Event Details
When:
-
Location:
Online: Zoom
*Zoom webinar starts at 5:30pm
And In-Person:
WWU Viking Union
Multi-Purpose Room
5:00pm to 5:30pm
Light Refreshments
5:30pm to 7:00pm
Panel Discussion
Price:
Free
Brought to you by:
Center for Canadian-American Studies, WWU Alumni Association
Description
Check out this video to watch the Hocky Night in Cascadia.
The arrival of the Seattle Kraken to the shores of the Salish Sea represents the latest milestone for professional ice hockey in the cross-border Cascadia region. The Kraken join organizations like the Vancouver Canucks, the Western Hockey League (WHL), the American Hockey League (AHL), and the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) in promoting the sport across the Pacific Northwest, ushering in more fan interest in conjunction with infrastructure such as the new Climate Pledge Arena.
In addition to the action on the ice, hockey has a long tradition of fostering binational relations between Canada and the United States through diplomacy, media, and economic exchange. To this end, the Hockey Night in Cascadia dialogue will explore the sport as a catalyst for cross-border engagement and a vehicle for political, social and economic impact.
Hockey historian Andrew Holman, PhD (Bridgewater State University) will discuss the heritage of the game in the cross-border region; hockey beat and investigative reporter Geoff Baker (Seattle Times) will address the sport in relation to the city of Seattle and other National Hockey League teams in the U.S. and Canada; and community engagement specialist Andrew Bloom (Seattle Kraken) will highlight the role of growing the Kraken footprint in engaging community and fostering social impact at the grassroots level in the Pacific Northwest.
A panel format will be followed by an open question-and-answer period.
Featuring:
Geoff Baker, Speaker
Montreal native Geoff Baker is a Seattle Times writer and columnist covering the Kraken and NHL. Previously, he wrote a sports business column and did investigative sports reporting after 16 seasons covering MLB for the Times and Toronto Star. He is a three-time winner and 11-time finalist for the Associated Press Sports Editors award and a three-time National Newspaper Award winner in Canada for both sports and news writing. His new book, Rising From the Deep, is a sports business and political thriller about the birth of the Kraken, demise of the Seattle Supersonics and the yearslong quest for a new major sports arena in Seattle.
Andrew Bloom, Speaker
Andrew Bloom is the Community Engagement and Youth Access Specialist for the Seattle Kraken and One Roof Foundation. As a new NHL club in a nontraditional hockey market, the Kraken and One Roof Foundation have the opportunity and obligation to make true the aspirational statement that "Hockey is for Everyone." Andrew works to identify and remove barriers for underrepresented communities to take part in hockey and ice skating programs at Kraken Community Iceplex; and works with different communities to create unique opportunities for youth to participate in street hockey and floorball programs in their neighborhoods. Before joining the Kraken, Andrew earned his master's degree in Movement & Leisure Science from the University of Idaho and served as the Program Director for Upower in King County.
Andrew Holman, PhD, Speaker
Andrew Holman is professor of history and director of the Canadian Studies Program at Bridgewater State University (Massachusetts), where he has been teaching classes in Canadian, United States, and sport history since 1996. He is author or editor of eight books—four of them on hockey, including A Hotly Contested Affair: The National Game in Documents (Toronto 2020), Hockey: A Global History (Illinois 2018), and The Same But Different: Hockey in Quebec (McGill-Queen's 2017). Since 2019, he has been co-editor of the American Review of Canadian Studies. Born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario, he was educated at McGill, McMaster, and York universities. He lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Derek Moscato, PhD, Moderator
Derek Moscato is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism at Western Washington University and a research fellow with WWU’s Center for Canadian-American Studies and the Border Policy Research Institute. A longtime hockey devotee, Moscato developed the Honors Program class Icing the Kraken: Hockey’s Political Economy and Public Diplomacy in 2022. Moscato’s research examines the confluence of global media, strategic communication, and environmentalism. His recent projects focus on cross-border media ecosystems in Cascadia, the communication ramifications of resources extraction projects in the Canada/U.S. borderlands, and the soft power of international sport. Moscato holds a PhD from the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication.
Accommodations and Other Details
Contact Lisl Schroeder for this event. Feel free to call (360) 650-3725 or email at schroee2@wwu.edu if you have any questions or comments.
Advance notice for disability accommodations and special needs is greatly appreciated. Please indicate your special needs on the registration form.
There will be auto-captions available for the Zoom webinar.
Limited paid parking is available in the C lots at the south end of campus and in lots 6V and 7G at the north end of campus. Western provides comprehensive parking details—including lot locations, fees, and campus map.