If you have tuned into a Panthers home game on HockeyTV this season, you’re well aware of a unique new sound that has made an impact in the local hockey media landscape. That sound is an Australian accent, and it comes from Ben Waterworth, the new colour commentator alongside seasoned play-by-play caller for the Panthers Will Bryant.
And while it may seem unusual for a man from a country with next to no hockey culture to be placed behind a microphone to call Junior B hockey, Waterworth comes with plenty of hockey experience.
Waterworth first became involved in the sport in 2011 when his breakfast radio show in his native Hobart recorded a special piece on the sport locally. From there he commentated his first game later that season and went on to call the next seven championship games (known as ‘grand finals’), as well as being the full-time play-by-play commentator for the Tasmanian league (known as the Van Diemen’s League) from 2014 onwards.
“I’ve always loved the sport and when I got that opportunity to call it, I took it immediately,” Waterworth said. “Our league is tiny in Tasmania and has only four teams and our rink is smaller than most living rooms in this country. It’s 3-on-3 hockey with no crosschecking or slapshots, but it’s incredibly fast and entertaining for what it is. I had a blast the whole time I did it.”
After moving to Victoria earlier this year, Waterworth reached out to several local sports teams to see if there were any media opportunities, and after receiving a reply from Panthers GM Pete Zubersky, a close relationship was quickly formed.
“Pete was very interested in my background and liked what I had to offer so offered to meet me when I arrived in the city. From there he has given me some amazing opportunities and as soon as he offered me the chance to join a live broadcast team alongside Will Bryant (
below left), I didn’t hesitate in saying yes.”
As well as calling games, Waterworth also is the host of the Panthers official podcast
Clawed Weekly alongside long-time equipment manager for the team Malcolm ‘Sticky’ Fletcher (
above right). Each week on the show, the pair interview players as well as discuss the games and even bring a couple of unique segments which have ruffled a few feathers in the VIJHL.
“We had a bit of a fun segment where we would tell a joke about our main rivals the Cougars,” he said. “It was all in good fun and spirit but apparently, they didn’t take it that way, so we stopped the segment. As soon as we stopped doing it, they started beating us, so I think there was a secret there somewhere that perhaps it cut them a bit too deep and affected their performance on the ice. Come playoffs time, it’s probably time to bring it back.”
With the league currently suspended due to the Covid19 situation, Waterworth is keeping busy with
Clawed Weekly as well as being a husband to his brand-new wife Mallory. He is also the host of six other podcasts that are broadcast everywhere from his native Australia to a variety of other countries around the world. He also works as a journalist and radio host and is hoping to pursue other media opportunities locally into the new year.
However, when it comes to hockey, he hopes his passion, unique voice and individual style will take him further into the hockey broadcast landscape into the future.
“I’m pretty sure I’m the only Australian hockey caller on the island, and probably one of the only ones in all of Canada,” he said. “I hope that I continue to grow my experience in calling and hockey media that will one day culminate in becoming the first Aussie caller in the NHL to utter those iconic words ‘he shoots he scores’, because let’s be honest, those words in an Aussie accent is what the world needs right now.”
To hear more about Ben & his story, download the latest episode of Clawed Weekly, available here.
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