Harnarayan Singh is a Canadian
sports announcer
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
and journalist. He became known for announcing the
Punjabi-language broadcasts of ''
Hockey Night in Canada
CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...
,'' and currently calls games in English for
Sportsnet and ''Hockey Night in Canada''.
Early life
Singh was born in December 1984, in
Brooks, Alberta
Brooks is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by the County of Newell. It is located on Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) and the Canadian Pacific Railway, approximately southeast of Calgary, and northwest of Medicine Hat. ...
.
His parents immigrated to Canada in the 1960s from India.
Singh was an avid hockey fan as a child; he and his siblings were fans of
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...
and the
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
, and would do mock announcing using toy microphones. He studied broadcasting at
Mount Royal University
Mount Royal University (MRU) is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
History
Mount Royal University was founded by Alberta provincial charter by the Arthur Sifton government on December 16, 1910 and officially opened on September 8, ...
in Calgary, where he hosted a hockey talk show on the student radio station. Singh was accepted into an internship at the
TSN sports television network in 2004.
Broadcasting career
After leaving TSN, Singh worked as a reporter for the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
's news service in Calgary.
Singh came to the attention of fellow CBC employee, former NHL
goalie, and announcer
Kelly Hrudey
Kelly Hrudey (; born January 13, 1961) is a Canadian former National Hockey League ice hockey goaltender. He is a current hockey broadcaster with Sportsnet as an analyst for ''Hockey Night in Canada'' and the Calgary Flames as a commentator. Durin ...
; Hrudey recommended Singh to the network as a possible new announcer. Joel Darling, the executive producer of ''
Hockey Night in Canada
CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...
'', then approached Singh about calling a hockey game in
Punjabi, which Darling believed fit the public broadcaster's goal to "attract new Canadians and people who normally wouldn’t watch the sport of hockey".
In 2009, Singh began announcing
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
games in the Punjabi language for ''Hockey Night in Canada''. He continued his work at CBC Calgary to pay for his weekly flights to Toronto'','' but the CBC eventually found out and paid for his travel.
Singh had one of his games turn into a
viral video
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...
in 2016 when he made an energetic call of goal-scorer
Nick Bonino
Nicholas Lawrence Bonino (born April 20, 1988) is an American professional ice hockey center and an alternate captain for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played for the Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Pittsbu ...
's name. He was the first person to announce an NHL game in Punjabi for television, and, in 2016, became the first Sikh Canadian to broadcast an NHL game in English. He also hosts a weekly online segment for the
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
organization.
In September 2020, Singh published a memoir, titled ''One Game at a Time,'' which details his early life and broadcasting career. On January 13, 2021, Singh made his English play-by-play debut, calling a regular season game between the
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
and
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
for
Sportsnet. At the
9th Canadian Screen Awards
The 9th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held in the week of May 17 to 20, 2021, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2020.Barry Hertz, "How one Canadian arts institution is rebuilding amid the p ...
in 2021, Singh won the award for Best Sports Play-by-Play.
Personal life
On June 1, 2022, Singh was given an honorary
Doctorate of Law
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...
by his alma mater
Mount Royal University
Mount Royal University (MRU) is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
History
Mount Royal University was founded by Alberta provincial charter by the Arthur Sifton government on December 16, 1910 and officially opened on September 8, ...
.
He resides in Calgary and is married with two children.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Harnarayan
Living people
Canadian television sportscasters
People from Brooks, Alberta
1984 births
Canadian people of Punjabi descent
Canadian Screen Award winners
Canadian Sikhs