NHL To Broadcast Stanley Cup Final Games In American Sign Language, A 1st For A Major Sports League

Brice Christianson was concerned that interpreting the annual pre-Stanley Cup Final State of the NHL address into American Sign Language for the first time in 2022 would be a one-time opportunity to introduce the Deaf population to hockey.

Two years later, it is impossible for him not to become emotional as the league takes another significant stride.

The Stanley Cup Final will be the first time a major sports league broadcasts games in American Sign Language. Deaf announcers will provide play-by-play and color analysis for each game between Edmonton and Florida. Game 1 is on Saturday.

“This is a great first step toward having representation, having deaf people on screen, and connecting the Deaf community to people like them,” said Christianson, the founder and CEO of P-X-P, which is producing the telecasts that will be available on ESPN+ and Sportsnet+. “For the NHL to approve and believe in this is revolutionary. It’s genuinely historic, and they’ve confirmed that they want to continue doing so.”

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NHL To Broadcast Stanley Cup Final Games In American Sign Language, A 1st For A Major Sports League

This next phase in the NHL’s cooperation with P-X-P, which seeks to make sports more inclusive through interpretation, follows another historic occasion. Last weekend, TNT aired an ASL broadcast of the United States Women’s Deaf National Soccer Team’s match against Australia. Reporter Melissa Ortiz was on television, narrating the scene in American Sign Language.

In the Cup Final, Jason Altmann, a third-generation Deaf and P-X-P’s chief operations officer, will face Noah Blankenship from Denver’s Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. Having that representation is more important than closed captioning since it directly benefits the Deaf community rather than forcing members to read words about the games.

“To be able to have this real-time coverage of play-by-play and color commentary in American Sign Language being called directly rather than a re-interpretation is really what the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community want,” said Kim Davis, the NHL’s senior executive VP of social impact, growth initiatives, and legislative affairs. “It is what they deserve. That makes the game more significant to them. It is not as if you are reinterpreting for them from another language. They’re hearing the game live in their native tongue and in the way they understand it best.”

Reaching this stage is another success for Christianson, an ASL interpreter born to deaf parents who have spent years convincing teams and leagues to try new things. The relationship with the NHL began during a 2021 meeting with Paul LaCaruba, the NHL’s VP of youth strategy and hockey culture, and ended with Christianson begging one person to support his ideas for serving the Deaf population.

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NHL To Broadcast Stanley Cup Final Games In American Sign Language, A 1st For A Major Sports League

Christianson explained that LaCaruba became that person, allowing him to interpret for Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly two years ago. That was a news conference, but this is an opportunity to offer the season’s most crucial games to a previously neglected population.

“We know there are millions of deaf and hard of hearing hockey fans — and many more who have yet to fall in love with the sport,” LaCaruba stated. “We are building access for the Deaf community, by the Deaf community, and there is no better platform to gauge a reaction than during the Stanley Cup Final.”

Do not do a victory lap; instead, gauge the reaction. Christianson stated that there is a plan to continue doing this for the NHL beyond this series, and that way forward allows this to serve as a test, with potential tweaks and enhancements for the next time.

“I think it’s very brave for the NHL to say, ‘Hey, we want to do this,'” Christianson stated. “We’re all going to go in with our best and we’re going to try our best, and then we’re going to come back and we’re going to debrief and we’re going to try to get better with every process.”

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NHL To Broadcast Stanley Cup Final Games In American Sign Language, A 1st For A Major Sports League

It could become a pattern for others. Davis, who has learned a lot about ASL and dealing with the Deaf population, would be delighted if the NHL were the first, but not the last, to try something like this.

“We’re doing something no other major league has ever tried before, and that is a broadcast and experience for the Deaf by the Deaf,” Davis stated. “We are proud of that. We simply want to continue to support the communities with which we want to be authentic, and if another league wishes to model it, we believe that imitation is the finest form of flattery, so let us do so.”

SOURCE – (AP)