TSN's executive producer Paul Graham is signing off after building up the world juniors into the beast it is today

Published Dec 30, 2024  •  Last updated 3 hours ago  •  11 minute read

TSN's Paul Graham will wrap up a 45-year television career after the world junior championship in Ottawa. Photo by TSN /COURTESY PHOTO

It will be one final farewell to a labour of love for Paul Graham, the man who played a large role in creating a holiday tradition for hockey-loving families across the world.

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When the team from TSN that will bring the 2025 IIHF world junior championship into homes gathered at their downtown hotel on Christmas Day, the meal marked the beginning of what will be the end of an era at the network.

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Graham, vice-president and executive producer of live events for the network, will wrap up a 45-year television career by overseeing an event in Ottawa that he has played a huge role in helping to put on the world stage.

“We talk as Canadians about this being our hockey tradition at Christmas and it certainly is,” Graham said in a lengthy interview with Postmedia. “What people may or may not know is that it’s the same thing in Finland, Sweden and Czechia. It has become their Christmas tradition and before that, it was the same in Russia as well.”

The network will celebrate its 35th year covering the world junior championship, which takes place this year in Ottawa at the Canadian Tire Centre and TD Place Arena. This will be Graham’s swansong as he heads into retirement after the final buzzer on Jan. 5.

This year’s features more than 84 hours of coverage on TSN with every game broadcast and hours of analysis from panels at both sites.

The holiday season is a time for reflection and will be an opportunity for Graham to look back. This tournament has meant so much to his career one final world junior is the best way to put a bow on everything he’s accomplished.

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“This is the perfect way for him to say goodbye,” said TSN president Stewart Johnston. “Because it means so much. Paul and his work on this event has meant so much to Canada. The reason there’s 84 hours of coverage and not 12 hours is because of Paul.

“What started way back in 1992, it was because of his passion and his belief that TSN kept finding hours. We used to only cover Team Canada, then we’d cover Team Canada’s pool and then he coordinated with the IIHF for the second rink so we could get more coverage.

“Ultimately, we just decided to do every game. This is poetic for him to say goodbye at the world juniors.”

TSN Vice President and Executive Producer of live events Paul Graham at BMO Field a day before the 104th Grey Cup. Photo by Johany Jutras /Submitted photo

BRINGING THE TOURNAMENT TO THE ENTIRE HOCKEY WORLD

Ten countries are participating in this year’s tourney.

When TSN started covering the world junior, Graham insisted that the network didn’t cut any corners with the broadcasts and every minute of the action had to have a big game feel.

Countless hours of work and effort go into making these 10 days as strong as anything else you see on the network.

This is a big production that’s on par with the Olympics and, perhaps, even bigger than the Stanley Cup final. It includes super slow motion replays, multiple robotics, along with on-ice and isolation cameras.

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“That’s been a personal goal of mine since Day 1,” Graham said. “It’s a big event, you want to make it big and you want to make it look big all the time. One of the things I’m proudest of looking back is that it’s not just big in Canada.

“It’s not just Canada’s tradition anymore. It’s a lot of countries. When I did the first one in Fussen, Germany, in 1992, we only did about five games at the tournament and they only went to Canada.”

TSN provides the pictures that are viewed around the hockey world and that has played a huge role in the growth we’ve seen with this event.

“Countries like Sweden and Finland carry every single game of the tournament, much like we do,” Graham added. “All the participating countries have a TV package where they’re watching these games.

“It’s come a long way from, ‘Hey, this is just a Canadian thing’ to being a world thing. If you talk to a lot of people at the IIHF level, and I do because I work with them all the time, they’ll tell you the world juniors is their favourite tournament.

“It’s just such an impactful, big-looking event. We try to put all our bells and whistles into it to make it Olympic-quality. I think it’s better than a lot of the Olympic coverage that’s out there when it comes to hockey. We make sure of that and Ottawa is no exception.”

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WHY THE WORLD JUNIORS ARE SO SPECIAL

This tournament has taken on a life of its own.

Over the last five years the tournament has averaged 630,000 per-game and a TSN spokesperson noted that during that time frame the tournament has reached 10.6 million unique Canadian viewers per year.

“Measuring Paul’s impact on the world juniors is almost impossible because it’s so far-reaching and long-standing,” said Johnston.

“It was Paul’s vision for what this tournament could become in Canada that he brought to life. He strapped this onto his shoulders by working with the IIHF and Canadian broadcast and ultimately landing at TSN to convince them that this was an event worth leaning into. He led the charge to do just that.”

Some of the biggest names have suited up for their country at the IIHF world junior championship over the years, including Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Roberto Luongo, Steve Yzerman, Jason Spezza and Connor Bedard.

It’s an opportunity to see these players on a world stage before they become household names in the National Hockey League.

“It’s the qualities of the players to start and the type of player,” Graham said. “It’s a high-intensity tournament halfway through a hockey season that you don’t normally see in the NHL at that time of year.

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“These players are playing for their country and the skill is amazing. It’s no surprise that a good percentage of the guys who play in this tournament should be playing in the NHL within the next year or two. We’ve seen it with Bedard and (Macklin) Celebrini.

“They could be playing in the tournament this year. There are definitely high-level players and that makes it an automatic (on why it’s grown).”

But it has also become a tradition because of the time of year. People have time to sit back, relax and enjoy a live event that means a lot.

“At Christmastime families and people get together,” he added. “Everything kind of slows down a little bit in life once you’ve gotten through all the shopping.

“You get to sit around with friends and family then you get to watch this cool hockey tournament, produced at a high level with exceptional athletes and that’s a bonus.”

People across the country see the finished product when they sit down in front of their TVs to watch host James Duthie and the on-air talent, but they don’t understand the work that has gone on behind the scenes to make what they’re seeing a reality.

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“Paul has instilled values in all of us,” said TSN’s Sam Cicirello , a senior producer of live events, most notably the Senators’ broadcasts and the Hockey Hall of Fame induction. “He always upheld having the highest standards, staying loyal to our partners and being exceptional storytellers.

“He always wants us to deliver the best possible experience for the viewer.”

LIKE A DUCK: CALM ON THE SURFACE, BUT ALWAYS PADDLING

Graham and his group don’t prepare differently than an athlete does in the hours before the puck is dropped.

“Roger Federer is one of my favourite athletes and people always said how easy he made it look on the court,” said longtime play-by-play broadcaster Gord Miller, who is working his 30th world junior tourney.

“He said, ‘People have no idea how hard I worked to make it look easy.’ I don’t think people know, and maybe they don’t care, because all they care about is the product that comes across their television. But a whole lot of work and preparation goes into making those things look easy, and it’s certainly not.”

That work ethic has to start at the top, and Graham is the kind of person who leads by example. He’s in the trenches, and he has worked hard to bring innovation to these broadcasts so that the viewers are seeing the latest technology.

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“Paul has been an incredible mentor and leader,” said Cicirello . “He’s always pushing us to do our best while also showing us the importance of being good broadcast partners.

“He’s always been innovative and forward-thinking. But what really stood out was knowing that Paul always had your back. He always reminded us to think of the viewer at home.

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“No matter the challenge you could count on him to back you and lead by example. His guidance and vision set the tone to make us all better at what we do.”

There are about 25 cameras at the Canadian Tire Centre during the world juniors, but one of the most noticeable is the drone that is being used for the first time. TSN tested it during the Gretzky-Hlinka under-18 championship at Rogers Arena.

Broadcasts from two different venues present challenges.

The setup work began in earnest on Dec. 18 at TD Place for the pre-competition game held there on Dec. 19. A full-scale setup of the two buildings takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day before the people from TSN gather for the team dinner.

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Because the people at the network are giving up family time to be part of this project, Graham has worked hard to make them feel like they are part of something special. He hands out certificates to recognize the contributions of people working at the tourney.

“The whole group becomes a family because you’re away from your family,” Graham said. “That’s why we always make the point of having a great dinner and try to team build as much as possible. It’s a real family.”

You have to work five straight world juniors to qualify and then receive one every year for as long as you stick around. It’s a small gesture but it’s meaningful. Graham has done a good job of defining everybody’s roles and they get a chance to contribute.

“I’ve spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day plus New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with largely this same group for more than 25 years,” Miller said. “We have a bunch of people who are at 25-plus years and that’s pretty cool.

“It’s really good because everybody knows their job, everybody does their job and you know they will do it. You never go in wondering if you’re going to be okay because you know we are because they are the best at what they do.”

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There have been challenges along the way.

This tourney wasn’t always held in big arenas and it’s only grown because of TSN. Graham has had to help his crew adjust to working in places like Ufa, Russia, during the 2013 world juniors where the facilities weren’t completely equipped.

The 8,200-seat UFA Arena and the 4,200-seat Ice Palace Saluvat Yulaev had issues that needed to be dealt with during setup.

“He gets things done,” said ESPN colour analyst Ray Ferraro, who worked the tournament for more than a decade. “I saw a technician drilling a hole in the bottom of a wall in UFA because they couldn’t get the cable through and that was from Paul. They had to get this cable through and the guy was literally drilling through the wall and they were feeding the cable through.”

WORKING HARD UNTIL THE FINAL BUZZER

Graham was able to get a preview of what this final act of his lengthy career would be at the Grey Cup in November at BC Place in Vancouver. Graham was given a sendoff by TSN’s Canadian Football League team during that event.

Graham scored a touchdown by raising the bar on the network’s coverage of the CFL and has brought the league to the forefront of TSN’s programming by broadcasting every game. He was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame in Hamilton in 2018.

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During a video tribute on the Grey Cup pregame show, former Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ standout Milt Stegall, one of the network’s top analysts, was part of a group of people who thanked Graham for what he had done.

Graham is so well-respected he was interviewed for the role of the president of the Edmonton Elks in 2021.

“He’s the reason why we’re all up here,” Stegall said. “He’s been selfless and now it’s time for him to be selfish and enjoy a lot of things he hasn’t been able to do because he’s been working so hard, not only on the CFL but so many other sports.”

Graham hasn’t had time to think much about this being his final turn around the world junior tournament.

“It will probably hit me a little more afterwards that it’s the last one that I am in charge of. I’m not yet from an emotional side of things. It’s about doing a great job and making sure that it’s a great production. We’ve got great crews at both places.

“We’ve got a job to do and we’ll worry about my piece of it later on.”

Graham can feel good about himself as he prepares to close the book on a brilliant career. He passed along a story about the viewership between Canada and Russia during the 2020 championship held in Czechia.

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Canada scored a 4-3 victory in the gold medal game but was thrilled to hear that 36 million people in Russia tuned in to watch the final. Talk about making an impact.

“We took something that wasn’t necessarily something and made it into a big international event on the hockey calendar. It’s very pleasing to see its growth over the years and it just keeps on getting bigger. When you look at ratings, where Finland or Sweden have success, basically half of their country is watching those games.

“It’s quite impactful in other places and not just Canada.”

As Graham gathers with the hard-working people who make up the team that covers the world junior one last time, he can head out the door with his head held high and know he’s made his mark in the world of sports broadcasting.

“If people are asking me about my proudest career moments, and I’ve got a lot of them, I would say I wouldn’t want to put (one) above anything else,” Graham said. “But the growth of the world juniors would be one of my proudest achievements.”

The perfect end of an era.

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