Kortney Kenney, Derek Lindeman, Bob Coles and Ben along during a North Bay Battalion radio broadcast.
The folks behind the Frontline Broadcast will be at the helm of this year’s Powassan Voodoos broadcast on HockeyTV. Kortney Kenney, Matthew Sookram, Bob Coles, and Derek Lindeman will provide live play by play coverage of the Voodoos home games, simulcasted on HockeyTV and the Frontline Broadcast Youtube channel.
The Frontline Crew takes over for longtime Voodoos play-by-play man Gerry Mathias.
“We’d like to thank Gerry for his passionate Voodoos calls and his dedication over the years,” said Dawson, Voodoos general manager.
“He’s always welcome at our games and you may still hear him on a broadcast from time to time.”
The Frontline Broadcast will be sponsored by Average Joes Eatery and Patio Bar.
Matt Sookram, who got his broadcasting start covering the NOJHL’s North Bay Jr Trappers and the 2013 Dudley Hewitt Cup, is thrilled with the opportunity.
“It’s exciting to be able to expand upon what we did last year,” says Sookram. “We thought we could provide a service to the community by broadcasting North Bay Battalion OHL games on YouTube and now we’re happy to add the affiliated club, the Voodoos, to that overall package.”
Kenney got the ball rolling when he initially developed the Frontline Podcast during the 2020 season which ended up being completely cancelled due to COVID-19.
“There wasn’t any hockey happening, and nobody else was really updating the community on the latest with the team, and so I took a chance at it, and I’m really proud to see what it has evolved into now,” he says. “I can’t wait to get started doing games for the Voodoos and I’m thrilled to be working with such a first-class organization here in Powassan.”
As a thirty-year veteran broadcaster, Coles is lending his voice to the Frontline Gameday Broadcasts as well. “After doing games for over three decades on the radio, it has been a pleasure to be able to continue doing what I love in a new format. Aside from the technical advances at the end of the day, we’re still just calling hockey games, and I hope the Voodoos fans enjoy this year’s broadcasts.”
Rounding out the broadcast side is Lindeman, who has been a rink side reporter, color analyst and play by play voice on the local sports scene for the last several years.
“We’re looking at a way to provide the players and team with an interactive platform to get involved with the community and their fans. Over the last year and a bit, we’ve shown the community our professionalism and knowledge of the game, and we’re going to continue doing that with the Voodoos.”
Tying everything together is Ben Long who produces the games live and provides all the knowledge on the technical side.
“It has been very exciting to roll out our ideas last year and bring new ones to the table this year as we continue to establish ourselves and build our audience,” said Long.
“The Powassan market is the perfect place for us to accomplish those goals and we’re happy to be welcomed in by this community.”
Matt Sookram interviewing former North Bay Centennial Chris Neil during a 2018 Battalion radio broadcast.