A former communications intern for the Salmon Kings has made the unlikely leap from Hockey Night on Blanshard to Hockey Night in Hanoi.
Nguyen Hoang Duy, who goes by the first name Jimmy in English, will provide the commentary today on Hockey Night in sa国际传媒 in Vietnamese.
It鈥檚 all part of International Night, in which the games will be broadcast in the seven most common languages in sa国际传媒 after English and French: Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic and German. That鈥檚 in addition to the regular Punjabi-language broadcasts on Hockey Night in sa国际传媒.
Fans can access the various-language broadcasts, provided through streaming service Spalk, at Sportsnet.ca/Molson.
鈥淣ever in my wildest dreams would I have thought I鈥檒l be a hockey commentator, let alone doing it in Vietnamese on the biggest hockey program in sa国际传媒,鈥� said Nguyen.
Nguyen will broadcast his call from Hanoi 鈥� a day after his wedding, to boot.
Ice hockey is an exotic sport in Vietnam, but Nguyen manages to follow the NHL online, despite the blurry-eyed time difference, and plays in Hanoi鈥檚 only league in its lone skating rink in the Vincom Mega Mall in the Royal City district.
He became an avid hockey fan in the 2006-07 ECHL minor-pro season as communications intern with the Salmon Kings, while studying in the Camosun College Applied Communication Program.
Each season, the Salmon Kings 鈥� and later the Victoria Royals of the major-junior WHL 鈥� provided internships for Camosun students, who would compile stats, run them down to the dressing rooms, and write up game reports as they learned the business of sports and communication from the inside.
鈥淓ven though the sports environment is competitive and filled with pressure, I got the impression the staff at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre was a close-knit bunch,鈥� Nguyen said from Hanoi. 鈥淓veryone was very supportive and welcomed me to the world of ice hockey.鈥�
Nguyen recalled one occasion when the referee鈥檚 mic didn鈥檛 work and he was sent down to ice level to check with the refs. 鈥淣ever have I felt as much stage fright as I did walking on the ice thinking to myself: 鈥業 hope I don鈥檛 fall on my bum in front of all these fans.鈥� Thankfully, I didn鈥檛 lose my footing and the ref鈥檚 mic situation was rectified in a matter of seconds.鈥�
Nguyen watched intently from the press box at the arena. He said he initially didn鈥檛 understand much of what was going on, but slowly absorbed the finer points of the game.
鈥淚nitially, I thought ice hockey was a violence-prone sport, as the Salmon Kings started that season playing a very rough-and-tumble kind of game. Hits and fights were frequent and the team took more losses than wins. Mark Morrison came in as coach halfway through that year and team suddenly shifted to a puck-possessing system. There were now fewer giveaways, shots/goals allowed also decreased significantly and the crowd also appeared more enthusiastic going into the arena.鈥�
Nguyen recalls Vancouver Canucks-drafted goaltender Julien Ellis and his 鈥渟ublime saves.鈥� He also has fond memories of star forward Wes Goldie, 鈥渨hom I remembered getting on the scoresheet quite often. And mascot Marty the Marmot was a cheerful presence.鈥�
Tom Billings was communications and community relations manager at the time for the Salmon Kings, and says while Nguyen was new to the sport, he 鈥渏ust soaked it all in 鈥� the hockey and the game atmosphere.鈥�
鈥淛immy was intrigued by the game, and everything that surrounded it, and had a question for just about everything because he wanted to learn the game,鈥� said Billings, now internal communications co-ordinator for the sa国际传媒 Public Service.
Nguyen had the personality to match his burgeoning love of the game.
鈥淛immy had such a bright smile and such a great sense of humour that we had him go into the stands of the Memorial Centre and do crowd interviews,鈥� Billings said.
