Photo Credit: Bell Media.
Hockey is usually viewed a “man’s game” which includes players even commentators, but don’t tell Andi Petrillo that. Petrillo is starting to change the culture around hockey and that’s why she is this week’s spotlight. Her love affair with hockey began at a young age. Her first job was at a local hockey rink at their snack stand. Petrillo grew up in Canada and quickly grew to love hockey because of her father.
Petrillo’s career in journalism began when she was 19 where she began working at a local TV station. She started doing behind-the-scenes work before she was given a small on-air role as a restaurant reporter. She was then promoted to sports host and producer which got some pushback from the network initially. It wasn’t because they didn’t believe Petrillo was a good fit, but because she was a woman. While there are not exact words to describe how the network felt, it is assumed that the network believed that having two women at the newsdesk would be “distracting” or “confusing” for some people. If that doesn’t show the blatant sexism Petrillo had to deal with, nothing else will.
Petrillo’s boss at the time, Lisa McClean Shellack, fought to have Petrillo there and won. In 2006, Petrillo’s career really took off when she joined the Leafs TV staff, which focuses on the Toronto Maple Leafs and their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. She did some freelance work for ESPN before her role as a member of the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment expanded. She was able to branch out to cover other sports including the Toronto Raptors and Toronto’s soccer team, the Toronto FC. During her tenure with the MLSE, she was able to travel to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake in 2010. She also travelled to Afghanistan with some NHL players to show their support for the troops.
In 2011, she joined the Hockey Night in Canada’s staff. She became the first female to work full-time with in the HNIC studio. She also covered the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics along with 2014 FIFA World Cup for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She began working for the NHL Network for the 2015-2016 season. Most recently, Petrillo became the first woman in Canada to have her own daily sports radio show in February 2016.
Petrillo’s presence is very exciting for female hockey fans. With Petrillo’s new show, it paves the way for more females to have a chance now at working in sports. While Petrillo knows how more important that all is, she wants to be taken seriously because she’s qualified and not just because she’s female. After all the fighting and hard work Petrillo had to do to get where she is, she deserves everything she has and much more.
