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Broadcaster Adnan Virk’s passion for sports blossomed as a youngster when he lived above a convenience store his family owned in the small Kingston-area town of Morven, Ont.

He made a habit of watching the sportscast on CTV’s “Canada AM” before running downstairs to the newspaper rack to devour the Toronto Star’s sports section. As a teenager, Virk was passionate about trading cards — soaking up all the info they provided — and even set up his own little retail area in the shop.

“You’d walk in and you had videocassettes, you had groceries and there was this little thing called the Card Corner,” he said. “That was my spot. It was pretty funny.”

His love of sports only grew through his teenage years, setting him on a path that has led to a 20-plus year career with a variety of networks across North America. Based in New Jersey, the MLB Network studio host is adding duties with Amazon that will see him return north of the border to co-anchor Prime Monday Night hockey coverage this season.

“It definitely feels like a really cool homecoming,” Virk said from Newark in a recent interview.

Starting Thanksgiving Day with a Pittsburgh-Montreal game at Bell Centre, Prime Video will stream all national regular-season Monday night NHL games in English for Prime members in Canada. Virk will be on-site at games to serve as co-anchor with Andi Petrillo, analyst Blake Bolden and a mix of contributors.

“I think we’re going to be very unique in our presentation,” Virk said. “I think it’s something that hockey fans will love.”

Long before every statistic imaginable was just a click away, Virk fed his insatiable sports appetite any way he could. Football, basketball, hockey and baseball were at the forefront.

“The cards were a big part of it,” he said. “I remember reading cards and checking the stats. Now today, you’ve got Wikipedia and Google. Back then, you learned from the back of a baseball card.

“No one does that now but that was a really sacred thing for me at that time.”

A Toronto native, Virk returned to the Ontario capital to study at Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan) University. He spent time as a producer at TSN and hosted a show about Indian movies on Omni Television.

“He stood out as a super funny, charismatic guy and really hard-working,” said Hockey Night in Canada studio host David Amber, who worked with Virk at TSN. “You really had a sense that he was going to leave a pretty strong imprint in the industry.”

Virk’s big break came after a floor director at Omni noticed his fervour for sports. He suggested Virk contact his cousin, Anthony Cicione, now president of 27/8 Media Inc., and Anthem Sports and Entertainment, who was managing programming and production at The Score.

At the time, the budding Canadian sports network was different than domestic powers TSN and Sportsnet. The Score offered unique segments, a double-line ticker, and live availabilities mixed in with highlight packs and shows.

Cicione recalled watching Virk’s on-air work at Omni and loving his energy.

“When we hired him, we thought he was a great talent and he’s proven that to be true to this day,” Cicione said via direct message. “(He) has delivered everywhere he has gone. He can do it all with his own style.”

Virk eventually worked his way into the anchor’s chair and spent seven years at The Score, which was later purchased by Rogers Communications and rebranded as Sportsnet 360.

The Score served as a launching point for Virk and other broadcasters like Elliotte Friedman, Sid Seixeiro, Martine Gaillard and Cabral (Cabbie) Richards to name a few.

“One of the least surprising things I’ve ever seen in my career is Adnan’s career,” said Seixeiro, now a co-host on Citytv’s “Breakfast Television” in Toronto. “How he feels about sports comes out in every broadcast.”

Virk is perhaps best known for his work at ESPN. He was a studio host for Baseball Tonight, SportsCenter and Outside the Lines before being let go in 2019.

Reports said he was fired for divulging network information to a sports media writer.

“It was an amazing ride,” Virk said. “The departure was certainly unfortunate. The way I view it now, almost five years later since I got let go, is that the final 72 hours does not define the almost nine years that I was there. So was it unfortunate? Absolutely. I don’t believe that I deserved to be terminated. I disagreed with their decision.

“But it doesn’t impact the rest of my feelings toward the company. Quite frankly, I have very warm feelings toward ESPN.”

Six weeks later, Virk took a job at DAZN and he started working for the MLB Network later that year. He also makes occasional appearances on the NHL Network.

For his new hockey gig, he’ll fly out on Sunday, work the Monday game and return home early Tuesday morning.

Juggling multiple opportunities has always been part of the fun for Virk, who credits his parents for his strong work ethic. His folks now live just north of Toronto, one of five Canadian NHL markets on his schedule this season.

“I’ll get five Sunday dinners with my parents,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps need a win — badly.

Points have been tough to come by for the ‘Caps in recent weeks and, with just two games left in their regular-season schedule, Vancouver is in danger of having to play its way into a Major League Soccer post-season series.

The club has a chance to make up ground Sunday when it hosts Los Angeles FC.

“Huge importance,” Whitecaps midfielder Stuart Armstrong said of the match. “We want to try and climb the table so every point is very valuable.”

The two sides have been on opposite trajectories in recent weeks.

Vancouver (13-11-8) comes into Sunday’s matchup winless in its last five MLS appearances (0-3-2) after falling 1-0 to Minnesota United at B.C. Place last Saturday.

LAFC (17-8-7) heads north on a four-game win streak. The squad hasn’t lost since Sept. 21 when L.A. dropped a 3-1 road decision to Dallas FC.

“One thing I’ve learned in this league is that any game is a new opportunity to win. And any game, if you come in the right mindset, you can win it,” said ‘Caps defender Ranko Veselinovic.

“We are a good team, we are good players. And if we come with the right attitude in the game, we can do good.”

LAFC is an opponent the Whitecaps are all too familiar with, having faced the club twice already this year and six times last season. The most-recent rendezvous came during the Leagues Cup competition back in July, when Vancouver edged L.A. on penalties.

This time around is likely to look a little different because both sides will be missing key pieces due to international call-ups.

Vancouver will be without the creative offence of captain Ryan Gauld (Scotland), the scoring prowess of Fafa Picault (Haiti) and the defensive talents of Andres Cubas (Paraguay), as well as three other important players.

LAFC will miss sniper Denis Bouanga (Gabon), who has the second most goals in MLS (19), and leads the league in both shots (148) and shots on target.

The absences will undoubtedly change the game, said ‘Caps head coach Vanni Sartini.

“I think we need to be very open to understand how they’re going to come and play. Because maybe they’re not going to play like they usually play, in terms of system, in terms of positioning of the players. But they still have a lot of quality players,” he said.

With so many of his regular starters away, Sartini will be looking for other players to step up while maintaining Vancouver’s identity.

“The last couple of games, especially the (3-0 loss) against Seattle, we didn’t give what we can do,” the coach said. “I think we need to reset and be really focused on us.

“Because when we focus on us, we can beat any team.”

While a victory Sunday could help Vancouver avoid a play-in game, the club knows L.A. is still trying to lock up first spot in the West.

“They’re obviously at the top end of the table so we know they’re going to be a good team. They’re fighting it out with the (L.A.) Galaxy. We’re in a slightly different battle at the moment,” Armstrong said.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge. But these are the type of games you want to play in. And you always enjoy the big matches.”

LOS ANGELES FC (17-8-7) AT VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-11-8)

Sunday, B.C. Place

INS AND OUTS: Both sides will be missing some major players due to international call-ups. Vancouver’s Ali Ahmed (Canada), Sam Adekugbe (Canada), Cubas (Paraguay), Gauld (Scotland), Picault (Haiti) and Pedro Vite (Ecuador) are all with their national teams, while L.A. will be without Bouanga (Gabon), Cristian Olivera (Uruguay) and Maxime Chanot (Luxembourg). LAFC’s Lorenzo Dellavalle and Jesus Murillo are also out with knee injuries.

HISTORY BOOKS: Sunday’s game will mark the 20th all-time meeting between the two clubs. LAFC has fared better and holds a 9-5-4 edge in the matchups, but the clubs have split their two previous games in 2024.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS: Vancouver won its third-straight Canadian Championship title in September, while L.A. is the reigning U.S. Open Cup champion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.