Check Your DM's

no really.......check.

Two weeks ago I had not even an inkling of what might be coming. ME? Doing the PA announcements for the Vancouver Canucks on a night Celebrating Women in Sport. As far as bucketlist boxes go, these are mine.

Feb 27th I logged into my LinkedIn account (mental note: do this more often), to do something that I almost never do - check my DM’s. Not sure what it’s like for you, but notifications drive me around the bend so I keep them off. I figure if you are really looking for me, you will call.

Little did I know….an out-of-the-blue DM was about to spark a thrill of a lifetime experience.

The DM in question was not random spam, but rather was a note from my longtime good buddy and former Sportsnet colleague, now Director of Communications at Canucks Sports and Entertainment (Canucks), Craig MacEwen. Cmac was asking if it would be OK for the Game Presentation team to reach out to me as they “Want a female Al Murdoch for our Women in Sport game.”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? Al Murdoch is a goddamn LEGEND - the voice of the Canucks - who took over from the icon that was the late GREAT John Ashbridge, who was a mentor and my dear friend.

On the heals of the incredibly rewarding Invictus Games Vancouver 2025, my back to reality was stacked. Another legend, Mike Smyth, was ready for a little vacation and I am his go-to fill in. After a 4 day breather, it was back to work at CKNW …..and this game night would punctuate a crazy news week.

Of course I replied: “of course.”

Moments later an official email invitation arrived from Jason Steensma, Director Game Entertainment CSE.

“We are finalizing plans for our Women In Sport Celebration game here next friday March 7 and are looking for a guest PA Announcer for the game. If this is something that you would be interested in doing, we feel that you wuold be an excellent addition to our game presentation. You would be sharing the PA duties with Al Murdoch throughout the night, would be part of our pregame rehersals and a part of our Game Entertainment team for the event.”

Of course I replied: “I would love to.”

Buckle up.

It’s in the calendar. Let’s do this….but first….

Who could have predicted the level of chaos the news cycle would serve up that week of March 3-7 2025. Trump trade-war activated, deactivated, reactivated and on and on. Liberal leadership race final week, leading up to a new Prime Minister — and an outgoing one. A BC Budget landing with a record high almost $11B deficit.

It was a head spinner of a week.

On Wednesday the incredible special guests slated for the Women in Sport Celebration night dropped. Man I needed that, it read like a dream.

The heaviest of heavy hitters. Christine Sinclair, Cammi Granato, Charline Lebonte, Maggie MacNiel, Camryn Rogers, Katie Vincent. (see below for their intro and puck drop) Just to be in the arena with those trailblazers was one thing, to be the one introducing them was next level.

But wait, there’s more … the ceremony would be not only to the Rogers Arena crowd, but also to the NHL audience on Sportsnet! A full circle sports moment for me.

Women apologize for tooting their own horns, and I’m loath to do it … but … the reason I was invited is that in 2000 I became “The first woman in the history of Canadian Television to host her own national sports program in primetime.” - I am proud of this.

Back to the story:

After wrapping up my week of live talk radio, it was off to the rink for rehearsals. My off air schedule saw me run a bit behind the game day routine for the CSE. The crew was gathered in the controlroom, already giving the rundown the once over before rehersal, as I walked in.

(Cue the COOLEST part of the story…. in 3…..2….1….)

Jadranka Dugandžić Coordinator, Game Entertainment at CSE was holding court. Strong, smart, bold and funny - Jad held the room in the palm of her hand. The maestro. Once we were all literally on the same page, it was off to our positions for rehearsals.

The team does full rehearsal before EVERY game. Nothing is left to chance.

We arrived in the John Ashbridge PA booth, Al Murdoch guiding me to my seat, Jad says “OMG, I’m so excited to meet you - you spoke to my class at BCIT! You probably don’t remember.” — see the thing is I DID remember. Jad was as unforgettable then as she is now. I recall vividly how she told me her name and noted that “it’s a tough one”. Then she was peppering me with questions in a room not necessarily invested in taking women on a sports broadcast path. It was CLEAR that Jad was on a mission and my advice to her then (and always) is to never let anything stop you from doing what you dream of. Here she was living it.

But wait, it gets better.

Having worked with some spectacular Directors in my career (Jonesy, Sheilagh, Shelley, Rhonda, Heather, Lucia) it’s no small thing to say that Jad is creme de la creme …. a total rock star at what she does. At every turn the team knew what was expected next and when it was go time. “coming to Jody for starting lineup, in three … two…one….go Jody.”

Calm, cool, collected and FUN. Be proud Jad.

As for my experience in the PA role, my feet still have not come back down to earth. It was scary and thrilling. Here are a few snippets of what it was like on TV as well as behind the scenes.

This is the THRILL. This is 8 year old Jody living the dream….

Here is the compilation of behind the scenes….from the elevator up, onward.

After “starting line up” announcement, above, I went directly into this live read for the ceremonial puck drop. Absolutely mind-blowing, such an honour.

• as always, please excuse typos and grammar.