1st woman to call play-by-play for Canadian NHL team a Mount Allison grad

Kenzie Lalonde made history in Canadian sports this week, but it all began in the small New Brunswick town of Sackville.

On Tuesday, she was the first woman to call a play-by-play for a Canadian NHL team, in a game between the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs, as a commentator for TSN.

"I think when I look at Tuesday night's game, it was a full circle moment for me," Lalonde said, because she grew up as a Senators fan.

She was also the first woman to do play-by-play for the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. 

Lalonde said her dream had always been to be a sports host or reporter.

"And I never really scratched that itch until I got to university at Mount Allison."

She said the university's sports director, Pierre Arsenault, learned she was interested in sports media and encouraged her to give it a try by borrowing a camera and covering school athletics. 

Despite some initial technical challenges, Lalonde said she quickly began to enjoy it.

"And the more I kept trying it and learning about how to produce a story and what does a broadcast look like, the more I just fell in love with it."

She went on to work for Eastlink Community TV in Halifax, where she got more experience trying play-by-play.

"And I think these steps have led me to this moment. I've put the work in and done the reps and, you know, certainly being the first along the way, but I think it's important that we just get more women in this space," she said.

A changing field

Sports media is changing and new voices are being included, Lalonde said.

"And when you look at the role of play-by-play in a traditional setting, it's a white older man, and I'm a young female. So I'm very much breaking this mould of what viewers are used to."

Looking back on Tuesday's game, she feels very proud.

"I do think it takes an inner confidence to stand your ground and show your work and let that speak for itself."

She points to her experience playing hockey as a kid and in university as an important factor in how she does play-by-play.

"I feel like I'm a player again. I'm in the thick of it. I'm with the players. You're part of the moments in real time, and I think that's why I gravitate toward it," she said.

Since Tuesday, Lalonde said she's already heard from people who've taken inspiration from what she did.

"I've had a few people come up to me and say, you know, 'I sat down and watched that game with my young daughter who didn't even really care about hockey, but just the fact that you were part of that broadcast interested her,'" she said.

Lalonde said she feels she's hit the career jackpot.

"I think there's so many layers to this. And that was just one game of many. I've got 11 more on the season so I'm looking forward to it."