MONTREAL, Que. - EA Sports hasn't gotten around to adding U SPORTS teams to their NHL franchise just yet. Even still, Laurier will be well-represented in this year's version of the game. 

On Thursday, it was announced that Golden Hawks Hall of Famer Cheryl Pounder (BA '00) will be the colour commentator for NHL 24, set to release on October 6. 

This marks just one more entry in Pounder's long list of accomplishments in the sport. Already a World Championship gold medalist before even joining the Golden Hawks in 1995, she graduated in 2000 with an OUA Rookie of the Year, MVP, and championship to her name. 

Two years later, she helped Canada win Olympic gold in Salt Lake City, and again in Turin in 2006. She's won six World Championship gold medals and one silver. 

She began her broadcasting career at the 2009 Women's World Championships and has worked every tournament since, in addition to the 2014, 2018, and 2022 Winter Olympics. She's also been the colour commentator for TSN's broadcasts of Ottawa Senators' games since the 2021-2022 season. 

In NHL 24, she replaces longtime TSN and ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro, who's been providing commentary for EA's games since NHL 15. In fact, it was Ferraro who originally pushed Pounder to apply for the role. 

"He stepped away of his own accord, and when he was stepping away, he said, "Cheryl, I think that you should throw your hat in the ring here." 

"When Ray Ferraro says something to you like that... I mean, he's just the best there is. And so I thought to myself, he thinks I can do this, maybe I'll try." 

"I had no idea what to expect," she said about the interview. "I'm sitting with my computer, I've got the volume turned up and I've got a headset on. There's a producer online, they give me a scenario and they say "Go." 

"I just kind of jumped in whichever way I felt I should without any visual, and that was it. Then James [Cybulski, the games' play-by-play announcer since NHL 20] came on the call and we did a dual session." 

Pounder says it was unlike anything she'd done before as a broadcaster. "As an analyst, we're watching how the play develops, you see trends and you know how you're going to break that down." 

"[For the] game, you don't have that visual, so you almost have to create the scenario in your brain and how you might speak to it if you were seeing it. Yet you can't be too specific." She left the interview unsure of how she performed. 

"Everyone on the call was awesome and that was it. About a month later, I got a phone call just saying "We'd like you to step in as the colour analyst." 

The recording process started in the late summer of 2022 and continued through July 2023. "That was all happening while we were in-season [with the Senators] during the day, so it was a pretty busy year." 

A large part of the job involves recording what Pounder calls "buckets," or alternative ways of calling similar plays. 

"Let's say it's a tip in front of the net... you know that happens multiple times, so you have to come up with seven or eight ways in which to say that tip missed the net. Because, as a user, it'll be very repetitive." 

Variety is key, but veering too far into specifics can cause problems, as well. "If I start talking about a goal, like "Oh, what a toe drag!" Well, did the player toe-drag? There are some takes where you're like, "Yeah, I nailed that," because of the vision I had in my head, and we can't go with it because it's too detailed." 

Pounder would record her analysis in a way that it could be "stitched" to any player, team, or context. A significant part of the recording then comprised of reading the over 7,000 player names required for the game.

"They'll give me my stitch, I'll hear crowd noise and then I have to go "Matthews!" she described. "For hours, all you're doing is reading names... James [Cybulski] calls it "making the sausage." Those are the sessions you just have to get through because they're so repetitive." 

Repetitive, maybe, but not necessarily easy. "The problem is the "Matthews!" part because it's being stitched, so it has to match the energy of the other samples." 

It's then up to editors and producers to turn her stitches into fluid, natural sentences. "They're magical," she praised, "it's incredible what they do." 

Pounder finished recording for the game in July and is now taking some well-deserved time off before the NHL season begins again. It's been a non-stop last few years, as she's pivoted from the Senators to the hectic international schedule – even more condensed than usual as organizations played catch up following the pandemic – and back again. 

"I feel like this is my first offseason since I started doing NHL games," she said. 

"I've spent a lot the last few days since this [news] came out sort of reflecting, like, "How did this happen? How am I working at something I absolutely love and I'm passionate about?" 

"I started with a dream when I was eight to go to the Olympics when women's hockey wasn't even in the Olympics," she continued. "Now I'm 47, I'm working at what I love with TSN, and now on a video game, it's kind of surreal that this has all happened. But I'm certainly proud that I've had this opportunity and engaged in it." 

"I can honestly say that my colleagues have been instrumental in that, because coming into the transition to the NHL a couple of years ago, they lent so much knowledge to me. They answered my calls, they pushed me, and they did all of those things in mentorship that allow you to grow your confidence. That kind of gave me the push I needed to, like Cassie Campbell-Pascal says, "believe you belong." 

Pounder mentions Pascal – her former team Canada teammate and broadcaster for Sportsnet and ESPN – as well as TSN analysts Craig Button and Dave Poulin as people in the industry who encouraged her. Once again, it was Ray Ferraro who gave her the initial push toward working for the Senators. 

"I went down to do a little bit of a segment for Hockey Night in Canada," she remembers, "on my way home I had a direct message, it was Ray Ferraro, he said, "I really think you should be doing more of this, how can I help?" 

The move to the NHL appealed to Pounder because, as she said, "there was only so much women's hockey to be able to do. So, if I wanted to grow and develop, I had to transition into the men's game." 

That's changing, however. "Every year since 2011, I've been doing women's hockey, and it's grown so much over the years. Now, for the world championships, they [broadcast] all the games. In previous years, I did three or five games and waited until the following World Championships." 

"What I love about it is that you're seeing opportunity and visibility for young women and women alike to know that there is a path... I came along for the first of everything and, they're no longer firsts." 

That's not completely true, as Pounder will, in fact, be the first female colour commentator for EA's NHL franchise, though Carrlyn Bathe has been a part of the broadcast team since NHL 21 as a rinkside reporter. 

"When I was interviewing for it, I didn't even recognize that significance," she said. "Reflecting on it now, it's surreal and I'm certainly proud." 

Pounder recognizes the significance it holds for her daughters, aged 13 and 15, joking that "for one moment in time, I was cool." Pounder coaches her eldest's hockey team and aims to provide a "familiar voice" to young women in the sport. 

"I do think with more opportunity and visibility being given, there are so many women out there for whom, not only is it familiar, but they recognize that there is a path, there is opportunity." 

"That's kind of where it all starts, but where it goes, who knows?"