Indian Immigrants Are Saving Canadian Hockey: How the Punjabi diaspora rescued Canada's national sport

"Instead of threatening the quintessential Canadian [sports] institution [of hockey], immigrants are strengthening it at a time when it needs the help.” Shikha Dalmia writes for Reason that the Punjabi Indian diaspora — especially in Canada — is in fact very much into hockey.  Supported by shows like Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition, “Nothing says ‘Canadian’ to them more than watching a game at Scotiabank Arena wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey.”

Dalmia concludes that "immigrants . . .aren't nearly the threat to native culture that restrictionists make them out to be. Of course they're nostalgic for the things they leave behind. But they're also eager to explore and embrace the new things their adopted homes offer. And when they do so, they strengthen—not tear apart—a country's cultural fabric. They weave new strands into it, creating a far richer and more durable tapestry."

 

On NPR, David Greene in 2016 talked to Harnarayan Singh, play-by-play voice for Hockey Night In Canada Punjabi Edition. Singh's dramatic calls have won him fans even beyond Canada's large Punjabi speaking minority.

KJ