Flames assistant GM Snow, Punjabi announcer Singh on 'Real Sports'

Chris Snow and Harnarayan Singh will be featured in a hockey-centric episode of "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" on Tuesday. The show will air on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max at 10 p.m. ET.

Snow is working as a Calgary Flames assistant general manager nearly four years after he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and given one year to live.
Singh, who became a Punjabi language play-by-play commentator on "Hockey Night Canada" famous for his unique style and viral goal calls, has achieved his dream of calling games in English.
Correspondent Jon Frankel takes viewers behind the scenes of Snow's work and family life in an emotional 14-minute segment. He asked Snow why he hadn't quit working when ALS, a progressive neuromuscular disease with no cure, has affected his face and arms.
"That's not who I am," Snow says, leaning back to help himself speak. "If I get up and go to work, then I'm still healthy and I'm still winning."
Snow, who lost his father, two uncles and a cousin to ALS, has been using an experimental drug. His wife, Kelsie, helps him complete daily tasks at home and the hospital. Fellow Flames assistant GM Craig Conroy drives him to the office and helps him there.

Conroy says the day before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on March 3 was difficult.
"I could understand him early in the morning, but as the day went along, it was hard, and I knew he was frustrated," Conroy says. "But he wasn't going anywhere. I said, 'Do you want to go home?' 'Nope. I want to stay. I want to see everybody. I want to be a part of this.'"
The Snows have a daughter, Willa, and a son, Cohen.
"This is a complete win," Snow says. "My kids were so little. They were 4 and 7 when I was diagnosed. Now they're 8 and 11. I have to think that I can beat this in order to get up each day and go on with normalcy, be a dad and play. So as long as I can do those things, then I don't think I'm dying."
In 2016, "Real Sports" featured "Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition," a Punjabi language broadcast that caters to the large and growing population of Punjabi Sikhs across Canada.
Correspondent Andrea Kremer updates Singh's story in a 12-minute segment, replaying Singh's Punjabi calls -- including the Nick Bonino goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final -- and explaining how he has made the transition to English.

Singh went to broadcasting school set on becoming an announcer. He got his big break in 2008 when "Hockey Night in Canada" wanted to reach a new demographic. After announcing more than 700 games in Punjabi, he is now calling games in English.
Asked what it was like to call his first game in English, Singh says, "I was like, 'Oh, my goodness. Here we are. This is it.' I was a bit scared, because it's like, you want to do a good enough job so that the door that you've kind of swung open, it stays open."
Singh writes phrases to describe hockey plays in English before each game to keep them fresh in his mind, but he keeps a Punjabi flavor.
"When a goaltender makes a mistake but then recovers for himself, oftentimes in English idiom is used where it's like, 'Oh, he's saving his bacon,'" Singh says. "Well, I'm vegetarian. I'm the furthest thing from eating bacon, so I just substituted bacon for samosa. So now I'll say, 'He's saving his own samosa.'"
Singh chokes up as he talks about receiving a long-term contract for the first time in his career.
"I love what I'm doing," he says. "I love calling hockey games. I love being at the arenas. I love being the voice of the game. I can't get enough of it. So, no, it doesn't get old, and I hope I'm doing this forever."