Hockey Night Punjabi Crew Truly Appreciative Of Reception From Pens Fans
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Fans have plenty to savor from the Penguins' Stanley Cup championship. From the huge victory parade, to the HBK Line phenomenon and those incredible Punjabi language goal calls.
One name has changed everything for the crew from Hockey Night in Canada's Punjabi language broadcast.
Play-by-play man Harnarayan Singh says his now-famous goal call started out as a mistake.
"I had Bonino written down for left wing, center and right wing and my producer and colleagues were all, 'Oh, Bonino, Bonino, Bonino," Singh said. "It just came out. The adrenaline was pumping. It was such a big goal."
Singh had no idea at the time, but his goal call was a hit with fans and it only grew from there.
"I think around the world...It's kinda put us on the map," Harpreet Pandher said.
When the Penguins celebrated their Stanley Cup championship, the Punjabi crew was invited to Pittsburgh to be part of it.
For more photos of the parade, check out our photo gallery here!
But, it didn't end there. The Punjabi crew hung around town for a few days to visit PNC Park, a Sikh temple in Monroeville and another Pittsburgh icon - Primanti Brothers.
"That was pretty intense. I loved it," Randip Janda said. "I love the fries inside there, I'm hooked."
They've also had many chances to meet Pens fans face to face.
"We didn't realize until we got to Pittsburgh at the parade that it was that big," Singh said.
"The people on the street, Pens fans. They've been amazing, just the nicest people," Janda said. "They've had a great impact on us as well. It's kind of opened up the language. A lot of people maybe didn't know what Punjabi was, and now we're able to share our language with people that may have not heard it, or didn't know much about it and we've loved every second of it."
"We have certainly felt the love from everyone and we are truly appreciative of all the fans in Pittsburgh, the people of Pittsburgh, the Pens organization and the City of Pittsburgh," Bhupinder Hundal said.
And they're excited to see their work crossing the lines between countries, languages and cultures.
"People like us aren't your typical hockey fans or the face of hockey. To see the love that we're getting and bringing everybody together and bringing communities together and cultures together, I think is absolutely unbelievable," Hundal said.
Punjabi is the third most spoken language in Canada. Over a million people there speak it, and plenty of them love hockey.
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