Latest / Scene Projects Sports Network / Kirsten Krull on Sports Media, Minnesota Wild, and Women's Hockey

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Kirsten Krull on Sports Media, Minnesota Wild, and Women's Hockey · Scene Projects Sports Network

• 0:14
  Welcome into the scene project sports network.
• 0:16
  I am your host, Bubba Starts.
• 0:18
  And with me today from the Minnesota wild, their in arena host, Kirsten Kroll.
• 0:23
  Kirsten, welcome to the show.
• 0:24
  Yeah.
• 0:25
  Hey.
• 0:25
  Thanks for having me.
• 0:27
  It's a pleasure to pull you out of the stands and here onto the podcast.
• 0:31
  I really appreciate you joining us.
• 0:33
  And I know that, you know, you're always busy every week, contributing to Judd's hockey show
• 0:39
  on the Score North network.
• 0:41
  So I know you're a very busy gal, and I really appreciate your time.
• 0:44
  Yeah.
• 0:45
  No.
• 0:45
  I appreciate you having me on.
• 0:46
  It's you stay busy, but it's a fun busy, so you can never complain.
• 0:50
  Well and I'm kind of I'm lucky because I'm catching you in between seasons.
• 0:53
  Ultimate Frisbee season has just finished.
• 0:56
  Hockey season hasn't quite kicked off yet, and we're stealing you away from your day job as a
• 1:02
  a marketing executive to to come in and and talk with us today.
• 1:06
  So appreciate you.
• 1:08
  Girl of many hats.
• 1:10
  Or I was just about to say.
• 1:11
  I was like, well, when you're saying it all out loud, it's like, what am I doing?
• 1:15
  I'm everywhere.
• 1:16
  Oh, we don't have enough time in the day to go over all the hats that I wear here at our
• 1:22
  network and everything that we do.
• 1:24
  But, before we get too deep into the conversation, obviously, we're gonna talk a
• 1:28
  little bit about Minnesota wild hockey and your dreams and aspirations as a reporter in the
• 1:33
  sports world as well.
• 1:35
  But just kinda wanna get a a little bit of your backstory and establish a little bit of who you
• 1:40
  are behind the mic.
• 1:42
  Yeah.
• 1:43
  Well, I mean, my story, I've been born and raised in Minnesota, so I've lived here my
• 1:48
  entire life.
• 1:49
  And I always knew growing up down in Rochester that I wanted to go into sports, and I wanted
• 1:54
  to go into sports media.
• 1:56
  And it was my junior year of high school when I started really thinking about colleges and what
• 2:02
  my future was gonna look like that that I decided I was gonna go to Saint Cloud State
• 2:05
  because one of their counselors had come to my high school to do a presentation.
• 2:09
  And at the time, I kinda joked.
• 2:10
  I was like, oh, it's just a good excuse to get out of class.
• 2:13
  And little did I know it was just gonna be very impactful and stay with me because she was
• 2:17
  talking about their sports broadcasting program, specifically the ringside reporter
• 2:22
  position for the broadcast they did on the hockey team.
• 2:26
  And instantly, I was saying to myself, that's what I'm gonna do.
• 2:30
  That's my path.
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  That's my future.
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  And so fast forward, went to Saint Cloud.
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  I was there for five years, and I got to be that ringside reporter for my last two years at
• 2:40
  the university.
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  And then when I was still in college, I had received a message from somebody from the
• 2:46
  Wild's marketing department asking me if I'd be interested in interviewing and auditioning for
• 2:54
  a new role that they were opening up, which included in arena hosting.
• 2:58
  And so instantly, was like, obviously, yes.
• 3:00
  This is what I would I would love to do that because my goal was always to work for a team,
• 3:06
  and I ended up fast forward to now getting to do just that.
• 3:10
  So that's kind of a little bit of how I got to where I am now.
• 3:15
  It's funny how cutting out a class one day can turn into a whole career.
• 3:20
  It is.
• 3:21
  No.
• 3:21
  Skip class more, kids.
• 3:24
  And more great advice from Bubba Starts and Kirsten Kroll.
• 3:28
  Saint Cloud State, awesome school up there.
• 3:30
  Obviously, huge hockey.
• 3:32
  You know, the arena up there is beautiful.
• 3:34
  I got a chance to go up there.
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  My friends with the Midwest Premier Football League for the kiddos performed, and we're
• 3:42
  running a camp down on their football field, which is no longer in use by the school.
• 3:47
  Maybe the soccer team uses it.
• 3:48
  I'm not sure.
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  But, the hockey arena is really, a a star of that city, the hockey program.
• 3:56
  I So don't know that you could have a better space.
• 3:58
  I mean, obviously, it's the state of hockey.
• 4:01
  Right?
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  And and opportunities, to do what you are doing don't come around every day.
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  So how fortunate for you to, have an opportunity to, you know, meet with that, you
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  know, representative of the school while you're still in high school and then to really grab
• 4:16
  and then say, that's what I'm going to do.
• 4:18
  But yet there was three years of kind of doing that.
• 4:21
  What was that college like?
• 4:22
  I mean, obviously, you're you're going to school.
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  You're an undergrad student.
• 4:26
  You're doing that.
• 4:27
  Are are are you kinda, like, you know, trying to manage for the hockey team?
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  Are you always trying to stay around the hockey team and be a part of it?
• 4:34
  Were you playing hockey yourself up there?
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  I know women's hockey is is big in the area.
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  I'm curious about those years before it kinda happened.
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  Because once you had the in ring at Saint Cloud, then it kinda just evolved into a a
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  little bit bigger arena.
• 4:48
  Yeah.
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  And, thankfully, there were so many opportunities at that university that it wasn't
• 4:54
  like I was just having to wait around hoping to get my opportunity once I finally did get the
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  ring side reporting position.
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  I was very lucky because day one as a freshman stepping foot on that campus, there was
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  multiple TV shows that we did for our local TV station.
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  There were sports cats that we did.
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  There was multiple opportunities to go and report on events.
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  I never played hockey, but I was still able to cover hockey and follow it closely and get to
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  be an on air personality for it, not only just hockey, but football because we had the
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  football team still at that point through thankfully, through my whole time being at
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  Saint Cloud, it was literally the year after I left that they cut football.
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  And baseball, I got to really be hands on and cover all of it and build a demo reel with more
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  sports just outside of hockey too.
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  I think that's important to to be well rounded.
• 5:49
  You know?
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  Not all jobs are forever, and you never know when an opportunity to maybe step into I mean,
• 5:54
  obviously, I think maybe some of the Minnesota Vikings jobs are are probably the most coveted,
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  a a billion dollar, you know, NFL franchise.
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  That's a that's a step up even from the NHL, right, as a another big four kind of in in
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  sports fandom.
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  But it's not like there's a ton of opportunities to jump in.
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  Right?
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  PA ain't leaving anytime soon.
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  A lot of the other guys very well established, and I'm sure that there was established people
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  ahead of you that were in that in rank kind of, position.
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  But I love that you weren't just sitting around and and kind of taking a woe is me.
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  Well, I came here to do this, but, there's somebody in that, and they're not gonna
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  graduate for three more years.
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  So I'm just gonna sit on my hands.
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  You dove in.
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  You said whatever opportunity I have to be in media and around sports, I'm going to do it.
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  Yeah.
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  And I think it's so important too.
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  People ask me all the time.
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  They say, how can I get involved?
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  Or, you know, I'm out of college and I'm wanting to get into this.
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  And I'm very big and I'm, you know, I'm saying this out loud to you, but I'm also saying that
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  as a reminder to myself, I'm very big on creating your own opportunities.
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  And even if, you know, there's not one in front of you or not one being offered to you, it's
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  like, okay, well, what can I do to make this my own or go out there and get people to notice me
• 7:15
  because I'm doing my own thing and I'm showing people I'm capable of this skill set and to do
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  ultimately what I want to do?
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  So creating your own opportunity is huge.
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  And so Saint Cloud, I'm again grateful I didn't always have to create my own, but putting
• 7:33
  yourself into a position where, yeah, you're not waiting around.
• 7:36
  You're still being involved and you're still showing other people like, hey.
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  This is what I'm doing right now.
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  So I think that's so important.
• 7:45
  Yeah.
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  And and no better example of that, not to pat ourselves on the back, but I I didn't go to
• 7:50
  school for broadcasting or or sports media.
• 7:53
  I was 37 years old when I started a podcast.
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  Right?
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  So but it was I I really enjoy it.
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  I when I once I started and I had started in mostly, like, independent music.
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  That's the world I came out of, but it speaks to what you're doing is I I dove in and I got
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  those reps that you need so badly early on that, you know, you were getting the
• 8:13
  opportunity at the college that I just dove in and started having conversations with my
• 8:17
  friends and hitting the record button.
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  And now it's evolved to us covering PGA events and doing bigger and bigger things, covering
• 8:24
  the Minnesota Vikings even from the outside, just creating, you know, user generated content
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  as it were, but you you never you never know when a door is going to open from that.
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  You know?
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  And podcasting being such a major part of the the media landscape now, you know, you you look
• 8:41
  at the way things are done.
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  A lot of the shows you see on ESPN now are filmed almost the exact same way that we're
• 8:47
  filming today.
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  Right?
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  So being remote and getting the reps in front of the camera and behind the computer screen to
• 8:55
  build that, you never know where that will lead.
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  No.
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  You don't.
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  And you never know what people you're going to encounter that's gonna be a very impactful, you
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  know, person on your journey.
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  There's been so many people that I've met along this way who have helped open doors for me or
• 9:13
  remembered me from an event that we were both at together and said, hey.
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  I remember you from such and such.
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  Would you be interested in coming out and working this event?
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  So the importance of networking too is so huge.
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  So huge because, yeah, you just never know who you're gonna meet along your path.
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  And it's a very small community in the sports world.
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  Everybody knows everybody between all of the different major sports organizations in
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  Minneapolis.
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  It's a pretty small world out there and even more so behind the scenes that, you know, a lot
• 9:48
  of these camera people and and producers and a lot of those people are working for multiple of
• 9:53
  these.
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  And you yourself are, you know, working with three different, you know, major maybe not all
• 9:59
  major.
• 9:59
  Right?
• 9:59
  You work for the wild for a a majority of your year, but during the summer, you've been
• 10:04
  covering ultimate Frisbee.
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  Talk a little bit about the transition from, you know, an arena full of 20,000 fans to being
• 10:10
  out there on a field covering a much smaller event.
• 10:14
  I mean, it's been very different, but it's been a lot of fun.
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  So one of my colleagues at The Wild, again, this just goes back to the importance of the
• 10:23
  people you meet along your way.
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  He works at the Wild, and he was running the show for Ultimate Frisbee.
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  And he reached out to me halfway through the season and said, hey.
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  Would you be able to work this one game?
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  And I said, yeah.
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  You know what?
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  I got nothing going on.
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  Yeah.
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  I'll pop out and do it.
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  It'll be fun.
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  And then one game turned into two, then it turned into three, and then now I'm there.
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  And I think, you know, we'll see what happens in the next year, but it sounds like maybe I'll
• 10:49
  be back doing it again next summer too.
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  But it's very different, and it's very different because it's still a pro sport, but
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  on just a very different level.
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  And, you know, getting to be from an indoor rink, outdoor in a football stadium when it's
• 11:05
  90 degrees outside, it brings its own different challenges.
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  But even the fans, the fans are so much fun, and it feels a little bit more of like an
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  intimate crowd too because, sure, there's not 19,000 people, but there's still a few thousand
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  fans that are out there night out and excited to be there and rally on these guys.
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  So it's been busier too because there's a lot more in game promotions that they do compared
• 11:31
  to the wilds.
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  But it keeps you on your toes, and it keeps you busy, and it flexes a new muscle as well
• 11:38
  stepping into a different arena and having I'm used to having a cohost.
• 11:44
  I mean, when I do the Minnesota Frost games, it's me by myself.
• 11:49
  So those get busy too, but the wind chill, there's been just so many more elements, and so
• 11:56
  it's helped me think faster on my feet too.
• 11:59
  Yeah.
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  A a great learning experience for yourself that's going to make you better at your job
• 12:04
  when hockey season rolls around.
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  We're recording this in early August yet.
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  So hockey season is not quite buzzing yet.
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  The guys are working out, and training camps will be starting before we know it.
• 12:19
  So it's nice for you to have something that kinda keeps you busy and keeps those skills
• 12:22
  sharp because just like the athletes out there, and I know this from experience now, that
• 12:28
  broadcasting is a skill that needs to be flexed and needs to be practiced and needs to be
• 12:34
  sharpened continuously to make sure that you're at the top of your game.
• 12:38
  So when you step in front of, you know, 19,000 fans on opening night, you don't accidentally
• 12:42
  call the arena by its wrong name.
• 12:45
  Yeah.
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  That's a big fear of mine.
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  I mean, less now.
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  Now I've become more accustomed to calling it Grand Casino Arena.
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  Now that's more embedded.
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  But, I mean, growing up in Minnesota, it was always the x before then.
• 12:57
  And, you know, for sponsorship reasons, anytime we were on the mic or on camera, they would
• 13:03
  always say, you cannot call it the x.
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  Like, I know that's what everyone calls it, but you cannot call it that.
• 13:07
  You have to call it by its full name.
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  So there are still some moments, more so again last season, and more comfortable heading into
• 13:13
  this year to where I won't be like, welcome to XL Energy Center.
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  Like, that feels more wrong to me now as opposed to Grand Casino.
• 13:22
  So Yeah.
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  Of course.
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  The Grand Casino Arena, the GCA.
• 13:26
  Exactly.
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  So, yeah, I've really been coming around to it, and I'm happy it I'm happy that it's no longer
• 13:33
  something that I'm super conscious about because you do you do get worried about
• 13:37
  stumbling.
• 13:38
  I mean, there's a number of times too.
• 13:40
  Even when I'm doing a Frost game, I'm very scared, and it's happened one time.
• 13:44
  But thankfully, my mic was dead.
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  They didn't pull up the levels yet, so no one heard me say it.
• 13:50
  But at a Frost game, even one time, I said, hey, Wild fans.
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  And so I get really worried about blending all the teams into.
• 13:59
  Well and and I think those are some of the challenges that someone on the outside of
• 14:03
  broadcasting would never consider.
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  And and granted, most people are gonna forget about it, but you won't.
• 14:09
  The And the shame, right, of going into, like, oh, I messed that up.
• 14:14
  They can stick with us and and end up affecting things later in the night too.
• 14:18
  So I understand that fear.
• 14:20
  I'm always very conscious about it because I don't do a ton of homework on my shows.
• 14:24
  I'm very much a I'm gonna cram, two minutes.
• 14:27
  I have you here before we go live and make sure I get these things right because even if I
• 14:32
  study it, because I'm doing so many things, I'm liable to forget it.
• 14:36
  So it it can be very challenging and a lot harder than most people do it.
• 14:39
  Most people don't wanna be in front of a microphone or on camera to do any of that
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  anyway.
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  And it's really that's what's cool about your job is that you're very good at setting people
• 14:50
  at ease.
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  And it's kind of your job because some of these people that are being selected for the
• 14:54
  promotions that you're doing maybe, like, don't wanna be there.
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  They don't wanna be on the big screen or to talk into the microphone, and you have to kind
• 15:01
  of bring them around to that.
• 15:03
  Now a lot less obviously on a Minnesota Wild, but I'm sure that during your Ultimate Frisbee
• 15:08
  stuff, you're doing a lot of those kind of fan interaction activations, are you not?
• 15:12
  No.
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  There like I said, there's so much more that goes on, especially for ultimate Frisbee, than
• 15:18
  wild games.
• 15:18
  I think part of it is because it feels like a lot more to me because it is just me.
• 15:23
  But even at the end of the day, there is still so many more activations that are going on.
• 15:28
  And I think the way they're kind of set up to, it allows me to shine a little bit more when I
• 15:34
  do them.
• 15:34
  So it really is up to me to do all the talking and the flow and explain everything, not only
• 15:40
  to like the contestants and certain things, but to the audience too, so that they know what's
• 15:44
  going on.
• 15:45
  So it does feel like a lot more pressure to, you know, get your wording right and, again,
• 15:51
  think on your feet.
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  And in doing so, I'm able to set up the fans that I have with me to where they don't have to
• 15:58
  say too much, and that alone helps them feel a lot more comfortable.
• 16:03
  Alright.
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  I'm a put you on the spot a little bit here.
• 16:05
  And if you have to pick two, so be it.
• 16:07
  But favorite moment as the in arena host for the Minnesota wild, like I said, if you have to
• 16:14
  pick two, so be it.
• 16:15
  But I I'd love to know some of your favorite memories.
• 16:19
  Oh.
• 16:21
  And it doesn't have be on the ice happenings either.
• 16:24
  It could be somebody hit the hit the puck into the net.
• 16:27
  I don't know what activations you're doing in the stadium.
• 16:29
  But if somebody won $50 at there, that would probably be towards the top of my list.
• 16:33
  Yeah.
• 16:33
  That would be pretty cool.
• 16:35
  I feel like my favorite moments more so revolve around, like, the situation that happened.
• 16:40
  So, I mean, the easiest one for me to say is getting to work the Stanley Cup playoffs.
• 16:46
  Like, truly, the environment is insane.
• 16:51
  It's unlike anything else.
• 16:52
  And so this season in particular, the moment where the Wild finally broke that eleven year
• 16:58
  drought of missing the second round or not advancing to the second round of the
• 17:02
  postseason, When they finally did that and beat Dallas in the first round, and then we're gonna
• 17:09
  take on Colorado, like, I had full body chills.
• 17:12
  Like, people around me were crying.
• 17:14
  I was almost crying.
• 17:16
  It just it was such an incredible moment.
• 17:19
  So that one is probably my most favorite that really sticks with me.
• 17:24
  My other favorite is honestly the very first game that I ever worked for The Wild on a
• 17:30
  personal note.
• 17:32
  It was my live audition, so I didn't even have the job yet.
• 17:36
  I was still interviewing.
• 17:37
  And the next phase after I did my interview where it was me on one side of the camera, and
• 17:42
  then on the other side of the camera, it was 10 executives in a boardroom.
• 17:45
  So I was very timid just being a college kid having to go through that.
• 17:49
  And then, yeah, next step was actually hosting a game.
• 17:52
  And so I remember how scared I was and, like, how green I was.
• 17:59
  I was not anywhere to where I am now.
• 18:01
  So even just looking back and seeing the growth that I've had over the years is incredible.
• 18:05
  And then you have those moments too as just a wild fan, as a hockey fan, where you can look
• 18:11
  back and say, I was at that game.
• 18:13
  So moments such as when Marc Andre Flurry was brought to the wild and he played his very
• 18:19
  first game in a wild uniform, and everyone in the arena making signs for him, just super
• 18:25
  excited to have this future hall of famer playing for your team.
• 18:29
  So, yeah, there's definitely moments like that too that stand out that you don't forget.
• 18:34
  Yeah.
• 18:34
  That series against Dallas was a hell of a series.
• 18:37
  And like you said, the stakes not only being Stanley Cup players, but kinda getting that
• 18:40
  monkey off of the wilds back.
• 18:42
  It'd been a long time coming.
• 18:44
  They have a great team, a a young team that I think showing a lot of promise.
• 18:49
  Obviously, picking up Clint Hughes in season last year was a was a huge kinda showing from
• 18:55
  the organization that we are going for this, kind of energized that fan base, but there
• 18:59
  really is nothing that compares to playoff hockey because the consequences for every
• 19:05
  player are so huge.
• 19:06
  I think it's such a different sport than football or baseball or or really any of the
• 19:11
  big the big three.
• 19:12
  I I love hockey.
• 19:13
  I grew up a Blackhawks fan, so bitter rivals here, but I love going up to to Saint Paul to
• 19:18
  watch a game.
• 19:19
  Even in enemy territory, it's so fun.
• 19:21
  And, still, the the fans are so engaging and a a great a great place to watch hockey.
• 19:28
  You really have a a beautiful workplace there, and you guys and the entire team do such a good
• 19:33
  job of making everyone feel welcome, not just Wild fans.
• 19:37
  Well, thank you.
• 19:37
  Yeah.
• 19:38
  It's it's such a great environment.
• 19:40
  I mean, as far as hockey is concerned, Minnesota is one of the best markets for hockey
• 19:46
  fans.
• 19:46
  You have truly hockey people.
• 19:48
  You can go into a grocery store and just start talking about Quinn Hughes, and then they'll
• 19:52
  know exactly what you're talking about and be like, oh, yeah.
• 19:55
  Like, and give their thoughts on the situation.
• 19:57
  So that makes it even more fun.
• 19:59
  And, I mean, even the crew that I have around me at wild games, at Frost games, incredible
• 20:04
  people, incredibly talented, and it's just a bonus too when you got great hockey that you
• 20:08
  can watch being played in front of you as well.
• 20:11
  Well and talk a little bit about, so the Frost and for people who don't know, right, is the
• 20:16
  women's professional hockey league.
• 20:17
  Correct?
• 20:18
  Yes.
• 20:18
  Correct.
• 20:19
  Alright.
• 20:20
  So, Newer League, how long has it been around, Kirsten?
• 20:23
  You you'll have to kind of catch me up.
• 20:25
  We're heading into the fourth season now.
• 20:28
  And have you done all four seasons with them as well?
• 20:31
  Yes.
• 20:31
  So I've been there since day one.
• 20:34
  And they're playing at Grand Casino too?
• 20:37
  Yes.
• 20:37
  They sure are.
• 20:38
  That's pretty incredible.
• 20:39
  So talk about the the vibes that, you know, you're seeing from that.
• 20:43
  Their season's probably not 82 games or 80 well, however many games they're playing in the
• 20:48
  NHL now.
• 20:49
  Well, just talk about the the frost a little bit.
• 20:51
  I don't think people know enough about the the professional hockey league and what these
• 20:55
  amazing women are doing out on
• 20:57
  the ice.
• 20:57
  Yeah.
• 20:58
  I mean, the games are a lot of fun, and it's great hockey that you're getting to watch just
• 21:02
  in addition to you think of wild hockey when you think of Minnesota, but when you think of
• 21:06
  the Frost too, great hockey.
• 21:08
  I mean, they won the very first two championships back to back in the league's
• 21:13
  first two years.
• 21:14
  And so you've got some legends of the game such as Kendall Coyne Schofield, who's been the
• 21:18
  captain of the Frost.
• 21:19
  You've got Taylor Heisey, who was the very first overall draft pick in PWHL history.
• 21:26
  I think the Frost this past season too, they had eight Olympians on that team.
• 21:32
  So just the talent is incredible, and it's very competitive.
• 21:37
  And there's physicality too across the league as well at these games.
• 21:41
  But even as the fans are concerned, it's a lot of newer fans.
• 21:46
  So there's some people that are newer to hockey that are kind of more learning the game that
• 21:50
  get into the frost.
• 21:51
  It's so it's very welcoming in that sense.
• 21:54
  But, also, I think my favorite part is seeing all of the little girls that pack the arena,
• 21:59
  like, very young hockey players that are watching these women play, wanna play hockey
• 22:04
  like they are.
• 22:05
  And so that's probably the most fun.
• 22:07
  And it's as a woman, seeing all of the females fill that arena, it's very empowering and it's
• 22:13
  exciting too.
• 22:15
  Again, see all of the youth there, and they bring the energy.
• 22:18
  They're very loud, and they get into it too.
• 22:20
  So it's very fun, and it's different than the wild too.
• 22:23
  It's different atmospheres, but another great hockey crowd.
• 22:27
  I love it.
• 22:28
  We talk a lot about, inclusivity, right, in in sports and, bringing this around.
• 22:33
  South Dakota, really one of the, forefronts of of girls wrestling, at the high school level.
• 22:39
  I'm very fortunate to know and be very good friends with a young lady who's gone on now to
• 22:45
  win gold medals at championships internationally and to see the sport grow
• 22:50
  because they could see someone else doing it.
• 22:52
  Right?
• 22:52
  And and and Taylor Graveman is the young lady's name.
• 22:56
  She's been a friend of my and a friend of mine for a long time.
• 23:00
  And to see how she was one of the very first and got that off the ground, but now the size
• 23:05
  and how many girls and I live in a in a county that is known for our wrestling program, over a
• 23:10
  100 kids in a county that probably has, like, 9,000 people in a total.
• 23:14
  Right?
• 23:15
  Very small rural area, but we have, like, 20 girls that are out for the team out of that 100
• 23:21
  and plus.
• 23:21
  So it it's really awesome to see that in all these sports you're having it.
• 23:25
  Obviously, the WNBA getting a ton of headlines right now.
• 23:28
  Maybe some of them, for the wrong reasons, but it's bringing eyeballs and attention to the
• 23:34
  sport.
• 23:34
  And I think that it's not only working for the WNBA and women's basketball, but I think it's
• 23:41
  gonna attract people to women's professional sports in general.
• 23:44
  And I think that the frost, obviously, being in Minnesota, you're gonna have a lot more of
• 23:48
  that.
• 23:49
  But, you know, maybe a you know, if the PHL would have been around maybe a decade earlier,
• 23:54
  a young Kirsten Kroll would have picked up a hockey stick and got out there and been on the
• 23:59
  ice instead of in the arena.
• 24:01
  I mean, you never know.
• 24:02
  I I never played hockey, and it's actually embarrassing to see me on a pair of skates too.
• 24:08
  But I do try.
• 24:09
  I like to go out and just have a good time, but I don't know if playing was ever in my future,
• 24:14
  but very happy to be a part of the game still.
• 24:18
  And you are a part of the game, and I know being a bigger part of it is something that you
• 24:22
  do.
• 24:23
  Obviously, the opportunity to be the in arena host for an NHL team and a and a PWHL team,
• 24:28
  incredible opportunity.
• 24:30
  Right?
• 24:30
  But I know that you really want to do more reporting on the team, and I say more because
• 24:34
  you are reporting on this team.
• 24:36
  You're a regular contributor on the Score North network, on Judd's hockey show.
• 24:41
  Talk about the the dream for you, of really where you want to see yourself, evolving to in
• 24:49
  your, you know, broadcasting and media career.
• 24:52
  Yeah.
• 24:52
  Well, I will say, in arena hosting was never something I thought I would ever do.
• 24:56
  It truly wasn't ever a thought that crossed my mind as something that would be possible.
• 25:02
  But because I always thought my path would be working for a team or a network or a sports or
• 25:10
  a local TV station doing news or sports that way.
• 25:14
  So I never thought in arena hosting was an option because I guess it wasn't something that
• 25:19
  was also very visible.
• 25:21
  Like, you knew when you go to games that there's those things happening in game.
• 25:25
  But Yeah.
• 25:25
  How does someone get that job right?
• 25:27
  It doesn't land up in the classifieds.
• 25:29
  Yeah.
• 25:30
  For sure.
• 25:31
  And so I would still it's helped make me such a better broadcaster and especially public
• 25:38
  speaker.
• 25:39
  It's helped me also bring more fun into things that I do.
• 25:43
  I think that's a big thing I always try to do for broadcasts or if I'm coming on a podcast or
• 25:49
  even digital content that I create, I try to bring more of a fun side or even pop culture.
• 25:55
  That's a big thing that I'm also very passionate about and into.
• 25:59
  So I think that's kind of what sets me apart a little bit.
• 26:03
  And so kind of taking that, I still wanna do hosting.
• 26:05
  It's something I wanna carry with me, but definitely moving more into the broadcasting
• 26:10
  side of things is still a goal of mine.
• 26:13
  And also expanding the digital content that I do on social medias, because that's the way a
• 26:19
  lot of things are trending is you have a huge audience on social media.
• 26:22
  So diving more into those and making myself more versatile is a big goal because it just
• 26:29
  lends to even more opportunities from there.
• 26:33
  Incredible, Kirsten.
• 26:34
  I I'm so grateful that I got to spend some time with you today to get to know you better.
• 26:38
  Love watching you with Judd and and on the hockey show and, was blessed to be able to be
• 26:44
  in arena a few years ago when, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Tays were kinda making what we thought
• 26:50
  would be their final farewell tour, in a Blackhawks uniform.
• 26:54
  Now PK, obviously, coming back, for a a couple more years with the Blackhawks.
• 26:59
  So maybe I'll be making another trip up there, this season, and I can say, hey.
• 27:04
  I know her.
• 27:06
  Yeah.
• 27:06
  Well, when you come up, let me know.
• 27:09
  Definitely will.
• 27:10
  Kirsten, anything I missed on that you wanna make sure to plug before I let you go?
• 27:14
  Hoof.
• 27:15
  I don't think so.
• 27:16
  I think we pretty much covered it all.
• 27:18
  Frost, Wilds.
• 27:20
  Yeah.
• 27:20
  Just getting ready now for hockey.
• 27:22
  You can check out my social media.
• 27:24
  There's a lot more content that's about to come everyone's way.
• 27:28
  So, yeah, a lot of things in the works and a lot of things about to start moving again, so
• 27:31
  I'm excited.
• 27:32
  Yep.
• 27:33
  Well, I'm glad I got you one.
• 27:34
  I did.
• 27:35
  I can't wait for everybody to go on, follow you, go see you at Grand Casino Arena there in
• 27:41
  Saint Paul.
• 27:42
  Same address, guys.
• 27:43
  It's just got a different name.
• 27:44
  I know we've all had a season to adjust to it now, but absolutely thrilling.
• 27:48
  Can't wait.
• 27:49
  The Wild, obviously, looking forward to another big season.
• 27:52
  Hopefully, a, return to the playoffs and an even deeper run this year and, an extension, I
• 27:59
  think, would be top on everyone's Christmas list right now.
• 28:02
  To say the least.
• 28:03
  And let's let's get it done before the season starts so we can put all the rumors and upset
• 28:09
  New Jersey Devils fans.
• 28:10
  I like to get under all wild fans skin.
• 28:12
  Let's just let's get that put to bed and move on and just watch some hockey now.
• 28:17
  Love it.
• 28:18
  Kirsten, thank you so much for being on the show today, and thank you for being part of the
• 28:22
  scene.
• 28:23
  Of course.
• 28:24
  Thanks for having me.