Unanchored

Racism and sports have converged recently with professional athletes speaking loudly against police brutality and racial injustice following the murder of a black man at the hands of Minneapolis, MN police officers. Also after recent police shootings of Jacob Black in Wisconsin and the NBA and NHL pausing their playoffs for a couple days in their respective bubbles to advocate for more regarding racial justice. How has hockey, including the NHL done in regards to advocating for racial justice and anti-racism and what can the hockey community do to make the sport more diverse and equitable. Renee Hess from the Black Girl Hockey Club joins us on the pod to talk about how she became a hockey fan and what more the hockey community can do to make the best sport in the world more inclusive to diverse communities. Sports Journalist Salim Valji also joins the pod to talk about diversity in sports and specifically hockey media and how he can be a catalyst for making change in the media.

Social media star Pavel Barber joins the show this week to talk about his untraditional route into his career in hockey. Going from multi-sport athlete playing on national teams in three sports to becoming a stick-handling master, Pavel has amassed a social media following of upwards of 800,000 followers, bigger than some NHLers, including Stanley Cup Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Jonathan Toews.

Starting with hockey trick shots on the ice and partnering with the pros to to create some viral content, his career has taken him to hanging out with the Stanley Cup, playing hockey on top of a mountain and working and training with some high end up-and-comers and some of the best in the game.

With the return of hockey around the corner, no more perfect a time to talk about the game and how he's been able to carve out his niche on social media and to follow his passion into his favourite sport.

http://unanchoredpodcast.ca/pavel-barber/

Former Canadian Olympian and hockey broadcaster Cassie Campbell-Pascall joins Unanchored this week for a conversation about the Canada-U.S. rivalry in women's hockey, winning two Olympic gold medals, changing careers into becoming a broadcaster and more. Cassie also shares the story of her first games on-air on Hockey Night in Canada and the transition to her career in broadcasting.

Television actor, host and friend Huse Madhavji has had a tail of two careers, one as a news reporter/anchor and entertainment show host to transitioning to the acting stage and sharing the screen with Canadian acting royalty over his career so far.From meeting Shaheed and Zam at a career event in Toronto nearly a decade ago, they get to know more about Huse's journey through TV and how important the relationships he built in the industry have been to him.  

Donnovan Bennet is journalist, writer, and podcast host for Sportsnet. He co-hosts the podcast, Sports on Pause, which explores how COVID-19 has been impacting the sports world.

But over the last week or two, for Donnovan sports have been on pause. At least they’ve taken a back seat. He has lent his voice, his profile, and his passion and entire being to speaking out against racism towards black people in the U.S., Canada, and around the world.

The heinous killing of George Floyd, a defenceless and seemingly harmless black man in police custody in Minnesota sparked worldwide outrage and brought the topic of systemic racism in the United States to the top absolutely forefront.

It has uncovered once again the ugliest parts of society, and a result, protests broke out in all 50 states, and other countries. All with the hopes of sparking, real, long-lasting change towards a time when these types of killings - when a man or woman is not only treated differently but killed due to the colour of their skin - a time when those things don’t happen anymore.

And if and when we do get to that point, part of the reason will be people like Donnovan Bennet. Being a black man who has dealt with racism in one way or another throughout his life, Donnovan has been speaking loudly online and everywhere else about his experience, racism in Canada, and the role sports and specifically white athletes can and should play to help fight the fight.

So, as you can imagine, we are quite honoured to have him join us on Unanchored.

After a successful junior hockey career, Corey Hirsch's dreams came true when he made the NHL and shortly after lifted the Stanley Cup. But along the way, darkness was developing within and his career and life was consumed by mental illness, specifically OCD. Since then, Corey has been working on better himself and his mental health, and since 2017 has been helping others do the same.

Tamara Taggart has had a long and successful career in media. From the community cruiser, to beloved weather person, to news anchor, her on-air charm led to extreme popularity and a life in the public eye. She joins Shaheed and Zam to talk about her life in the media, and the challenges she has faced along the way.