![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Crew-300x200.jpg\")
The on-air crews for APTN\u2019s hockey broadcasts in Plains Cree and Inuktitut languages. \u2013 Photo courtesy APTN<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe on-air crews for APTN\u2019s hockey broadcasts in Plains Cree and Inuktitut languages. \u2013 Photo courtesy APTN<\/p>\n
By Sam Laskaris<\/p>\n
WINNIPEG \u2013 National Hockey League (NHL) fans across the country will once again have several opportunities to hear games broadcast in a pair of Indigenous languages.<\/p>\n
The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) is airing six NHL games nationally during the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n
Three of these matches will be broadcast in the Plains Cree language, and three others will be in Inuktitut.<\/p>\n
The first of these games, broadcast in the Inuktitut language, was held on Jan. 10, as the host, Toronto Maple Leafs, blanked the Vancouver Canucks 5-0.<\/p>\n
The upcoming contests that will be in Inuktitut will be on Jan. 31 when the New Jersey Devils square off against the host, Ottawa Senators, and the Feb. 28 match featuring the visiting Calgary Flames versus the Los Angeles Kings.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the three matches that will be broadcast in Plains Cree are set for:<\/p>\n
\u2013 Mar. 14, San Jose Sharks at Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n
\u2013 Mar. 28, Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames<\/p>\n
\u2013 Apr. 11, Philadelphia Flyers at Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n
Earl Wood, a member of Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta, has served as the host of the Plains Cree broadcasts since APTN started airing Indigenous language games in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really lends to the energy and the intention of the retention of the language, within the young people,\u201d Wood said of the broadcasts. \u201cAnd I think it was genius and it was absolutely marvellous to use mainstream sports, professional hockey, as a catalyst and a vehicle to get our language out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood believes the APTN matches have been rather beneficial.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, I\u2019ve seen interest growing in our young people, regarding the language,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd from here, we can only look forward. And we can only look to bigger and better things.\u201d<\/p>\n
This marks the second season that APTN is also broadcasting games in Inuktitut.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur relatives from the north have three games as well,\u201d Wood said. \u201cIt\u2019s very exciting and a very beautiful language as well. They\u2019re very competent people that sit at the desks on that show. I\u2019m so very proud of those guys, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of the APTN broadcasts are conducted from a studio in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
Wood is joined on the Plains Cree broadcasts by Clarence Iron, who handles the play-by-play.<\/p>\n
Former NHL player John Chabot and Jason Chamakese are both panellists who provide commentary.\u00a0Meanwhile, Pujjuut Kusugak is the host of the Inuktitut games while David Ningeongan does the play-by-play. Also, Robert Kabvitok is a panellist.<\/p>\n
Wood said listeners do not necessarily have to understand the Indigenous languages to enjoy the APTN broadcasts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI live not far from a town called St. Paul, Alberta,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd all our friends out there in St. Paul, they don\u2019t speak Cree. And they\u2019re not Cree. But they enjoy watching the show just because of the language and the way it sounds and the excitement and the spirit and the\u00a0energy that comes with it. You don\u2019t have to understand Cree to feel the vibratory and the beauty of that Cree language.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood added he\u2019s pleased Inuktitut games are now being included in the national broadcasts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were all very excited for them and we we\u2019re looking forward to it,\u201d he said of last year\u2019s initial Inuktitut games. \u201cAnd I\u2019m sure with their style they probably had really good response from their young people and their people. And there was probably pride and gratefulness for the older people and from the Elders. They know that we are using whatever means possible to help retain the language for the future generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since he\u2019s involved with games involving six different teams, Wood said a fair amount of research is required beforehand on the participants.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of try to watch as much hockey as I can,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just like the NHL guys. I try to read up on and follow the teams, so you can say whatever is important in that short little time of introduction that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The on-air crews for APTN\u2019s hockey broadcasts in Plains Cree and Inuktitut languages. \u2013 Photo courtesy APTN By…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-424003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}