It was a pretty humble beginning for Nick Neilson. who grew up on his family’s farm located just outside of Scott, Saskatchewan, which is approximately 15 km southwest of Wilkie.
He first fell in love with broadcasting during his time in the Digital Communications and Media program at Lethbridge College (now known as Lethbridge Polytechnic). Nielsen called Kodiaks volleyball and basketball games as part of the program’s curriculum. Nielsen graduated from the program in 2017 and has called games in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) for the Kindersley Klippers and Weyburn Red Wings.
Nielsen says he is looking forward to getting the opportunity to call major junior hockey just a short drive from the farm where he grew up.
“I’m super excited to be finally getting up to the WHL here. It’s been a goal of mine for a while. My absolute favorite thing to do is call hockey games on the air. I get to do even more of it, just because there’s more games on the schedule in the WHL. The thing I think I’m most excited about is that I get to do it so close to home. There’s a lot of jobs around Canada doing it, but they’re hard to get into. The fact that I get to do it less than three hours away from the farm is absolutely amazing.”
Nielsen, who is an avid Detroit Red Wings fan, says he looks up to certain broadcasters but likes to formulate his unique style when on the air.
“I don’t know if I’d model myself after anybody, but there’s definitely guys I take influences from. Chris Cuthbert has always been one of my favorites. He’s the guy I listened to call the golden goal. Rod Pederson, I got to listen to him call Roughrider games, I enjoyed him a lot. Doc Emerick is always one of my favorites. I love a guy who isn’t afraid to go out there with some different words you don’t expect to hear.”
Nielsen takes over as voice of the Raiders from Nolan Kowal, who spent one season calling games for the team.
The Raiders have been busy on draft day over the past couple years. Prince Albert has made five selections in the first round over the past WHL Prospects Draft, including four picks made in the top five.
With the likes of Daxon Rudolph, Riley Boychuk and Ty Meunier all eligible to join the Raiders as full-time contributors in the upcoming season, Nielsen says he is excited about the bright future ahead in Prince Albert.
“That’s what I love doing play by play for is being the voice people hear when those big moments happen. It really sounds like Prince Albert is starting to put something special together with the prospects that they have now that we could be talking about some moments that we see on the ice here in the next few years. We could be talking about them for decades and decades to come and being the person who gets to narrate that is really special.”
It was announced on Thursday afternoon by the Raiders on social media that Neilsen had taken the position. A video was posted of Neilsen inside the broadcast booth at the Art Hauser Centre introducing himself to the Raider fanbase.
Raider business manager Michael Scissons says Neilsen was visibly excited about calling Raider hockey when he dropped by for a visit at the team office earlier this week.
“He explained that he had a goal to be in the WHL by the time he was 30 and he’s just under that. He said that to have it so close to his home is like a dream come true. First thing he did was stop in the store and pick up a hat for his dad and a golf shirt for himself. That’s pretty exciting to see the excitement of a guy like that. There’s something in the water about Sask. grown hockey people and you can see it in the NHL. It’s right down to the people and at all levels that are involved.”
“Nick is one of those guys who has a trajectory to potentially be a name we remember for a long time. I think he’s going to call Raider hockey for a long time. I think we’ll be lucky to have him for a long time because he’s a natural talent behind the mic.”
The Raiders open the 2024-25 season on Sept. 20 when they welcome the Regina Pats to the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
