Kallie Cullison made an immediate impression on Casey Bryant, the Everett Silvertips’ director of broadcasting and media relations, when she began working for the team in 2024. Her “big personality” suited her to commentary, Bryant explained, but she needed convincing to make her broadcast debut and become the franchise’s first female color commentator on Feb. 6.
“He wanted me to do this in the beginning of my time here in Everett, and I said no – I refused,” Cullison recalled. “And then he ended up talking me into it this season, and I have never been more grateful for all the hours that him and I have spent working on this.”
Everett, sitting 47-7-3 on the season and atop the WHL’s Western Conference, has a track record of not only producing solid NHLers, but also solid commentators. Dave Sheldon served as the Silvertip’s first-ever color commentator before eventually working as a radio talk show host for Sportsnet. Al Kinisky, the Seattle Kraken’s radio color commentator since 2023, provided Everett’s radio color commentary for a decade, according to the Everett Herald.
Bryant, also the Silvertips’ play-by-play commentator, has flown solo in the broadcast booth for much of his time in Everett since joining the team in 2021. Adding a color commentator was “just not really something I entertained,” Bryant explained. “I hadn’t met the right person, and it wasn’t really something that other people had sparked an interest in.”
Working for a hockey team, much less providing real-time insights on a game which moves at a breakneck pace, wasn’t in the plan for Cullison. Growing up in the Edmonds area meant she attended Silvertips games since at least age six, but she didn’t care for the sport until she turned 12 or 13. Cullison, now 21, is “obsessed” with the analytical side of the game and captivated by its fast pace.
Cullison completed some college and intended to enter the medical field before an honest conversation with her mom steered her in another direction.
“She’s like, ‘Well, what’s your dream job?’ And I was like, ‘I want to work in the NHL,'” Cullison recalled. “She was like, ‘So what are you doing?'”
Cullison secured an internship on her second try. As a digital media assistant, her game day responsibilities include running the team’s social media pages, videography and creating graphics. Cullison and her digital media colleagues, Laney Agodon, Beth Huston and Lindsey McClellan, according to the Silvertips’ website, “wear a lot of different hats,” she explained. Such a hands-on gig, Cullison added, has taught her far more than sitting in a classroom could.
Eventually convincing Cullison to try commentary took building her confidence in other areas of hockey media, Bryant said. Over the summer, she began interviewing players at training camp, getting comfortable holding a microphone and speaking in front of a camera. When Bryant, hesitant to push her, approached her about trying commentary again, she finally agreed.
On-air chemistry between broadcasters develops over time, making it tough to practice. Bryant said he and Cullison watched a Silvertips game from earlier this season on mute ahead of her debut in an effort to strike a balance between their contributions. Cullison said she prepared two “packets” of information — one for the Silvertips and one for that night’s opponent, the Kamloops Blazers — as well as “sheets and sheets worth of notes” to inform her commentary. But she didn’t need them.
Despite a rocky first period, Cullison found herself disregarding her notes and just focusing on the action at hand; the rest of Everett’s 6-3 comeback win felt natural. As a commentator, she felt drawn to highlight players’ and teams’ playing styles, how they handle pucks and move about the ice. Things went even smoother on her second go, a 9-0 blowout win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on Feb. 21.
“It was amazing. I definitely felt more steady and more ready to go,” Cullison said, “that confidence, just after having the first one under (my) belt, I think it was great.”
Bryant emphasized that Cullison earned her broadcast opportunities, and her success on-air is a reflection of her hard work.
“For Kal to join that list of (color commentators) is impressive in of itself, in that the team doesn’t let just anyone on the air,” Bryant said. “But for her to earn that spot and earn a reprise as well shows her own drive and her own talent.”
As to whether Cullison will provide commentary for more games this season, Bryant said the “door’s always open for her.” Cullison is staying open-minded about her future in hockey media, focused on learning as much as she can about the industry.
For now, Cullison is “honored” to have had the opportunities she did, knowing the importance of her venture into color commentary to women in sports now and in the future.
“Just being a woman in sports, I cannot be more grateful for the women before me that paved the way,” she said. “I just hope I can be a face for any little girls that want to work in sports, knowing that it is possible to do stuff like that.”
The Everett Silvertips next take the ice Friday, Feb. 27 at home against the Kamloops Blazers.
