KINE 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Ball Hockey, Hockey Canada, Sportscentre
4 Jul 2018
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A Punjabi Broadcast Draws in New Hockey Fans (Race and Racism: Successes and Failures of
Multiculturalism) by David Sax
This happened in Calgary, Alberta
The weekly Punjabi broadcast of “Hockey Night in Canada” as respectable an institution
for Canadians as “Monday Night Football” is for Americans, is thought to be the only
NHL game called in a language other than English or French
oThe broadcast mixes Canada’s national pastime (hockey) with the sounds of the
Indian language, providing a glimpse of the changing face of ice hockey
Hockey players are overwhelmingly white in both Canada and the US and the diversity
of the port’s fans is much less than those of baseball, basketball, and football.
oThe NHL has one player of South Asian heritage, the Vancouver Canucks’ Manny
Malhorta
The number of children playing ice hockey in Canada has remained stagnant, said Paul
Carson (the vice president for hockey development with Hockey Canada)
Singh (the Punjabi commentator of Hockey Night in Canada) stated that his obsession
with Hockey stemmed from a desire to have something in common with other children
at school where he was the only minority student
o“I wore hockey shirts” Singh said “because I didn’t have to answer what is that
thing on your head?” (Referring to the Sikh religious ‘turban’)
Prayers and Highlights
For every Sikh religious figure on the walls of the Singh home, there is an equivalent
picture of Gretzky nearby
o“Faith is a big part of our lives and a part of our everyday routine” said Singh,
who wears a turban, keeps his beard long and plays the table, percussion
instrument, at a nearby temple on the weekends and during festivals. “Hockey is
equivalent. I do my prayers religiously, and I watch highlights religiously”
Singh who has a degree in broadcasting, started working in televised professional hokey
as an intern for TSN when he was 19, and he worked for CBC Calgary as a radio news
reporter
oHockey Night in Canada dropped into his lap in 2009 when Joel Darling the exec
producer of the show, asked Singh if he would broadcast the game in Punjabi
oDarling said that as a public broadcaster, CBC had a responsibility “to attract new
Canadians and people who normally wouldn’t watch the sport of hockey”
Slurs and Taunts
The transition in hockey’s culture has not always been smooth
oThe co-host of SportsCentre by 2 South Asian-Canadian broadcasters drew a lot
of racist and xenophobic (irrational fear of people from other countries)
comments on social media
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