Broadcaster Clarence Iron will be back behind the mic very soon calling NHL games in Cree.
Iron, who lives in Pinehouse, SK, will be broadcasting an NHL game between the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks in Cree on APTN this coming Sunday.
He says doing NHL games in Cree is very important.
“The Cree language itself, well, we’re trying to preserve that out here, across Canada,” said Iron. “It’s something to think about. People really like it, especially the elders, they’ve never watched a hockey game, but when it’s in Cree, they get very excited.”
Last season, Iron did a game between the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes. That contest was the first one to be televised nationally in Plains Cree.
Iron says they call the games from a television studio.
“It sounds live because everything is being fed right through the system, the people yelling, the puck,” said Iron. “You hear all the game sound, so it sounds like you are right inside the arena.”
APTN and Rogers Sportsnet have inked a three-year contract to broadcast games in Plains Cree.
(PHOTO: Clarence Iron. Photo courtesy of Clarence Iron, Facebook.)