I have to say one of the most pleasing things in life is picking up a book, reading it, and finding that it delivered a better story than anticipated.
That was certainly my experience with One Game At a Time from Harnarayan Singh.
Harnarayan might not be a household name but if you are a hockey fan in Canada, you are likely aware of him as the voice of Hockey Night in Punjabi which broadcasts games in the Punjabi language.
To start I have to say that just having National Hockey League games broadcast in a language other than English, or French seems to me a very Canadian thing to do, or at least it shows a better side of this country, a Canada that is at its best as an open and accepting community.
So delving into a book, which looks at the birth and growth of the broadcast through the eyes of someone who has been at centre stage as play-by-play announcer for most of the years, is pretty interesting on the merits of the significance of the broadcast.
Anything that grows the sport of hockey and contributes to making the game and the country more inclusive is a positive.
But the book is also a memoir for Harnarayan and he is more than the TV play-by-play guy who happens to call games in Punjabi.
Now I will admit this guy has been hockey crazy most of his life, as info on his book notes.
鈥淕rowing up in small-town Alberta, Harnarayan was like many other kids who dreamed about a life within the sanctum of the game they idolized. There was only one small difference -- he didn鈥檛 look like any of the other kids. And when he sat down on Saturday nights to tune in to Hockey Night in Canada with the rest of the nation, he couldn鈥檛 ignore the fact that the broadcasters or analysts didn鈥檛 look like him either. Undeterred, Harnarayan worked his way from calling imaginary hockey games with his plastic toy microphone as a child, to funding secret flights from Calgary to Toronto every weekend in the early days of Hockey Night in Punjabi, to making history as the first Sikh to broadcast an NHL game in English.鈥�
I asked Harnarayan if the move to broadcast sports in non-French and English languages might grow.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 on a sport-by-sport basis,鈥� he said, but added there would seem to be opportunities out there if basketball, baseball and others sports want to pursue them.
While noting than Punjabi is the third most spoken language in Canada, he reminded Hockey Night In Canada has broadcast games in Italian, Manadarin and others over the years.
In Los Angeles and Las Vegas there are Spanish broadcasts of NHL games.
But, for sports that do take the leap, it is 鈥渁 way to grow the game,鈥� offered Harnarayan.
It comes down to having the demographics to support the initiative, and of course the will to go down that path, suggested Harnarayan.
But there is more to Harnarayan than hockey, including a close connection to his faith as a Sikh.
I will be the first to admit I knew only the most basic of information about Sikhism, and while Harnarayan never veers into becoming preachy about his faith, including tidbits on why they do not cut their hair, the significance of the turban and how volunteerism is a huge concept in their community was really what made this book stand out for me.
In a chat with Harnarayan he said his faith has always been a huge influence, but not one he had shared widely, but when it came to writing a memoir 鈥測ou want to tell completely who you are.鈥� So in the book his faith and hockey naturally came out together.
鈥淚t was an opportunity to talk about both of these aspects of my life,鈥� he said.
Now that the book is out Harnarayan said he is 鈥渧ery happy鈥� to have received 鈥渟ome very positive feedback鈥� and his inclusion of his life outside hockey. 鈥�... It鈥檚 been received very positively.鈥�
There is a message for understanding and acceptance too. For example, in including stories of his turban Harnarayan said he hopes it 鈥渘ormalizes it鈥� for people.
Overall, this book is a quick read, it covers a short period Harnarayan is only in his 30s, but it does look at our sport of hockey, and even at what it means to be Canadian through fresh eyes, making it a compelling book to read.
