Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
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Brice Christianson has been studying up on hockey jargon to be ready in case Commissioner Gary Bettman uses phrases like “face-off,” “five-hole” or “one-timer” in his State of the League address. 

Commissioner Bettman’s address before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning in Denver on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ABC, CBC, SN, TVAS) will be interpreted by Christianson in American Sign Language (ASL) for the first time as part of the NHL’s effort to improve the hockey experience for deaf and hard of hearing fans.

“I invest a lot of time into prepping and practicing so I’ve been watching a lot of the NHL playoffs,” said Christianson, founder, CEO and professional sports interpreter of P-X-P, a firm that cultivates accessible and inclusive experiences in sports and entertainment. “So I’ve been watching a lot of the NHL playoffs. I’ve been practicing while I watch interviews, play-by-play commentary, and any terminology that I’m unfamiliar with, I research it, break it down.”

Christianson and Jason Altmann, P-X-P’s chief operating officer, said they’re excited about the possibilities for hockey and the sports world from their advising the NHL on authentic, meaningful, engagement with the deaf community over the airwaves, online and in arenas.

“There’s a lot of things that we overlook in terms of play-by-play commentary or color commentary,” Altmann, who is deaf, said using ASL. “It’s inaccessible, so how do deaf and hard of hearing fans keep up with the game? Also, like public service announcements (in arenas), for example, inclement weather, fire…deaf and hard of hearing fans are in the dark.”

About 30 million Americans over age 12 have hearing loss in both ears and about two to three out of every 1,000 children in the U.S. are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

There’s an estimated 357,000 people in Canada who are culturally deaf and 3.21 million who are hard of hearing, according to the Canadian Association of the Deaf.

For those who are sports fans, following a game or their favorite teams isn’t easy. Christianson can attest to that. Growing up in Appleton, Wisconsin, he interpreted the action at sporting events for his father, who is deaf.

“I was a kid and had limited knowledge of English and American Sign Language — I had a child’s grasp of the language,” said Christianson, who later earned a bachelor’s degree in sign language interpreting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “However, I could listen and parse out what I felt was important for my father to know. I don’t know if I did the job correctly, but what I did know was cueing my father with the surroundings, making him feel welcome and included.”

While he was happy to interpret, Christianson felt as he got older that it would be more …….

Source: https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-state-of-league-address-to-be-interpreted-in-american-sign-language/c-334582390