Hockey game to be broadcast in Inuktitut

Inuktitut-speaking people will be able to hear NHL hockey commentary in the language for the first time.

Starting at 2 p.m. on January 30, the Ottawa Senators will host the Montreal Canadiens for Tim Hortons Hockey Day in Canada.

CBC broadcasters Charlie Panigoniak and Annie Ford will call the game in Inuktitut.

The Inuktitut-language television broadcast will be available through Shaw, used by many co-op providers, on Channel 333, and Bell satellite TV on Channel 249.

CBC’s website will also stream the broadcast live, with Inuktitut commentary if desired.

Many co-ops in Nunavut and Nunavik will also broadcast the game and Inuktitut commentary on the regular CBC cable channels.

CBC North’s Iqaluit bureau chief Pat Nagle explained there were many different technical setups in the communities for cable broadcasts, so CBC wasn’t able to arrange the Inuktitut commentary to be shown everywhere.

It’s not clear if the Inuktitut hockey broadcast will be available in Nunavik’s 15 Inuit communities, home to about nine thousand Inuktitut speakers.

Nagle said CBC is still working on that issue and that Nunavik fans may hear the broadcast on the radio, with the audio on their TV sets turned off.

Since the hockey show’s audio feed will also be broadcast on CBC Radio One in the eastern Arctic, people can watch the regular English-language broadcastand get the Inuktitut audio feed on their radios.