Harnarayan Singh + The Players Tribune

[tvp2003]

Nice to see Harnarayan -- a Calgary guy who grew up in Brooks -- share his story on The Players Tribune. Will be huge for his profile.

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/har...chapared-shot/

I lived in Calgary with my family and couldn’t justify the expense of moving to Toronto for what Hockey Night Punjabi was paying at the time. But I also knew that if I said no to the opportunity, there would be a lineup of people ready to take on the position. To make matters worse, I was told there wasn’t any budget to fly me to Toronto for the games.

I didn’t exactly know how I could make it work, to be honest. But I wasn’t about to turn down the chance to do Hockey Night every week.

I told the producers, “Don’t worry. I’ll be there!”

[Mazrim]

That's a great read, and he's pretty nuts to do so much on his own. His interview with Ryan Leslie that played at the Dome was also quite good and had some similar tidbits. It's nice that sport can be one of those things that can break down walls that would be tough to get over for many otherwise.

[calgaryblood]

SN couldn't fly him out because they couldn't afford it. Just a great all around company. It's like nobody has any clue how to run that train wreck of an organization.

They made the guy pay out of his own pocket to fly to Toronto. Several dozen times a year.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

It wasn't Sportsnet in 2008.

[Mightyfire89]

Excellent article. He just comes off as a very likeable, knowledgeable hockey guy and is very natural on camera. The game I watched where he was the host, I thought he did a top notch job. What an amazing back story as to how he got there.

Note to Sportsnet: More Harnarayan please.

[ClubFlames]

Amazing story and an amazing person. I've met him a few times at the Sikh temple, as I am also Sikh and I work with his sister. It's an incredible story about his passion for hockey.

[Huntingwhale]

Singh is the man. I love his background story and how much he has done to grow the game for people who might not have otherwise had an interest in it. I'd love to chill with him drinking beers for day and just shoot the breeze. Seems like he'd have some cool stories to tell.

And shoutout to Hrudey for putting in the good word for him.

[Parallex]

I took a tour of the CBC Calgary studio years ago and he was there and when he said that he did the calls for HNiC in Punjabi someone on the tour asked him how you say "He Shoots, He Scores!".... it wasn't quite "BONINO! BONINO! BONINO!" level gusto... but close. Big smiles on everyones faces. Good dude.

[Northendzone]

great story - seems his sacrifices to get the nhl are on par with those made by players

[Benched]

great story.

[oldschoolcalgary]

great story... can't believe that he flew from here to toronto weekly during his first HNIC year?! what a grind that would be!

it was cool to see him on the national broadcasts at times too...

glad to see their broadcasts doing so well

[N-E-B]

Harnarayan is awesome. I'd like to see him on more English broadcasts.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

Harnarayan is awesome. I'd like to see him on more English broadcasts.

He has been getting more time on the English feed every year. I would love for this to continue.