There is nothing more exciting than an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Final. I take that back, there is nothing more exciting than a Stanley Cup Final overtime goal as called in Punjabi.
We last highlighted the broadcast crew of Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi -- which provides Canada's large Sikh community with a broadcast in their traditional language, native to northern India and Pakistan -- after their call of Nick Bonino's Game 1 goal went viral. They're back at it again in an even bigger moment and the whole crew got into it.
Play-by-play man Harnarayan Singh brings the decibel levels until he runs out of oxygen while booth mates Harpreet Pandher and Randip Janda bring it home with the exuberant analysis.
SHEARY! SHER BAN KE! @IceSinghHNIC@HarpPandher@RandipJanda
— Hockey Night Punjabi (@HkyNightPunjabi) June 2, 2016
*Drops Mic* #HockeyNightPunjabipic.twitter.com/I6PhE6MrYd
The broadcasts, which have been available on the Omni network in Canada for a few years now, are getting a lot of attention in these playoffs in particular. The calls for each goal have been shared on Twitter, bringing them to a wider audience than before. And hockey fans everywhere are loving it.
Singh's call of Bonino's late goal in Game 1 ("BoninoBoninoBoninoBonino... Nick Boninooooooooo") has its own hashtag and has already made it onto shirts being sold around Pittsburgh.
@HkyNightPunjabipic.twitter.com/vTGWCcE4gF
— Center Field Smoke (@CFSmoke) June 2, 2016
It also caught the attention of the Penguins' players and coaches.
"We think they're great," Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said on the off day between Games 1 and 2 (via penguins.com). "We actually threw them in the game review for our guys to listen to. They got a kick out of it. It's entertaining, that's for sure."
Bonino didn't score in Game 2, but he did set up the game's first call, which came with a little more of an understated play-by-play call, by Hockey Night: Punjabi standards, at least.
With hockey being so steeped in tradition and having a certain sound for all these years, it's a lot of fun to hear broadcasts delivered like this. Now Sheary has his own custom call. That might not be as easy to put on a T-Shirt as the Bonino one was, but it's memorable nonetheless.
By the way, Sheary became only the fifth rookie in NHL history to score the game-winning goal in overtime of a Stanley Cup Final game. It hasn't happened at all since 1986. Quite a night for a kid who never got drafted.