Redmond talks new show on YouTube, PWHL in Q&A with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. In this edition, we feature NHL Network host Jackie Redmond.

Jackie Redmond is ready for her next challenge.

The NHL Network host launched her new YouTube show called “The Jackie Redmond Show” last week on the NHL’s channel. The series features interviews with players, coaches and famous fans, behind-the-scenes footage and a roundup of the week’s best hockey storylines.

Redmond is thrilled the League chose her to create her own content series and provide lighthearted content for all types of hockey fans. She’s excited to bring a little personality to the game she loves.

New episodes of “The Jackie Redmond Show” premiere every Friday on the NHL’s YouTube channel throughout the regular season.

NHL.com sat down with Redmond to discuss her new YouTube show, her Taylor Swift fandom, her new pickleball hobby and the PWHL.

“The Jackie Redmond Show” just launched on the NHL’s YouTube channel last week. You are no stranger to the platform with your own channel and taking that type of content to your other social media platforms. Is this the type of show you have always wanted to do? Can you discuss the process of how it came about?

“[I’ve always wanted to] bring my passion for the game to the things that I am a part of and to have fun and not take myself super seriously. I would say I’ve gotten more into doing interviews. I was a studio host for a very long time, so the opportunity to have an interview-based show and talk to celebrities that are big fans of the game and players and coaches within the game that have personality and try to bring that to the forefront as much as possible was a very exciting opportunity, and also one that I think is a challenge.

“I'm at the point in my career where I embrace challenges and I look forward to having them. So, that was a big part of it. I think being on NHL Now for six seasons, I really learned how to handle any situation. For a long time, I put a lot of my content on social media even before it was kind of the norm to do that. It just felt like a good fit, but also really an exciting opportunity. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the NHL thought I was worthy of my own show on YouTube, but here we are.”

What are you hoping fans get out of the show?

“I'm hoping that fans get a closer look at some of the personalities that we do have in the game. I think we've come a really long way in hockey in having our players put their personalities out there and showcase their interests outside of the game. But I do think that there's still a bit of a stigma around hockey, as the players being boring or having a tendency to give cliché answers in interviews. I think there really is a desire for more lighthearted content, not just in hockey, but maybe in the world after everything we've gone through over the last five years as a society. I hope that people who tune in walk away from the show just feeling like they had a good time and maybe learn something new about whoever we're talking to, whether it's a player or a coach, a former player and coach, or even a celebrity that maybe they didn't know was as into hockey as they are.”

In the first episode, your last burning question was whether Travis Kelce and Connor Bedard are going to lace up their skates together and maybe it would happen on your show. Were you possibly teasing a future episode or trying to speak it into existence?

“Well, I can't confirm or deny. I will say it's probably a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B. I think if we've learned anything from Travis Kelce, it's that you’ve got to shoot your shot, right? You just never know what might happen. I think it's awesome that he was talking about Connor Bedard on his podcast and really got a lot of attention for that. With everything going on in the NFL with Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift ... our show is aiming to kind of be about that sort of stuff. Our show is about hockey, but it's about passion for the game. It's about what's happening around the game, and it's also about those happenstance moments that go viral and suddenly something is happening that everyone's talking about and it becomes a pop-culture moment.

"Yes, I was trying to speak it into existence. There may or may not be some requests out there, but we'll see. We'll see what the universe has in store for this show.”

Do you think Travis can talk Taylor into going to a game?

“I think he can absolutely talk Taylor Swift into going to a game. She strikes me as the type of person that is open to anything that seems like a good time, and obviously hockey is a great time. She said in Time (magazine) she didn't realize what she'd been missing in football all these years, and I think she might have the same realization if she were to come to a hockey game and see what our fan base and what our game has to offer.”

What are your top five Taylor Swift albums?

“This is so brutal only because I am the type of person that my opinion changes every other month with Taylor. I just go through phases, if you will. I think that speaks to the kind of artist she is. She has different albums that are perfect, depending on what kind of mood you're in, or maybe something you're going through in your life. A different album will cater to that ‘era,’ for lack of a better word, of your own life.  I am an OG, Swiftie, so I've listened to her since ‘Tim McGraw’ [in 2006]. I'm going to put ‘Red’ at No. 1, only because that album was the first album of hers where I was just obsessed front to back. I'm old, but it was a CD for me, I just burned through it. I absolutely loved that album. I will always love that album. ‘1989’ No. 2, No. 3 ‘Fearless,’ ‘Reputation’ No. 4 and No. 5 ‘Evermore.’

You have a pretty packed schedule with NHL Network, NHL on TNT, WWE and now ‘The Jackie Redmond Show.’ What do you like to do when you finally get some free time?

“Right now, my husband and I are very into pickleball. We lived in Florida for a month just for fun [and] became obsessed with pickleball -- my husband so much so that he bought a pickleball court to put in our garage. We have a rather large garage because of my husband's business. The cars are not inside in the winter, they're outside right now. We live in Nova Scotia. Winter is real and we have a Pickleball court in there and that is our No. 1 hobby at the moment. Outside of that, I like to just step away from everything sports related when I can, once a week to just read a book or watch a TV series.”

The PWHL just started their season last week. How excited are you for these women and what are you most looking forward to?

“Never could have imagined as a kid, as a girl that grew up playing hockey, that I would ever see the day where arenas were being sold out for professional women’s hockey. That has been a real trip just to watch and see. What I'm realizing through the process is that it's not just the people that want to play hockey -- it's the people that want to cover hockey that are also benefiting. You see someone like Hailey Salvian on the panel up in Canada when these games are on, [and] Jamie Hersch and Julie Stewart-Binks are calling games for the New York team.

“You're seeing already in its infancy just the ripple effect that it's having on women, in sports in general. That speaks volume to what this league means for athletes, but also for people that love sports in general. And then I always say this -- it's important for young girls to see what they can be and what is possible. But I think it's also as important for young boys to grow up in a world where women covering sports and women playing sports on TV is normal. It's not different. It's not something to have an opinion about or to feel foreign. It's just part of society. It's just part of the world. I think it's as important that these impressions are being made on young boys as it is young girls, and that's a huge win.”

You are one of the few prominent female reporters in hockey, what has that journey been like?

“I feel really fortunate to be covering hockey at the time that I do. Even 10 years ago or more than 10 years ago when I first started, I covered all sports. When I first started out, I saw myself back on TV and I was like, ‘Oh, I don't know about that; feels like I'm just trying to be what I think a broadcaster is.’ I had a conversation with a couple of people close to me, including my dad. It was like, they want me to be more in the box. I had gotten feedback that I didn't stay in the box enough. We had a conversation about, ‘Well, you know, you could do what everyone's telling you to do, and you could definitely achieve success, but will you be happy? Or you can try to do it your way and have fun and not be afraid to laugh on the air or ask Connor McDavid about Nickelback. If you achieve success that way, you get to be yourself. And isn't that better?’ After that conversation, and this is a long time ago, I just decided that I was going to go for it and see what happened.”

Do you have any advice for any young girls trying to break into the business?

“It sounds so cliché and textbook, [but] I really do believe that you have to be genuine and true to yourself at the end of the day. I think a lot of people that succeed in any avenue will tell you, especially in something as forward facing as broadcasting, that once they let go of trying to be what everyone wanted them to be and were just themselves, that's when they really found their success. I would also say do the work. I think a lot of my success and opportunity has come from working really, really hard, seeking out feedback and then applying it.  When people see that you're willing to work hard and you're willing to learn and you're aware that you don't have it all figured out when you're first starting, there's a level of respect that you gain.”