Beer League Rebound is a new hockey podcast for fans and players of all ages.
While the novel coronavirus pandemic took hockey away from all of us, Bryce Bunz took it as an opportunity to bring more hockey into the world through podcasting. This Airdrie Minor League product took the extra time he had at home to create his own solo podcast, Beer League Rebound. Bryce hit the 10th episode mark on May 27th and he puts out a weekly show every Wednesday.
Bryce has had an active involvement in hockey from a very young age. He played through the Airdrie Minor Hockey League for city and travel teams starting from the Novice age group which is for young players under the age of nine.
He didn’t score much at first but ended up finding his place between the pipes. He still participates in men’s recreational leagues and throws on the goalie pads for a fun game of puck. He has a strong sports background with a Sports Management Diploma and a Business Certificate from Olds College. He is currently continuing his education at SAIT in Calgary, Alberta.
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The past year, Bryce has shifted his focus from a player point of view to a behind the scenes role. For the 2019-20 season, he was the team manager for the Bantam AA Calgary Royals team and was awarded the Manager of the Year award for his exceptional efforts.
In reflecting on some of his favorite hockey memories, Bryce mentions impressive tournament wins in the Esso and Medicine Hat tournament and a unique opportunity for his team where he was able to get ice time for his team to practice with the two time Memorial Cups winners, the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL.
His inspiration to start this podcast came from appearing on his friend’s podcast and the enjoyment he had being a guest.
Bryce’s experience in various aspects of the game has gotten him in touch with a lot of people involved in the game and most episodes feature guests of all kinds that can share their stories on his show.
So far, he has had guests who played junior, WHL, international hockey, and U Sports hockey. They all have their own takes on their careers and experiences and Bunz brings a fun environment where they can reminisce on some of their favorite memories.
He has high hopes for the podcast and looks forward to what the future holds for it. Bryce said, “My vision for the podcast would definitely be to continue to grow the podcast more and definitely get more international and bring on more local people and more people up in the works.” As of now, he has listeners nationally and smaller international audiences in the United States, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Switzerland.
What sets him apart from other hockey podcasts available right now is that he does not have a co-host so he is able to talk hockey in his own words in the first minutes before or after his interviews. He said, “This is actually very difficult at times. But it’s a lot of fun because you are able to talk about something without being interrupted.”
Beer League Rebound focuses on NHL news as well. Bunz has done a great job of keeping listeners up to date as relaunch phases are announced. He also brings insights and opinions on what is going on within the NHL with their plan to still host modified playoff rounds this year. He doesn’t focus on just one team or just one conference and gives listeners from all fanbases meaningful information that is worth tuning into.
This podcast will definitely be one to keep an eye on. He recently surpassed 300 listens and has some apparel in the works to spread the word and cover some operational costs. The typical run-time for an episode ranges from 25 minutes to an hour. He hopes to eventually incorporate sponsorship into his podcast to grow it even more to the point where he could record his podcast as a full-time job.
I had the pleasure of being a guest on his show on June 10th, where I talked about the behind the scenes aspect of hockey in the media including my current contributions to Puck Prose in a freelance role. You can listen to my interview here.
Beer League Rebound can be found on various streaming locations such as Spotify, Anchor, and YouTube. You can also check out Beer League Rebound’s social media pages on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.