By Canadian Press

Prime Monday Night Hockey job a homecoming for Canadian broadcaster Adnan Virk

Oct 11, 2024 | 4:07 AM

Broadcaster Adnan Virk’s passion for sports blossomed as a youngster when he lived above a convenience store his family owned in the small Kingston-area town of Morven, Ont.

He made a habit of watching the sportscast on CTV’s “Canada AM” before running downstairs to the newspaper rack to devour the Toronto Star’s sports section. As a teenager, Virk was passionate about trading cards — soaking up all the info they provided — and even set up his own little retail area in the shop.

“You’d walk in and you had videocassettes, you had groceries and there was this little thing called the Card Corner,” he said. “That was my spot. It was pretty funny.”

His love of sports only grew through his teenage years, setting him on a path that has led to a 20-plus year career with a variety of networks across North America. Based in New Jersey, the MLB Network studio host is adding duties with Amazon that will see him return north of the border to co-anchor Prime Monday Night hockey coverage this season.

“It definitely feels like a really cool homecoming,” Virk said from Newark in a recent interview.

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Starting Thanksgiving Day with a Pittsburgh-Montreal game at Bell Centre, Prime Video will stream all national regular-season Monday night NHL games in English for Prime members in Canada. Virk will be on-site at games to serve as co-anchor with Andi Petrillo, analyst Blake Bolden and a mix of contributors.

“I think we’re going to be very unique in our presentation,” Virk said. “I think it’s something that hockey fans will love.”

Long before every statistic imaginable was just a click away, Virk fed his insatiable sports appetite any way he could. Football, basketball, hockey and baseball were at the forefront.

“The cards were a big part of it,” he said. “I remember reading cards and checking the stats. Now today, you’ve got Wikipedia and Google. Back then, you learned from the back of a baseball card.

“No one does that now but that was a really sacred thing for me at that time.”

A Toronto native, Virk returned to the Ontario capital to study at Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan) University. He spent time as a producer at TSN and hosted a show about Indian movies on Omni Television.

“He stood out as a super funny, charismatic guy and really hard-working,” said Hockey Night in Canada studio host David Amber, who worked with Virk at TSN. “You really had a sense that he was going to leave a pretty strong imprint in the industry.”

Virk’s big break came after a floor director at Omni noticed his fervour for sports. He suggested Virk contact his cousin, Anthony Cicione, now president of 27/8 Media Inc., and Anthem Sports and Entertainment, who was managing programming and production at The Score.

At the time, the budding Canadian sports network was different than domestic powers TSN and Sportsnet. The Score offered unique segments, a double-line ticker, and live availabilities mixed in with highlight packs and shows.

Cicione recalled watching Virk’s on-air work at Omni and loving his energy.

“When we hired him, we thought he was a great talent and he’s proven that to be true to this day,” Cicione said via direct message. “(He) has delivered everywhere he has gone. He can do it all with his own style.”

Virk eventually worked his way into the anchor’s chair and spent seven years at The Score, which was later purchased by Rogers Communications and rebranded as Sportsnet 360.

The Score served as a launching point for Virk and other broadcasters like Elliotte Friedman, Sid Seixeiro, Martine Gaillard and Cabral (Cabbie) Richards to name a few.

“One of the least surprising things I’ve ever seen in my career is Adnan’s career,” said Seixeiro, now a co-host on Citytv’s “Breakfast Television” in Toronto. “How he feels about sports comes out in every broadcast.”

Virk is perhaps best known for his work at ESPN. He was a studio host for Baseball Tonight, SportsCenter and Outside the Lines before being let go in 2019.

Reports said he was fired for divulging network information to a sports media writer.

“It was an amazing ride,” Virk said. “The departure was certainly unfortunate. The way I view it now, almost five years later since I got let go, is that the final 72 hours does not define the almost nine years that I was there. So was it unfortunate? Absolutely. I don’t believe that I deserved to be terminated. I disagreed with their decision.

“But it doesn’t impact the rest of my feelings toward the company. Quite frankly, I have very warm feelings toward ESPN.”

Six weeks later, Virk took a job at DAZN and he started working for the MLB Network later that year. He also makes occasional appearances on the NHL Network.

For his new hockey gig, he’ll fly out on Sunday, work the Monday game and return home early Tuesday morning.

Juggling multiple opportunities has always been part of the fun for Virk, who credits his parents for his strong work ethic. His folks now live just north of Toronto, one of five Canadian NHL markets on his schedule this season.

“I’ll get five Sunday dinners with my parents,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

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Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press