerrie’s alleged discrimination by the Vancouver Canucks, which team other than the New Jersey Devils has been the biggest surprise of the season so far, Jason Robertson as an early MVP candidate for the Dallas Stars, and more.Plus, Hockey Night in Canada’s Harnarayan Singh joins the show for a great interview about his journey through the world of hockey and to discuss his book “One Game at a Time”, and the guys close things out with this week’s Jack Adams Winner of the Week and Multiple Choice Madness.Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowThe Athletic’s Black Friday deal ends today, so make sure to get your 1-year subscription to The Athletic for just $1 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. Welcome to it. It is your Monday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. It's Ian Medicine, Julian McKenzie with you, as always, to kick off your week in the world of hockey. Coming up, we're going to have a really fun, in-depth conversation with Hockey Night in Canada's Harner Ryan Singh. We're going to talk about his new book, his passion for the game, his path to the broadcasting booth. It's going to be a lot of fun having Harner Ryan on. And you know what, Julian, this is the first athletic hockey show because I guess we only observe American holidays around here.

We haven't had a show. We haven't had a podcast in days around here, right? Yeah. My Thursday show didn't even happen. We're all Canadian and they're like, no, no, no, take the day. I'm like, okay. So we got a lot of ground to cover here, man. We got a lot of ground to cover.

I really appreciate it having the Thursday off watching football for a good chunk of it while also simultaneously trying to make sure that, you know, nothing, there's no games on the Thursday either. It's one thing for the athletic hockey show to not be doing anything. The NHL just said like, nah, bra, NFL, you're good. Have the Thanksgiving Thursday to yourself. Oh, but the NHL can't have a game on thanks. Like, they do it right on the Friday.

They've got a bunch of afternoon games, but they can't go. You don't, are you suggesting that they should play a game on like the Thursday night? No. I don't think they can. I don't think they can. They'd lose ratings-wise. Like, they get clobbered, especially with the Vikings played on that late Thursday.

Like, actually, all three games ended within one score. The NHL would have been clobbered. No disrespect. They would have been. Yeah. And plus, like, the attendance at the game, like, I just don't know where you would, how would you, the only way it would work for a Thursday night game in the NHL

on Thanksgiving weekend would be an all Canadian matchup, right? Yeah, I guess so. That's how you'd have to sell it. You go Toronto, you go Toronto Montreal or, you know, Toronto Edmonton or something that you try and sizzle it a little bit, right? Like with a... But even then, right? Like, Thanksgiving in the States, like everyone is at home, they're with their families,

they have the TV on, they're able to watch all these games for the entirety of the And again, especially if they're anything like what they were last Thursday, where they're all good, you're going to have people glued to the TV the whole day. Yeah. And all Canadian matchups, like, it's still Thursday for us, right? So people will go to work. It's just a random Thursday for us. It's a regular Thursday. So even if you do, like, all right, Toronto, Montreal on a Thursday night, like, yeah, like, people will watch and people will do it in.

But, like, I wonder how much pageantry you can really give it because it's just a, Thursday. It's, it's a Thursday. It's a Thursday evening. But it's a regular Thursday for us. Like, why aren't we, I guess my point is, why aren't we just playing games, uh, you know, why aren't we playing? Like, why aren't the Leafs and the Habs playing? It's a random Thursday. It's still, it's a fair point too. I mean, if you're, even if you're not thinking of it as like a, as a counter programming to, to what Thanksgiving offers for the NFL, you could still just play games and, And yeah, just have all the Canadian teams play against each other. Maybe you could throw in an extra battle of Alberta game.

Right. That's a thought. There's only three of them this year. There's only one more on December 27th. I know I've brought it up a bunch of times on a bunch of different podcasts, but it's absolutely ridiculous that there's only been three games, and the last one will be before the new year. Like, yeah.

I'm with you. I, look, I think the problem is the NFL a few years ago added that late game on Thanksgiving night. Like there was a window of time where you could have, you could have played NHL games at 7 p.m. and had the window to yourself.

But then the NFL is like, no, no, no, we're going to take that window too, right? I didn't even, I forgot about that. I didn't even realize that. I've just been used to seeing two, three, like three games for as long as much as long as.

That's only been like the last four years maybe or five years. I think before that it was only, it was only a Detroit game at one, a Dallas game at 4.30, and that was it. There was never an 8 o'clock game until about, I don't know,

I feel like it was only, within the last five years. Wow. I never really thought about that. So the window was, anyway, I think I'm with you, Thursday of American Thanksgiving should be all Canadian matchups.

You pick two games, you pick Battle of Alberta, Toronto, Montreal, whatever, Battle of Ontario, and you play, there'd be huge ratings in Canada for those games. The one thing I will say, though, I would feel bad for American players who play on those Canadian teams

who get to live in a world where they could at least be with their friends, families on Thanksgiving, however they have it. That's the one, I mean, I don't know, like, yeah, I mean, then again, I mean, athlete, the world of an athlete's like you're used to, you have to be conditioned to the fact that you're going to lose out on holidays and, and significant periods of time over a calendar year. That, that does happen. But I think it, I think it's okay for me to feel some sympathy at the idea that, like, you know, if that does happen, it would come at the expense of some American players and them spending Thanksgiving with their

families. Where's our sympathy? Canadian teams play on Canadian Thanksgiving all the time. That is true. I don't see where's the... That is true. Right? Anyway, just a thought. Look, we got a lot of ground to cover, like I said.

We haven't had an athletic hockey show in days. And there's a little bit of news that came out on the weekend, Julian. And I think when the Vancouver connects parted ways with Rachel Dory a couple of months ago, there's a lot of people wondering, like, hey, what on earth happened here? Dory, if you're not familiar with this situation, Rachel Dory was hired by the Vancouver Canucks earlier in 2022. Originally hired kind of in the analytics side of things, was moved over to Bruce Boudreau's coaching staff and was supposed to be, you know, kind of a video coach. And that was in September, Bruce Boudreau said, look, we're bringing her over. And all of a sudden, Rachel Dory was mysteriously let go by the Vancouver Canucks.

And people were wondering what on earth happened. Well, on the weekend, Julian, Rachel tweeted out a link to a complaint that she's filed against the Vancouver Connects organization, alleging discrimination by the organization when she was let go in the fall. And the crux of this story is according to the complaint. And I'll keep this very factual because this is an active complaint. It hasn't been resolved in any sort of, you know, court of law or anything like that. So everything that is out there is alleged. Okay. and we want to make that very clear.

Everything that Rachel Dory has said is alleged hasn't been proven in court or tested in court. But according to this, Rachel Dory says when I interviewed with the Vancouver Canucks, I told them I was up front. I suffer from PTSD. I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks and some depression and mental health illnesses.

And she made that very clear. And what she is saying is that when the Vancouver Canucks letter ago, it kind of felt like Emily Kastenge, who was essentially above her in the org chart. Dory says that Kastengey tells her, I don't know if you have what it takes to do the job mentally. And the Kinnock's were apparently upset that Rachel Dory used her own Instagram account to repost a story in which Kinnock's head coach Bruce Boudreau lauded her work and complimented work.

The connects are saying, you shouldn't be posting that article and you shouldn't be speaking with the media. Dori is saying, I never spoke with the media. Now, did I text with media people on the side? Yeah, absolutely. But I never officially spoke to the media. And anyway, this whole thing has really sort of come out on the weekend. The Canucks are denying it.

Kastengay and the Kinnaks are saying that what Rachel Dory alleges is, quote, absolutely not true. And everything that she says is false and inaccurate. And so they say that we offered the necessary resources, support, and opportunities. We acted in good faith. This is a legal matter, and we will respond to the appropriate time. Certainly a volatile situation, but it is now out in the public as to why Rachel Dory allegedly parted way or the Vancouver Connects part of ways with Rachel Dory. And this is a very messy and complicated situation.

Yeah. It seemed like it was even before the tweet even came out. We were left in the dark about why Rachel Dory was no longer with the organization. But this, what's come out now at least is revealing something that happened. It was just a very bizarre situation. I'm going to try not to editorialize here. The one thing I will say, it's a, not to broaden the scope a little bit, but imagine being someone who cares very much about representation when it comes to the National Hockey League and the

efforts it could do to go beyond this sport for just old white men. And in the span of about a month and change, we see a prominent black agent represent a white kid who berated a black teenager while trying to rehab his image to enter the National Hockey League. And it is alleged now that a woman. who was trying to make their way up in an organization alleged, strictly, we have to emphasize those alleged, may have been mistreated by another prominent woman in an NHL front office.

Like, not to broaden the scope a little bit, but that's the first thing I thought of when this came out with Rachel Dory, because it's just, it's a bit of a tough situation to see when it's your own people hitting you the way that it seems to appear for Rachel Dory on this matter. It's a very difficult situation, and I can understand that a lot of people have been able to show empathy for what Rachel has been going through.

I don't know what this does for her reputation for working on other NHL teams, but this is very messy. Not to mention the fact that this is for an organization, the Vancouver Canucks, that is already, at least on the side of their owners, the Aquilini family, at least I forget,

forgive me. forget the name of the first name of the owner, but he's dealing with legal troubles of his own that were brought up before the season even began and the team on the ice, which might even be the least of their problems by comparison, not having a good start to the year. A lot of mess when it comes to the Vancouver Canucks.

Yeah, Francisco Aquilini, right? Francisco Aquilini is going through legal troubles. Yeah. You know, what I'll say too on this, and again, everything is alleged, not proven in a court or anything like that. What I find disappointing, though, is that when you see people coming at Rachel and saying,

why are you doing this or you're never going to work in the NHL again if you air your dirty laundry like this, I'm a believer that if this did happen, then you do need to shine a light on it. You can't just say, I'm going to walk away quietly because this is the problem with hockey, right? Is that anytime that there is mistreatment, you're expected to sweep it under the rug and be a good soldier.

So if this did happen, I'm going to say big capital I if. If this happened, then I think this is the type of thing that needs to be, you know, exposed and talked about in an open manner. I don't think that this stuff needs to be swept under the rug. But we'll see how this all plays itself out. You know, I think you bring up a great point. What does this do for her reputation moving forward?

You know, I'd like to think that if this is, if she's proven to be right in all of this, I would like to think that this doesn't hurt her chances of working again in the National Hockey League, right? And also what does this do for people who, as she says, are going through or just in situations where they're dealing with PTSD or any other things that may impede them mentally or just emotionally, right? Like, what does that do? Like, what are, I mean, the Vancouver Canucks say that they offered Rachel services and say they operate in good faith. if this ends up being true, does that get revisited? That might be a minor thing to revisit when this is all resolved, but I have questions about that.

No, absolutely. And again, it just came out on Sunday. It's certainly an evolving story, but the connects are saying that it's all false. Rachel Dory is saying it's not, and we'll see where that goes. But that's certainly a story that a lot of people are monitoring. I mentioned this because we last week,

we didn't have the Thursday, the Friday shows because of American Thanksgiving, but American Thanksgiving, Julian, is always a natural kind of demarcation point in the schedule. Most teams have played about 20 games. You say to yourself, if you get to this particular point in the season and you're in a playoff spot or not, it's kind of telling. As we sit here, look, let's all agree that New Jersey is the biggest surprise, right? Like, I don't, I think a lot of people thought the devils would be good and improve.

I don't think they saw them being this, like, absolute wagon of a team that was just playing like 800 hockey and, okay? So let's take the devil. out of the equation for his second. Yeah. If I asked you who's the next biggest surprise team in a good, let's start in a good way here. Not the bad surprise. Like, not the teams are bad, but the teams that are like, wow, I'm really shocked that they're doing what they're doing.

I can give you four options here because I think Winnipeg is punching above their weight from what we thought they would be. I remember they stripped the captaincy and from Wheeler and we thought they were going to be a mess. They got a new head coach. Well, guess what? They're playing really well. Boston is being off to a historically good start at home.

Dallas is in first place. Seattle is in a playoff spot in year or two of their franchise. If I asked you, take the devils out of the equation, we're past the Thanksgiving mark. Who's the next biggest surprise? What's your answer? So my pick is Dallas because of, and here's the thing, Winnipeg, it's funny you say they're punching above their weight.

I feel like they should have been in this position a long time ago and they found a way to actually play to their potential. in spite of the fact that they took the C away from Blake Wheeler. They deserve props for that. Boston, Boston Bruins fans were listening. I just want to let y'all know something. I'm sorry. I did not.

I really wrote y'all off. There's a really funny meme going around where whenever someone like slight somebody, they'll post this photo of Shaq from this quote from inside the NBA on TNT where he's like, I apologize. I was not as familiar with your game. I kind of feel like that right now because I really thought that all the injuries that the Boston Bruins had incurred to start off the year was going to put them in a position where they were going to start off badly and they were not going to be able to recover from it. But what I did not account for is the fact that the Boston Bruins clearly have a reserve of adamantium skeletons and vibranium and all those players who were supposed to be injured and gone for how many months at a time. I'm looking at you, Charlie McAvoy, Brad Marshall, Taylor Hall.

they all found ways to come back and they're all being really healthy. But really when they're all really healthy, they're supposed to be a good team. Dallas I'm picking because of the fact that last year, they kind of, they were, they were among the bottom ranked teams when it came to playoff teams. Jake Ottinger had his breakout party in that first round against Calgary. And a lot of people really felt like, okay, this guy could be the guy to build on. It wasn't for these last few games that he's played, he'd be among the best in terms of goals against average and save percentage.

really off to a good start with the Dallas Stars. We're going to talk more about Jason Robertson, but dude might be the hottest player in the NHL right now and an early MVP candidate. But this is a Dallas Stars team that's been carried by Tyler Segan and Jamie Ben for the last how many years, right? Jamie Ben is on pace to have his best year in like five years. And Tyler Seggis is not necessarily having a bad year either.

Like, it's not just the younger players who are playing well. and we've got to include Muir Heisken in that, but even some of their older players are also stepping up as well. That's what I think makes Dallas's success so far this season all the more surprising. You know what? I think I'm going to go Seattle for me because I think the crack in last year, what was the whole thought around the cracking last year?

My God, you screwed up the expansion draft. They did. Or what did? Or looked as if he did. Well, guess what? In year two, they're very competitive. And they're sitting in a playoffs. spot. And again, it's, it's early in the year, but at the first natural checkpoint of the season,

the Seattle Cracken on a playoff team. And, and remember when they added Martin Jones to the mix as their goalie, what was our thought as an entire hockey community? We're like, oh, yeah, that'll help the situation. You add, you know, and, you know, again, are his numbers great this year? No, I think he's got a safe percentage just around 900. But like, yeah, I'm looking enough. He's 11, 4 and 2. Like, that's pretty good. And, and they're playing. what appears to be a pretty good brand of hockey right now. And Maddie Baneers, right now, if you had to call the Calder Trophy race right now,

Maddie Baneers and Logan Thompson in Vegas would be the two favorites. I mean, Benares is almost at a point of game pace. The Cracken to me, if you had told me that Seattle would be sitting in a playoff spot at American Thanksgiving, I don't know that I would have believed it. But here we are, and they're pretty good. And I think I'm surprised by that.

So I'm taking them as a surprise team. I'll say this too. Like I mean Martin Jones and Philip, I mean, Philip Grubauer from the Colorado, Philip Grubauer to the Seattle, Philip Grubauer, significantly different.

So I'm sure a lot of people looked at Jones and Grubauer as potential tandem and we're, we're cringing a little bit. But yeah, I think the Seattle Cracken have very much surprised. They're a fast team. They have skill up and down their lineup. They're capable of getting production.

I am very happy at the fact that I change my Calder trophy prediction from Owen Power to Maddie Baneers when I did because I'm looking real good for making that switch when I did because Manny Baneers is a bad man, leading all rookies and scoring last time I checked. He's the real deal. You know, you mentioned we wanted to chat a little bit more about Jason Robertson. And I don't know that the average hockey fan, I look, listen, if you're in a hockey pool and you really pay attention to hockey, I think you obviously know how good Jason Robertson has been in the last couple of years. But You start to look at his, like, look at the scoring leaders right now in the NHL.

He's second in the league in scoring. He's a point behind Connor McDavid for the league lead. I don't think enough people realize that we are talking about a guy that has absolutely elbowed his way into the conversation of one of the 10 best players in the game right now. And I don't, look, is he in that stratosphere of McDavid, Matthews, and McKinnon? I'm going to say no. But whatever your next tier is and whoever's in that next tier of players, Jason Robertson is in there. And I'm blown away.

Julie, this guy basically missed training camp. It was a contractual impasse that it looked like he was in with the stars. We didn't think he was going to sign. They bridge him. It's a four-year deal at just under $8 million per. That's looking like a mega bargain now. I mean, are the stars going to look back and think, you know what, we should have just ponied up?

We should have just paid the man. We should have, we should have just paid the man on a seven or eight year deal because it feels like this guy is a mega star who's going to be on the doorstep of free agency at the end of his four year deal. And knocking, I think he'll have one more year left as an RFA, but then he can walk. This feels like maybe a mistake by Dallas now in hindsight, because Robertson is a top 10 player in this game right now. I mean, I'll say for the contract, let's have him play through year two, year three, and then see how the production goes.

But also, he's on a 15-game point streak. And I think he's had like 28 points in that span. Like, he, he is, it's funny. Like, you're talking about where he could be ranked in terms of, you know, in terms of players and where he should be seen. At the beginning of the year, I think in terms of the athletics player tiers, he's kind of in like tier. 3C. Like I wonder if you're Dom, Don Lus Chisn, or our good buddy,

do you bump him up? Like I would love to know from his and and Shana's perspective, Shanea Goldman, who both those guys, both those two are great when it comes to numbers and advanced stats. I would love to know how they feel about Jason Robertson

and if his play, the way he's elevated himself, at least, is worthy of him being bumped up in player tiers, or if they're going to say something like, oh, his shooting percentage is just like unsustainable, and it'll come down.

And yeah, look, I mean, it's not a point streak that he's on right now. It will eventually, you'll eventually see some regression in his play. But dude is very much an early early MVP candidate.

And the fact that he's on a really good Dallas Stars team, a team that, again, was in a wild card spot last year, and they've turned themselves into a really good team this year. At least they've been off to a good start. Like, I don't know. Like, I think he's definitely worthy of admiration and I would love to see him bumped up into another tier of player. You know what, though?

His shooting percentage is pretty much, like, he's kind of like, you know, Kyle Connor in Winnipeg was a guy that, you know, he came in. He was kind of always shooting at 15% and the first couple years of people like, well, I don't know if he's a 15% sure. Well, he is. He's consistently a 15% shooter. And Robertson was shot around 18% last year at around 18% this year. Like those are where the elite players are up in that. in that district, right? The Matthews and the Robertsons and the, you know,

Kyle Conner, like the guys that consistently can be 35, 40 goals scorers are in that range. And I don't think that this guy's a fluke. And, you know, I love this stat that was put out today. My colleague in Ottawa, Steve Lloyd, who hosts the radio show in Ottawa, Steve tweeted out that with Robertson's second in league scoring right now, how crazy is this, Julian? The top, as of Monday morning, the top seven point. getters in the NHL are from seven different countries.

That's remarkable. Like, think about, so it's McDavid, obviously from Canada at number one, Robertson from the United States at number two, David Pusternak from the Czech Republic at three, dry-siddle from Germany at four, Eric Carlson from Sweden at five, Nikita Kucharov from Russia at six, and Miko Rantonan from Finland at number seven.

Like, that's amazing to seven different countries for the top seven scores in the game. That's really cool. That's a really unique stat. There's another unique stat I also want to, well, maybe it's not unique, but this, I just thought this was really cool to bring up with regards to player production and also keeping on the theme of Jason Robertson, who among, so he has 18 points at 5 on 5. Like, there are only two other players in the National Hockey League at this moment right now

who have more points at five on five than Jason Robertson. And for me, looking at those two names, they're playing really well this year, but it also kind of feels like a throwback to like a couple of years back. Sidney Crosby and Eric Carlson at 20 points respectively have more points at five on five than Jason Robertson. If this was something we were looking at a couple of years ago,

we'd be like, oh yeah, of course. They're the best players in the world. like they would do it. Carlson is having a career resurgence in his early, in his 30s. Sidney Crosby, you know, we look at McDavid and Matthews and all these players. Cindy Crosby is still

one of the best players in the world. Even if he gets older with age, he's still playing at a very high level. It does kind of just feel like a throwback in a way. But I'll say this too, like Jason Robertson playing at 14 minutes, averaging that time on ice at 5 on 5 as well. My good buddy,

Chris Johnston from the Chris Johnston show, which you could also listen to on the athletic app, was saying that he placed like five minutes less than like Austin Matthews does at five on five, which is pretty impressive when you really think about it. Yeah. And one more thing on Robertson, you talk about it being a throwback to like 10, you know, Carlson and Crosby and their dominance from a decade ago. Think about this. Jason Robertson, when Eric Carlson won his first Norris trophy, Jason Robertson was 12 years old.

Oh my God. That's kind of crazy, right? That's kind of crazy. And Carlson, by the way, Carlson, I saw this, set a record for the most points ever by a Sharks player in a single month. Had 21 points in November. Now, think about that for a second. Like, they had Thornton in his prime and he was racking up.

Eric Carlson just had the most productive month ever by a Sharks player. That's crazy. He's 32. He's 32 years old. I'll just, I'll add this too. I think I might have screwed up the time thing with, with five on five between Matthews and and Robertson. but like, look, he's out producing,

he's out producing Austin Matthews at five on five. That much is for sure. I just won't that clarifying. Sorry about that. No, no, all good. It's not as egregious as you are. I don't know how much I paid for a hamburger. Let's move on.

Oh, my God. Let that one go, please. Let that one go, sir. All right, Julian, I got to tell you, we're pretty stoked for this next guest. You know, I said the last week, or a couple of weeks ago, it's book season. in the hockey world.

As we get closer to Christmas time, you see a lot of hockey books. And we love kind of, you know, promoting some of the different books that are out there. But this one is one that we, you and I are pretty excited about. And it's Hunter Ryan Singh's new book,

one game at a time. And everybody, I think, can appreciate Harne, Haran's journey to being one of the premier faces and voices of hockey in this country. And you and I were pretty excited. I think it was two weeks ago. go when we said we got to get Horn Ryan on, right?

Yeah, it was about two weeks ago, and we wanted him, I think, the week before, it didn't work out that way. So the fact that we have him now, we're just really, really excited. Honestly, like, getting to meet him, he's like, one of the good dudes in this game. There are a lot of people who are pretty nice and really cool to deal with in hockey, but, like, Har and Ryan generally comes across as a really nice person. Like, he's really cool. I'm pulling off the facade real well, aren't I? Yeah.

We love it. Hey man, thanks, Hunter Ryan Singh. Thanks for joining us on the Monday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. We're looking forward to a fun conversation with you. And Julian and I are huge fans of you and what you're doing in the booth for hockey night. So this is a big thrill for us to have you on the podcast. Well, I really appreciate the kind words. And I'll start off by saying, Ian, you've been so supportive just from day one.

Like, I can remember early on stages of my career with Hockey Night Punjabi. And you were always, you know, supporting on social. and you could just feel it, right? And I appreciate that. And then Julian, it's great to have you in the Calgary market. It is great to meet you. And like I was saying earlier, it feels like I've known you my entire life.

You have that positive vibe as well. And it's great. So, yeah, this is awesome. And it's cool to have all three of us on on a hockey podcast. I'd say that that's pretty spectacular as well. This is true, man. Hockey's supposed to be for everyone. And these are actual bobits when it's actually.

speaking to its word. I guess just to start, like, what made you want to write this book? How did this all come together? Yeah, you know, that's an interesting question because I think I have to take it back to, and you guys, you know, this might resonate with you. When you've been told so many times along the journey, I know for me growing up, I was told so many times that me becoming an NHL commentator, a broadcaster a hockey name Canada it would all be impossible.

And you know, when you hear that cautionary tale from all sorts of different people and all sorts of facets of stages of life, it plants this seed of doubt in your mind. And sometimes when an opportunity even falls into your lap or an opportunity comes

your way, when you have that seed of doubt in your mind, you know, it It makes you wonder, you know, why is this opportunity coming to me? And is this going to be successful? Like, is it something that I should even jump at? And when the opportunity to write a book was offered to me from the publishers, McClellan and Stewart, my initial reaction was like, oh my goodness,

it was this worry. Like, if I agree to this, are there going to be enough people who buy the book? Like, because you're walking into it as a minority. You're walking into it as someone who, you know, I love hockey, I love Canada, but I've had to justify my Canadianness so many times, you know, even to this day, I've had to come into the hockey world as an outsider and prove myself to the hockey world. So all of a sudden this opportunity comes, and sorry to get into the heavy stuff right away, but, you know, the publishers, you know, present this opportunity to raise.

write a book and it's like you want me to write a book about me like are you sure people are going to buy this like are you sure you know what you're talking about and and then so I actually I actually kind of declined at first but then when we started chatting more we were we were on the same wavelength and that wavelength is to inspire and so this book is a very positive Canadian story but it's a diverse hockey Canadian story where it's it's my love for hockey but it's defying the odds of it in this industry and all the roller coaster rides of, you know, getting there and improving my commitment and my love for hockey, but also showing that if I can do it, anybody can do it, right? And there's a lot of laughs along the way, the passion for Gretzky, you know,

there's a chapter called hiding from Bob Cole. There's a lot of really crazy stuff that's happened over the years where I paid for my own flights to be a part of Hockey Night Punjabi. And so from all that, from the childhood love of hockey to where, you know, I'm standing with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 with their Stanley Cup playoff championship in front of 400,000 people, it's like, how did this happen, right? And so that's kind of the journey and that's what the book is about. And that's why how it kind of came together is that let's show that there are diverse hockey stories out there. And it's not just a hockey story. It's a Canadian story and I hope to be able to inspire others. And, and, you know, I'm talking about what it means to actually be truly Canadian for my perspective.

Yeah. And you know what? I think, Horan Ryan, for anybody and Julian is of the same, in the same boat, look, the three of us are people of color in a hockey world. And I can tell you, I remember specifically, like, I go back, like, I broke into this industry in the early 2000s. And I think you could count on one hand. I think it was just me and Farhand Lollji in terms of, like, you. Like just, you know, brown skin guys on your screen talking about hockey. And I'll never forget.

This one really hurt. It's the one that sticks with me. I'm in Nashville to do. I'm doing sports net. I'm the rinkside reporter, senators and predators, like some random game. And I'm getting ready to do the broadcast down by the rink. And they're doing this tour through the, what is it, Bridgestone Arena, whatever, Bridgestone Arena. And this guy comes, they're doing a tour and they're like, oh, and this is where the visiting TV sets up.

And this guy looks at me and says, you're the, you're the hockey reporter? You? And he's laughing. And he's having a great laugh. He's like, really? You're not the baseball guy. You're the hockey. He couldn't get.

He was laughing so hard. And I couldn't get over. Like, what the hell is so funny about me being the rink side reporter? And I'm sure that, that you have dealt with that a lot over the years. And it's hard, like you said, the one thing that jumped out to me that you were saying there was you're repeatedly having to justify your Canadianness. And there's nothing more Canadian than hockey. And so when we're put into this world, it's almost like we should be thankful that we're like kind of allowed a seat at the table. And it can become very frustrating.

This is why I think the whole thing of, you know, representation matters is really important and why your book really matters. What I hope, Horn Ryan, is your book ends up in the, you know, under the Christmas tree for thousands of kids of color or women, young girls that have a dream of being in hockey. And they need to understand that there is a path to do it, that people like that look like the three of us can get into this sport. You know what, Ian, it's you hit the nail on the head because if people like ourselves, like when I was a kid and I, every kid's asked, what do you want to be when you grow up? right? And I'm saying I want to be a hockey commentator. And initially it's met with, you know, oh, that's cute or it's like, you know, it's an innocent little kid. And then you start to see the reality of the world and you start to experience racism. You start to experience bullying in school.

You start to get messages from people who are professionals in their own lives. And they're saying that, you know, you should pick something realistic because the chances of this happening are slim to none. It was such a barrier, right? And you referenced yourself and Farhan. I remember those days when you were on SportsNet and covering the senators on TV and you've done a hell of a job in your career radio wise and now with the athletic. I mean, it was significant. I because we were, it was so rare, right? And forget about diversity on television or radio.

Like think about sports. It was like sports is always like further down the road. Like, you know, diversity representation. All of these topics around. the world, they come to fruition in other spots first. And then sports is like, you know, usually later to the game, right? So I'm looking at the world now through my kids' eyes. And it is, they are seven and five years old. And nobody can tell them that this, they don't have a chance anymore at this. Right. If they want to be a part of the hockey world, they want to be on radio and TV or in

media, they have examples of like you, Julian, like you, Ian. in like myself, like so many women who are now finally covering the game, you know, think about it. It wasn't that long ago where we had people saying that women shouldn't be covering hockey and going into the dressing rooms and all that kind of BS, right? We've made progress. But then again, like you mentioned, Ian, those are moments when you're standing there ready to cover that game as a ringside reporter.

Those are moments that remind us we still have a lot of work to do. And yes, I get those moments. And, you know, unfortunately, yes, the face-to-face ones are the ones that are the most shocking. But then the ones on social media, they are so much so that I had to make the decision to change my settings. Because it's like, how many times do I want to hear like, oh, shave your terrorist beard off before you talk hockey with us? Or, you know, if you want to join our culture, you need to, you know, you need to change who you are and all this kind of stuff. And it's like, I want to do such a good enough job to dwindle that. I know it's a minority, but it's sad that those people have those opinions.

And it's a reality that we face. And it's actually coming out more and more. I felt like we'd made a lot of progress as a society before, but it seems to be coming out with a vengeance. And so we have a lot of work to do. But I aim to do that in a positive way. And so, you know, that's the thing is that sports can unite. And, you know, I think my journey proves that for sure.

Absolutely. But before I get to the next question, I want to ask, like, it's kind of hitting me now, like, as a younger person just starting to make the way in the industry, thinking of people who looked like me in terms of inspirations, like, I could really only count on, like, one hand, like people, like black people who look like me when I was younger growing up, thinking, okay, like, I should look at this person. There was like a much joke, is it sports columnist named Randy Phillips, who I would read his stuff from time to time. When I was watching SportsNet, Jason Portwondo was a long time anchor there. And Ian Mendez, and you know what's funny? You were glowing up Ian Mendez all that time. Every time I bring up all of his stuff, he gets mad at me because I make him feel old.

You found a way to big him up and not have him get mad at you. But to my point is, it's like in terms of persons of color, or people who even look remotely close like me. Like Ian is part of that. But at the same time, like, even though there were few and far in between, because of that, I was looking at, you know, white guys as inspirations for, for, you know, me wanting to get into the industry. I'm curious from your vantage point, who were you looking at in terms of inspirations for wanting to get into media? Yeah, that's a, that's a great question. I had a, yeah, I had a lot of white guys that I was looking up to. I mean, first and foremost, as a as a the seed for me that plant that was planted for my love for hockey to blossom was

Wayne Gretzky as a so I'm moving away from broadcasters just to explain I grew up in in Alberta during the heyday of the Edmonton Oilers and you know Calgary flames were a pretty pretty damn good team in those days too they should have ended up winning a lot more Stanley Cups had it not been for Gretzky and the Oilers. But I mean, I found that Wayne Gretzky the way he carried himself, his humility as a player, the respect he gave to Gordy Howe every time he broke one of his records, the shoutouts that Gretzky continuously gave to his mom and dad whenever he accomplished something. Like for me as a kid who was like, you know, our family is, faith is close to our family and seeing Gretzky carry himself that way.

it was actually really cool because it was like the stuff that the values and virtues my parents were trying to teach me. I was seeing some of those through his, just his, the way he carried himself. And that was, that was really cool to see along with him being like, you know, the best player ever to put on a pair of skates. But so, yeah, so, so Gretzky was somebody like as a player that I was like, oh my goodness, like that's amazing. But I knew I wasn't going to be an NHL player, right? So my parents didn't skate. They came here in the 60s. I loved hockey. I played a ton of ball hockey.

My hockey card collection could have rivaled any kid in Canada at that time. I was obsessing over all of the facts on the backs of the hockey cards. I had so many jersey numbers memorized. I would write zero to 99 on a sheet of paper and just memorize as many players to their numbers or all of the team names, their coaches, GMs. I was just doing that in my classroom. And it was hockey that was the icebreaker between so many classmates and I, because I was showing up in a small town of Brooks, Alberta, just 10,000 people as the only person for my community. And there I am with a turban.

We spoke Punjabi at home. We ate our East Indian food at home. You know, we listened to our Punjabi music and sick music. And like, there was so many differences, right? So you show up and I have a name that's 10 letters long and four vowels. and I knew I was an outsider. But when I reflect back on it, if it wasn't for hockey,

I would have had a very drastically different experience in that small town because hockey, you know, people who are kind of like, okay, who is this guy, what's he about? And they were kind of maybe apprehensive. When they realized I was obsessed with hockey, they were like, oh, that's cool.

And then it just opened this door, right? This rapport for us. But in terms of broadcasters, there was, I mean, Bob Cole for sure is one of those guys. Like it was just, he was calling the big moments, right? The Stanley Cup finals. Locally in Calgary, there is a fellow named Ed Whalen in, you might remember him. And he started off every broadcast with, hello, hockey fans.

And if Calgary Flames have their media gondola and their media lounge named after Edwell. And Julian, you see that now every single day. Yes. So he was a guy who I kind of watched. He was probably the first play-by-play broadcaster I ever met. And I talk about that story in the book because it was actually interesting. because it made me realize, even though I'm not blaming him, but it was an experience for me as a six-year-old that made me conscious of how I, you know, I was, how I looked as a member of my faith in the mainstream society, right? It's just, it's interesting, right?

There's, that's just how the world is. You live and learn and there's life experience. And so, yeah, those were the types of guys. But, I mean, nowadays, even for me, Chris Cutbert has been such a huge mentor for me. he's been so kind and generous with his time and I've learned so much from watching him and being able to pick his brain. So, you know, those are the those are the ones that I would say stand out. But there have been other non-play-by-play broadcasters who have also been so beneficial to me

along my journey. And I would have to give a shout out to Ron McLean and to Kelly Rudy. Like those guys have gone above and beyond for me. And I am forever grateful for what they've done. whether standing up for me behind the scenes or giving providing me with so much guidance and they're busy guys but they still always you know took out time for me and so I'm I'm as I said forever indebted to to what they've done for me. Ah, I'm glad you mentioned Cuthbert. One of the great voices of hockey in the last 30 years or the great human beings in this in this game. And I

wish more people knew that about he's so modest. But he's a phenomenal phenomenal person. so supportive of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, young reporters in this industry, because I think he, he remembers where he came from. And, um, what I want to ask you, though, is, were you know, I want to listen to what the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, you're saying so I can I can learn from them like what was your what was your way to kind of hone your craft without maybe thousands of people listening and watching to to every word that you're saying so you know yeah that's a great question to my family will tell you that when I was a kid like elementary school age they would they wish they had a remote for me because my family would be trying to watch the hockey game but

I would be acting out my own players I had this whole imaginary world even like my toy cars would line up and be the parking lot for the arena. And I would play out the role of a player, coach, a general manager, team owner and do the media side as well and just fake everything. And that's why even on the, even on the cover of the book, there's a picture of me with a toy microphone.

And that's that toy microphone where I used to, you know, pretend to do all my hockey media stuff. So they, so I was, I was loud as a kid. And then as I grew up, I was a listener.

I, um, I, um, I, I, um, I loved listening to the voice of the game, and I wanted to be a voice of the game, right? And so it's those big moments, right? Like, you know, Jim Houston, great save, Luongo. It's so simple, yet it was, it's iconic for him.

It's, you know, Cuthbert, the way he went through with his, his, the golden goal with Sidney Crosby. And, you know, it's those types of moments that you watch out for, that what are, what is the commentator saying? in that moment where it's the climax of the game and he's delivering it to the audience. So I was a I was a listener, but, but Ian, I also had no idea if this opportunity was ever going to come, right? So it's almost, um, like I was, I ended up working at TSN as a, as an intern. And then from there, CBC radio, I was a radio reporter for local news for a bit and in Calgary. And then it was like, I wanted to do this, but I wasn't sure because I was hearing the messages and

here we have to go back to that because it's just the reality of the situation. You know, you hear from an executive. I'm not sure if, you know, our audiences are ready for someone like yourself. You had an executive tell you that? Yeah, like I heard. And even, you know, when Julian, when I was, when hockey night in Canada, Punjabi began and I was a few seasons into it. And then I was trying to get more opportunities and, you know, English radio or things like

that. And I had an executive tell me straight up to my. face that he's like you know it doesn't matter like like hockey night Punjabi's one thing but you know over what we are doing is completely different and I was kind of like actually no like in my own mind I was like it's this exact same thing it's just a different language I went to school for broadcasting for radio and TV too right like but I got that vibe from him that you know and so I learned there's two perspectives out there and I'm I've learned that in the industry even now certain people I did 14 seasons on Hockey and Canada,

Punjabi, over 700 games. If you have a compassionate, open-minded perspective, you can consider that as I've paid my dues in the industry and I'm ready for the next opportunity. Or on the flip side, you could be not so kind-hearted, and you could say,

oh, well, that's hockey night Punjabi. That's not what we do. It's completely different, right? And I've learned that, and you have to navigate those situations. but when you first didn't counter them, it's shocking, right? And it's like, I didn't know how to respond because I'm, you know, I didn't have enough guts or at that time, a life experience to call out the guy who was saying.

And the world has changed so much. You guys know this more than anybody. We're now able to talk about this stuff openly, whereas just like, you know, two, three years ago, we would be labeled as complainers and like, you know, you're a problem because you're talking about discrimination in hockey. stuff. No one wanted to talk about this before, right? But yes, George Floyd, he's murdered in the States, and it's an awakening for all of North America and not just the sports world, but companies are forced to think about diversity and have these conversations. And so here we are.

I'm finally able to talk about this because for so long, I brushed it under the carpet, too. But, you know, for me, in the hockey world, that's actually the place where I've experienced the most blunt discrimination and racism. It's as a hockey fan going to arena sitting in the stands and the stuff that was said to me, like I could go on and on about the racial slurs. But I loved the game so much. I wanted to do this so much. So I was able,

I wouldstood that. But yeah, I mean, I'm going on and on here. But it's, there's so much for us to talk about. And I feel like I'm going on and on speaking from the heart because I know you guys can relate.

Dude, I just want to say like, I don't know what the time cap. is going to be on this episode. Just because I'm a big fan of like play by play in general. And like I wish if I was like a little bit more talented or if I practice a lot more, I could be in your shoes. So to see you do well and to see like people like you and Chris Cuthbert do so well in the

booth, like that really like makes me feel like like, oh man, this is so cool, especially like, you know, working in hockey now. And the next question I want to ask, like you mentioned the fact that Jim Houston has his call with the way with the way he will say like great save this person. Chris Cuthbert, did you see that in the way that he calls the golden goal? You also have your own signature, right? Like with the way that you sing players names. That's how Nick Benino, Benino, Benino became a thing. But even since then, you've done that with McDavid, you've said Matthews, you've done that with players' names. How did that come to be? That is my musical background, which is the first time I

ever married my two passions together was was in the book and so hockey is a big passion for me and then music specifically sick a music so it's faith based but there's instruments i play one is a percussion instrument called the tabula and it's played with your hands and it's two separate drums played simultaneously um and that's a lot of fun that would be one of my first passions and then i'm also a vocalist on with an instrument called the harmonium. And so singing is something that is, you know, natural to me because I've been doing that since I was a youngster. And I think the musical side of it comes out when I'm calling a game. And in that moment when you are like the adrenaline's pumping and it's like an overtime game winning goal or playoffs for sure,

musicians have this it's like a it's like a characteristic or it's a skill where you can try to hold out a note for as long as possible right and this transcends all genres of music i mean you can you can um picture whitney houston mariah carey you're doing that um in and in in jambi bnjabi and sick music it's something that's considered quite a skill too and so um yes the the background behind those calls is the music but then what ended up happening is like on hockey night Punjabi i would i would do that for a big goal overtime winner a game winning goal and i ended up trying to like beat out the goal horn in the arena and so it just i think it just went longer and longer and so then um yeah that that was something that and then i talk about the benino story in the book is

it's quite interesting because it was a mistake in my own notes that led to beninos name being called so multiple times during that 2016 Penguins Cup run. And so that's where that goal call style comes from. It's been a bit of a, it's taken me maybe one or two seasons on the English side for some fans to get up to speed, I guess we can say. Because people who are familiar with my work from hockey night, Punjabi, get it, that I do this thing. You know, for on the English side, sometimes it's like, oh, why is he favoring a team?

well, no, if the game's tied at three and it's, you know, two minutes left in the third period, it doesn't matter whose scores, like, that's coming, right? Like, and then overtime especially. And so, yeah, that's something I've kept going. I've tried to keep some other things going. Like on the hockey night, Punjabi, we called the penalty box, Saja da da, and that translates back into box of punishment. So I've, you know, I once a game, I'll throw that in there because it's like,

why keep saying penalty box each time, right? You're referring to that so many times. And yeah, there's been some fun moments even with like being able to bring some cultural aspects to the broadcast where it's, you know, in our in our culture, when you have a wedding, a birth of a child, some really big happy news you want to share. You make homemade sweets and you go to your friends' houses and ring the doorbell and hand them a box of homemade sweets and then tell. them the news, right? And my very first NHL English playoff, a play-by-play game was Vancouver Canucks Edmonton Oilers. There's a player, Neals Hoaglander for the Canucks, and he was in his very first NHL game, and he scored his very first NHL goal. And out came from me, it's time to hand out the sweets, right? It's Neil's Hoaglander's first NHL goal in his first NHL game. And I didn't, like,

that just came out naturally because I was in that moment. I had actually handed out sweets because it was my first game too. So it was like top of mind to my colleagues and producers. And so when that came out, I was really amazed and it was heartwarming to see the response of South Asian audience across Canada who were like, wow, like, you know, that was so cool. And then there was some really kindhearted Canadians from the majority who said, okay, that was really cool. Can you explain that? And it was cool to have that conversation, right? because there's so many idioms that are used actually that go over my turban that I don't understand because I didn't grow up with that culture. You get it over my head. Yes, I'm.

I know. I didn't want to laugh at that. Yeah, yeah, but it's okay. You know, it's good to laugh. Like, I mean, I meant it as a joke. But yeah. So it was like, it's okay for, I was like, that was a little bit of a verification for me that, you know what? It's okay for me to keep using, you know, some of my culture on the English side as well.

Well, okay, I got to ask this question because you've got a signature call, you sing out the names. Have you ever on a dare or otherwise rolled into like a Tim Horton's or a McDonald's drive-thru and like kind of use your broadcasting voice in an order? Ah, that's a great idea. Ian, I should do that for sure. But you know, the best time that I was able to do that as a surprise was when the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and the and the team invited me and my colleagues from hockey night Punjabi some of them came out as well and we fly to Pittsburgh and the the penguins PR

they they said okay we got to the arena and they go the players love you guys but they have no idea you're here and they're getting ready in the dressing room they're getting dressed to take their Stanley Cup team picture and they said what our idea is that you guys just walk into the room and you do the Benino call right there. And there is cell phone video footage of this. And it is just absolutely one of these moments that you cannot script or dream of. It is just like it's unbelievable the way it happens. So I wasn't aware of this. I'm wearing like this, um, this like Swiss army like over the shoulder bag thing. And I've got a Starbucks coffee in my hand. And so it was just like, we're ready to go. And so all of a sudden we just march into the room. And it was like,

quiet because they were they were all like tying their laces up and we walk in and i do the benino call and just they erupt in like you know they're all just like loving it they're all like clap everybody's coming up to shake our hands and it was so amazing to surprise them that way because at the center of their dressing room is the stanley cup the con smyth trophy as well and then the conference uh a trophy and and those are all three of those are there in the center and and and you know when you first walk into the penguin's dressing room, it's Sydney, Crosby, front, and setter at the, at the main stall, right?

So it's like in front of his stall is like this altar of the, you know, the hockey's greatest trophies for the playoffs. And it was so cool to see that. And then, you know, Benino came up. And it was this, is this lifelong, you know, connection I have with Nick Benino. And so that would be the, you know, the drive-through is a great idea. but that what you asked reminded me of that moment of us walking into the penguins dressing room and surprising the players.

That's so cool. I love asking, you know, your favorite player, your favorite commentator. I would love to know your Mount Rushmore of play-by-play commentators. You do not have to limit it to hockey commentators. You can put any play-by-play guys you want. Just give me four names. Okay. that's awesome so yeah i throw bob coa has got to be up there um you know uh chris cuthbert has got to be up there

for me personally um and um so if you want me to to give you two more um i'll have to go to the states and i'll say doc emrick because i think he's had such a lasting um you know legacy for for that for the industry down south. And, you know, another guy that I had really liked, and it's probably because of the video games as well. And then, but for a long time when I was growing up, ESPN had the rights to the NHL and that theme music. And then the video games, Gary Thorne was really,

Gary Thorne was really good. And, you know, I just, I don't know why, but his, his voice just never, it's, it's like, it's like meshes with hockey. and the way he called the game, it was really exciting. And he had a great voice. And the video game factor plays a huge role in it too, right? Because I played a lot of NHL as a kid growing up,

and he was the voice in there. And so off the top of my mind, those are the four names that come up right away. That smart move by you. You went with two Canadian, two American hockey broadcasters. Politically correct. So good. All right. Hey, before we let you go and we kept you way longer than we said we would at the outset.

Probably my fault anyways. Not even, not even. Probably my fault because we had so many questions. Yeah, we've enjoyed this. Okay, before I let you go, one more question. Kind of similar to, you know, like Julian kind of an off the beaten path question. Now, was your favorite team as a kid growing up? Was it the Oilers were your favorite team as a kid?

I am not allowed to say, you know, like I'm a very professional broadcast. Hey, don't get a trouble. fan as a kid. As a kid. I'm talking about as a kid. Yeah, you know what? The Gretzky factor was huge. But when he switched over from the Oilers, we as a family, my sister Gereep and I, we switched to the Kings. We switched to the blues. We switched to the Rangers. So we were pretty upset. For six weeks? You are a blues fan? Six weeks? Yes. And it was so exciting because it was like Brett Hall. And oh my goodness, we used to watch Gretzky and Hall together on the, uh, in the All-Star games, right? And Shane, orson, Grant Furrer. they were all together there and it was like this dream team right and then eiserman had to ruin

it all with that slapper in uh an o t top shelf and it gives me nightmares to this day right over john katee and gary thorne had great calls of that moment by the way of that eisenman o t winner yes on john casey because fear got hurt because of our pal wasn't it kipper kipper kipper kicks him out with the accidentally on purpose okay so here's my question okay i'll take out the team so it doesn't to be the Oilers or whoever. Yeah. I'm going to give you a chance. You're going to get a phone call.

You get to get parachuted into one moment in hockey. Does Harmon Ryan Singh take the assignment to do game seven of his Stanley Cup final? Or does he take the assignment to do Team Canada in a gold medal game at the Olympics? Oh, my goodness. You are. What do you take it? Wow. Wow. Wow.

Wow. that is, you know why that's so tough? Because I'm such a proud Canadian. And I feel like the Olympics, it transcends even, like people who aren't even hockey fans are watching that moment. You know, for for Cuthbert's call of the Golden Goal, I think the stats were like over 80% of Canada was watching, right? Like, so that's, that's pretty magical.

But then the Stanley Cup is the Stanley Cup. Oh my goodness. That's probably, Ian, this is probably like one of the most difficult questions. You've asked, okay, I'll have to throw in a condition here. If the Olympics are on Canadian soil and it's team Canada and the gold medal game, if the Olympics are on Canadian soil, then I take that. If the Olympics are not on Canadian soil, then I for sure will be taking the Stanley Cup final game seven over time for sure. So I, you know, kind of threw a curveball back at you.

but I, hey, hey, oh, man. Those great answers in this whole entire interview. Oh, man. Yeah. No, dude, we're really happy that you were able to be on with us for the athletic hockey show, man. This is my favorite things ever done.

I was really excited about this. Yeah, this was awesome. And now it's time for shameless self-promotion time with your book. And I also want later today, Julian has promised you. You're doing a book signing later on Monday. recording this on Monday morning. You're doing a book signing in Calgary, want to give you a chance to promote that, and Julian says he's going to be there. The two of you better tweet out a photo of you guys arm and arm. And mention you in the tweet, right, Ian? Yeah, exactly. Tag me in the tweet.

No, but this is really important because, like I said, we're into that window where people can buy their Christmas gifts. We're hoping that if you listen to this conversation and you want to read a little bit more about Hunter Ryan's story, this is your opportunity. So go ahead, be shameless promote away about your book, book signings, where they can buy the book, all that stuff. Yes, so it's called One Game at a Time, which you hear NHL players promoting my book once a game in the intermission interviews.

But yeah, one game at a time, my journey from a small town to hockey's biggest stage, it's available at your local Indigo chapters, your locally owned bookstores, Amazon, wherever you buy your books, it's available. It's already a national bestseller. thankfully and this is uh this is uh yeah it's a it's a great canadian hockey story and i'm not saying great in that sense i'm saying i'm proud of it because it's i you know the feedback i'm receiving

from people is is that they are feeling inspired and and this is what this great country can do it can bring us together and that's what this great sport can do so one game at a time and yes tonight in calgary at six p.m. at cross iron mills mall the indigo location that there. Julian and I will be there to say hello. I will be there, yes. Yes, and we'll be, you know, chatting hockey with people and I'll be signing books and I'm really looking forward to that. I've had a book signing in Brampton and Edmonton already, Calgary tonight, and I'll have one in Vancouver shortly as well. But yeah, so I'm really looking for it.

It's nice to be able to meet people actually now because, you know, earlier, on that was impossible during the pandemic. Yeah. No, excellent. All right, Julian, make sure you go to the right indigo, man. Don't go to the wrong end. I will. Just because I just moved to Calgary, doesn't mean I'm going to be totally lost. Yeah, exactly.

All right, Harmon, Ryan, we thank you so much for this. This was a really great, fun conversation with you. And again, we're hoping that people are listening to this realize the journey that you've had and feel kind of moved and inspired to pick up that book, because obviously you've got a great story to tell.

and we're really thankful that you took a few minutes to chat with us here on the Monday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. Yeah, thanks so much, guys, for having me and keep up the great work, real proud of you both as well. All right, Julian, that was, what a fun conversation with Harner Ryan Singh. And you better, you better tweet out a photo of you and him at the book signing on Monday night. I will, okay? I will. God willing, I will be there and I will ensure a photo is taken between Harner Ryan and I. Honestly, dude, like being at Calgary Flames practices, even when I was in Edmonton at the start of the year two, getting to see Harna Ryan Singh and like meeting him live in the flesh, that was like super cool.

I was just like, oh my God, like you're, you're Harne and Ryan Singh. Like, you are one of the many play-by-play voices who bring life to the sport of hockey in this country. and he is good at his job. Like, and guys like Rick Ball are great too. And Chris Cuthbert, obviously, some of the more iconic names. But I just, there's just something about Harna Ryan

who seems very down to earth. He has a lovely family. There's just something about him. Like, I like rooting for Harna Ryan. Yeah. No, how do you nod? And hopefully after you listen to that conversation with us, listeners feel the same way pulling for him.

So check out that book. and I know Julian, Julian's going to be by there later for the book setting. All right. I might buy two books. You might buy two books. Yeah, I mean, I might be an idea for my dad or something. I want one for me. And I like giving my dad books as Christmas gifts or just any type of gifts.

Are you, are you going to get, okay, you're going to, you have to get a heart of Ryan to sign your book. Now you need to think of something clever, okay? Think of something clever for him to write inside the book. It can't be just like, hey, Julian, best. wishes, Harne Ryan Singh. You just spent it 45 minutes with the guy on the podcast. So make sure, make sure you think about this. There's an inside joke we have.

There you go. There you go. I might, I might get him to do something along those lines. Yeah, there you go. All right. Rapping it up, like we always do on a Monday podcast, looking back at the past seven days and wondering, which coach did the best job of guiding his team through the past week of hockey? And I got some candidates here for Jack Adams of the week award. What about the job Lane Lambert is done in New York? The Islanders go 4-0, perfect 4-0 over the week. Lane Lambert gets the islanders kind of back on track here,

and they go 4-0. Toronto deserves some credit. Sheldon Keefe, they get seven of a possible eight points. You want to talk about injuries and being decimated. Man, Toronto's back end is so thin right now. They keep on humming, they keep on rolling. We talked about the Cracken a little bit earlier. They continue their surge.

Dave Haxville has them fire. on all cylinders. They go 3 and 0. And we talked about the Vancouver Canucks earlier and there's been a lot of noise and chaos and dysfunction that has enveloped the organization. But hey, Bruce Boudreau has the Canucks go 3 and 1 and, you know, definitive win over Vegas too

on the weekend on Saturday. Who gets your vote? Best coaching job of the week. This is really interesting. I mean, Bruce Boudreau, I thought he was going to get fired like a month ago. The fact that he is still coaching the Vancouver Kuver Canucks. I don't want to say it's a miracle, but it's very surprising, considering the fact that

the people in the front office did not hire him. Again, the Caducs were not off to a great start. They were struggling with maintaining leads. And the fact that he's still in the position that he's in right now, again, going 3-1-0 over the last how many days, he, like, he's under a little bit more pressure than Elaine Lambert right now, taking over for Barry Trots. We just, we just, we just talked about how good the Seattle Cracken have been. Dave Haxstall deserves some praise. I don't know if he, I don't remember if he, I know he keep track of the winners. I forget if he's won from us already.

Producer Chris, please remind us of that. Sheldon Keefe also kind of in the same boat as Bruce Boudreau. That's a guy who also, we were wondering about whether or not he would have employment, but he also was recently extended. So maybe we shouldn't worry about it as much. So I will give it to Bruce Boudreau. Okay, thank you, producer. or Chris, we have not given it to Dave Haxstall yet.

I think if the crack can keep it up, we should give it to him. But because the Vancouver Canucks not having the season that they would want, and Bruce Boudreux in a really interesting position right now, this might be the one chance he gets a Jack Adams winner of the week before any other crap hits the fan. I'm going to give it to Bruce Bidro this week. Man, okay, but can I make a case for Sheldon, Keith? Absolutely, you can.

Morgan Riley is out Jake Muzzin is out T.J. Brody is out. Jordie Ben is out. Like that's four of their top D. Oh, fans are wondering if Tupi Nima should get should get signed and play on that defense?

It's wild to me. Marner's going right now. Tavaris is going right now. Willie's going right now. Anyway, look, you want to talk about noise around a team? what was the conversation around Sheldon Keefe about, I don't know, four weeks ago when remember there was a game,

I want to say they lost early in the season, they lost a game to Arizona. Anna? It was Arizona. It was Arizona. No, early, it was Arizona. Well, they also lost to Anaheim later, right? They did.

Yeah. But they lost a game to Arizona on like a Monday night in their own rink. And everyone's like, this is it. They've shown themselves to be who we thought they were, which is just a bunch of guys who just only care about stats. At that time, we were like, well, that's the end of Sheldon Keith. He's not going to last the season. Well, they just went 3-0 this week without all of their defensemen.

And might I add? And this is, I hope this is what pushes you into my camp. They busted New Jersey's winning streak. They did. The devils weren't losing to anybody. And Toronto rolls in with this depleted blue line. Now, granted, here comes the Devils fans with, well, technically they got three pucks past Matt Murray that didn't count. But they won. But they beat and they beat the, and then they went into Pittsburgh with Christina Aguilera watching their every move.

And they beat the penguins. Okay, Ian, here, here's why I'm going to go for Chief Keith here. Because not only did the Toronto Maple Leafs bust that winning street from the New Jersey Devils. They had to fight off the devils and all the debris that fans threw on the ice. I think like Eric Halle was saying he got hit by like a chicken figure. Like if you're you're playing through that. Like you know what? Fine.

All right, you deserve it. But also to what I was describing earlier with Bruce Boudreau, like Sheldon Keith. I mean, Bruce Boudreau could say he's getting all the noise and all the complaints out in Vancouver. If there's a market that's just as noisy, if not noisier. It is Toronto. So Sheldon Keith knows all about that pressure of unhappy fans. I mean, considering the lack of playoff success that they've had, he could definitely sympathize with Bruce Bredraud,

and what he's going through. And the fact that he has been able to get all those points in spite of the fact that their defense has been decimated. To the point that it's at, you've swayed my opinion. There we go. Sheldon Keefe, aka Chief Keefe, is my pick now. You get it. There you go. And by the way, one more note,

because I saw you also jumping in on the Sydney Crosby, Christina Aguilera picture that was circulated. because, you know, Christine Aguilera's from Pittsburgh. When she was a kid, she sang the anthem, right? Was it the Stanley Cup in 92 where as a kid she sang the anth- She was a lot younger. She sang the anthem in Pittsburgh. But I was disappointed that she posed for a photo with Crosby and not of Gettie Malkin.

Because I thought, here's the natural tagline, Gino in a bottle. Come on. You're in. You're in. No. Gino in a bottle. I don't want this. You do.

You know that it's good. This is such a dad, bud. Also, very weird to comment on my... One, I had, as someone, I mean, Christina Aguilera, very prominent, popular pop star, I never realized until this very moment she was from Pittsburgh. I never realized it. And that, for whatever reason,

that makes me think we should look at prominent pop stars who have sung anthems. for NHL teams because the only other person I could. Yes. Didn't Ariana Grande do that in Florida? She got hit by a puck. She got hit by a puck. I don't think she's saying the puck.

I think she just was like a little kid who got hit by the puck, right? Oh my God. I feel like she at least at some point did the anthem. Alanis Morissette before she really took off sang the anthem in Ottawa. In fact, for the senator's first ever game, Alanis Morissette, who was a very popular singer in this area, before she really blew up like three years later, sang the anthem at Ottawa's first game.

Ariana Grande did it at eight years old. There's video of it. Okay, there we go. Christian Aguilera, I'm pretty sure. And I feel like it might have been the Stanley Cup final. Man. Like in the early 90s, sang the anthem in Pittsburgh.

And if it's Christina Aguilera the way that she normally sings, that was definitely some over-sanging on that part. She could sing, but she definitely is one of those artists who loves to, like, sang. Like let everybody know that she could sing. So she's adding all the runs and the vibrato and all that. Like a young Harnarion Singh calling a goal. I don't know if we could make that same comparison.

He brought up Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Aguilera is in the same boat. Yeah, I feel like she's, you know what? Let me not say anything about Christine Aguilera before people end up on this podcast like Decimator. She's an amazing singer and I'm going to leave it at that. All I'm going to say to, someone should put together

like a little like geo map of like every pop star like before they were really famous and when they sang anthems for NHL teams because we have at least three people we could use. There we go. And by the way, producer Chris has told us that yes, 92 Stanley Cup final Christina Aguilera sang the anthem.

I had no idea, but also I was not born for that. No, here we go. Here we go. Calling me out for dad jokes and then saying that you weren't born in 92. I was not born in 1992. No wonder I didn't know that. Yeah. Hey, let's wrap it up, though, with multiple choice matters.

I'm going to ask you the same question that I asked Horne Ryan saying. I'm going to turn around, flip it around, ask you. You have a chance, Julian, to either cover game seven of the Stanley Cup final, the Calgary Flames, who you've covered all season long, they get to game seven of the Cup final. You can either cover that or you can cover Team Canada playing for a gold medal game. Which building would you like to be in? Now, I'm not telling you that the flames are going to win or Canada is going to win.

I'm just saying this is the opportunity ahead of you. What are you taking? Okay. Maybe I'm not the best person to ask because I have covered a Stanley Cup final before, courtesy of the Canadians and the lightning. Can we admit that was like a slightly. fake Stanley Cup final like just ever so slightly fake.

We weren't going to get the same access. You're absolutely right. Just everything was a little fake about it. I mean, like I think I remember being in the building for game four and I remember someone saying that like if the cup was going to be won by Tampa that night, I don't think we would have,

we weren't going to get locker room access. I think we were probably going to have to just watch everything from the press box. I don't think it would have been at ice level or anything like that. To your point, that is very fair. At the same time, That is sort of how I'm justifying being at a gold medal game at the Olympics. It has been my dream to be at in the Olympics as a credentialed media member and to see Team Canada or Team USA or whoever in a gold medal game.

Probably to Team Canada in this example, right? To be at a gold medal game where Team Canada is in it, like that would make my life, honestly. So I would pick that. I feel like in the position I'm in right now, it'd be, you know, I, you know, to, that Stanley Cup final was still real to me, damn it. Like, I'm happy I was there. You tell anyone else who got hired at a company like three months earlier that they'd be covering a Stanley Cup final and see what they say.

That's basically what happened to be at that point. But to cover an Olympics, come on, man. Like that's something that would rank really high for me. That's my pick. Okay. So I'm going to, I'm going to take the game seven, and I'll take the team I cover Ottawa. And part of it is I was fortunate enough I covered Team Canada in 2010.

See, I'm that old Julian that I was in the building when Crosby scored the golden goal. Okay? So, I was on my couch. Now, I have also covered the senators in a Stanley Cup final, but they got dusted pretty quick by Anaheim. My biggest dream would be

just because I love Ottawa so much. Not the organization, but the city and the fans. Like, I can't express how much I love this place. and how much I love Ottawa fans. That's my dream. I want them to win a Stanley Cup, but I want to be there to document it for them. So, yeah, that's the one thing left on my NHL bucket list for me,

is covering a Senator Stanley Cup, and the seventh game would be unbelievable. Now you make me seem selfish for... Well, you are selfish. That was evident when we started recording together weeks ago. It was very evident. That's actually very true. Yes, very evident that I'm selfish.

But also the fact that you're like, I love Ottawa. I love this city and you want to see all these people happy and I'm neglecting Calgarians in the process. You know, if they were the Stanley Final again, like they were at 04,

they would love that, you know? And they got to a game seven. They did, yes, they have gone to a game seven. And I feel their pain. That puck was in as far as I'm concerned. Oh, the game six, yeah. Maybe Tampa. Yeah, that puck was in.

Sorry, guys. Yeah, Marty Jellina. You know what? That's how I know you really, you've officially moved to Calgary. As soon as you go to Calgary, you have to say that that puck was in. Yeah, you kind of have to take that side. It's like a different place.

If you move to Buffalo right now, you have to be like, now, man, Brett Hall's foot was in the crease. That shouldn't have been. Brett Hall's foot was in the crease. Why did they switch the rule? They didn't let anyone know. You move to different places. If you go to Toronto, you got to be like, man,

Gretzky, high stick Gilmore. No questions asked. Happened. Oh, man. Now we have to do like, like, another heat map. Another heat map. Like, if you live. live in, like, what, I'm trying to think for the Canadians, like, what would it be,

um, like, what would be like their, like, like, what's a statement do you have to say to, I'm trying to think of what's a similar quote you would say there. And that's just because it's like, would you, I don't know, would you, wow, man, that's a great question. Because, I mean, they've won so much. But not in the last 25 years, right? Like, it's been. Yeah. Not since 93. Not since I was not born. It's been, yeah. Maybe you were the curse, maybe I haven't won a cup since you were born.

Maybe that's, have you ever thought about that? Maybe it's me, because 1994, I was born there. And for those, I mean, I don't know how much video we're going to show, but Ian Mendez is working a bunch of, was your birthday, is your birthday in the first half of the year? April. I'm in the first. Okay.

So when you were born in April of 1994, the Montreal Canadians were technically the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Yeah. The Rangers had not won the Cup. So since you arrived on planet Earth, a Canadian team has not won a Stanley Cup. I'm starting to think that maybe you're the problem. I also, it's also a double whammy because you're wearing a bunch of all Expo's hat.

I was born like three months before the 94 strike. And that Expo's team in 94 is supposed to be the best one they ever put together. See, that was my last year of high school in 94. And that was the best team I've ever witnessed the expos of the team that I loved as a kid. and anyway, there you go. See, once again, the age gap comes through. Sorry for being born, everybody. The 17 year age gap or whatever it is,

once again comes out here. Sorry for being bored. 17. Yeah, you know what, though? You know what I realized? I wrote a piece of the weekend on the great relationship, the father's son kind of been, turned into brotherly relationship between Eric Carlson

and Daniel Alfredson. You know what their age gap was, Julian? 17 years. 17. We can have the same energy as Carlson and Alpherson, man. You could be Colson. I like the idea of being Eric Carlson and you be Daniel Alpherson. You're the creative, dynamic, fun guy.

I'm the grizzled veteran who's trying to saddle, like kind of, you know, kind of rain you in. You're a wild bronco. This is the relationship with Carlson and Alpherson. This is it. There we go. Listen to the Monday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show where the podcast versions of Daniel Alfredson and Eric Carlson. and talk to each other and make jokes.

Yeah, exactly. And then make dad jokes and have the other guy grown and off you go. I'm not letting you, I'm not letting you slide for Gino in a bottle. I'm sorry. You know that on some level, like that is pretty good. No, I can't stand you for that. Gio and a bottle was awful. Oh, all right.

Listen, we'll have to leave it. This is a really fun episode that went a little bit longer than we usually do, but that's because we had so much fun. So listen, we're looking forward to the next week's show as we roll into December, believe it or not. That's kind of crazy. But we want to remind our listeners, though, the Black Friday deal that's been with the Athletic,

you still have through Monday to get it. It's a dollar a month for a year when you visit theathletic.com slash hockey show. So hopefully, Julian, people are listening to this on Monday. They get it. They go to the athletic.com slash hockey show. Take advantage, dollar a month for a year. It's a great deal.

And that puts a bow on it, man. Have yourself a great week. I want to thank everybody for listening to this Monday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a rating and review. You certainly appreciate that.