Neighbours talks Blues' ASL Awareness Night in Q&A with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. This week, we feature St. Louis Blues forward Jake Neighbours, the face of the Blues' outreach to the deaf community through his knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL). St. Louis will host its first ASL Awareness Night and become the first NHL team to broadcast a regional game in ASL when they play the Pittsburgh Penguins at Enterprise Center on Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, ESPN, TVAS).

Jake Neighbours hopes that the St. Louis Blues' ASL Awareness Night on Tuesday and the team becoming the first in the NHL to broadcast a regional game in American Sign Language is impactful beyond the evening.

The Blues have partnered with the NHL and P-X-P to produce a special alternate telecast of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins that will be available on the ESPN app for ESPN Unlimited subscribers.

"I think obviously the broadcasting is awesome, like going in that direction," Neighbours said. "I think that would continue to attract people in that community to hockey, just making people aware that there's room in our game for the deaf community. There's ways that we can make it accessible for them and enjoyable for them, and that's the ultimate goal."

Since 2022, P-X-P has partnered with the NHL to provide ASL interpretation for signature events like the Stanley Cup Final, Heritage Classic, All-Star Weekend and the Stadium Series, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's State of the League address.

The Emmy-nominated "NHL is ASL" features real-time play-by-play delivered entirely in ASL with Jason Altmann, chief operating officer of P-X-P and co-host Jeff Mansfield.

For the game Tuesday, fans who purchased theme tickets will receive a Blues ASL T-shirt featuring the team's name written in ASL. They will also see a deaf performer signing the U.S. national anthem and other ASL-focused content throughout the building.

A portion of proceeds from the evening will be donated to DEAF, Inc. to support the Deaf and hard of hearing community of St. Louis.

Neighbours has been an inspirational force and the face of the Blues ASL efforts. The 24-year-old forward from Calgary learned ASL because of the friendship he developed as a teenager with Nashville Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt when they played against each other and eventually became teammates for the U18 AAA Calgary Buffaloes.

Wiesblatt's mother, Kim, is deaf and Neighbours, who spent a lot of time in the family's home, wanted to be able to communicate with her without one of her four sons or daughter constantly having to translate. 

"The family saw that I had tried to learn (ASL), and I just think it made us a little while closer and I became best friends with all of them," Neighbours said. "Some call me the 'Fifth Brother.'"

Last season, Neighbours designed a series of special team hats including one that had "Blues" written out in ASL that became extremely popular.

P-X-P founder and CEO Brice Christianson said Neighbours has become an indispensable ally and hockey ambassador within the deaf community, which encompasses more than 33 million people in the United States and Canada.

"For Jake to be kind, to be aware, to be considerate, to learn sign language…it's touching and refreshing," said Christianson, who is the son of deaf parents. "And for him to also want to put American Sign Language in the national spotlight, like he did with the St. Louis Blues ASL hat last year, that was insanely popular. This doesn't happen, I think, without Jake Neighbours' involvement and his support of the Wiesblatt family, ASL and the deaf community."

Neighbours talked recently with NHL.com about the Blues' ASL Awareness Night, the ASL broadcast and learning ASL.

You were about 16 years old when you started to learn ASL, a language that not many teenagers choose to pick up. Why did you do it?

"I had known 'Oz' for a while playing against him, and then finally got the chance to meet him and play with him in Calgary and just became really good friends. Going over to his house, seeing obviously all the sign language and having to get them to communicate for me and translate, I guess it becomes old after a while. I was spending so much time with the family I just decided to start picking up little things. And, yeah, got good enough where I can at least communicate with the family and with his mom, but, yeah, still working on it to this day."

How did you get started learning ASL?

"Ozzy was my main teacher, and then, Kim and Ozzy's other brothers (Ocean, Orca, Oasiz) and Oceana, the youngest sister, have helped me out as well along the way."

What were the challenges of learning?

"I think, honestly, the action of it. It's not as easy as it looks and being able to do it at a pace high enough where it's not taking you long amounts of time to respond or say what you want to say, I think, is the hardest part. I think the memorization of it as well, like, learning it properly and being able to remember it. I find when I don't it when I'm in season and I'm not around (the Wiesblatts) as much, I'm not as fluent or as good with my hands. When I'm in the offseason, spending a lot more time with them, I'm definitely a lot smoother with it."

I understand that you're using an app to help you improve your ASL. How does it work?

"It's called ASL Bloom. You go on there and there's, like, a word a day. You can just go learn a word every day, or there are other courses you can take and categories and stuff like that."

Have you had a chance to watch the NHL in ASL?

"I haven't had an opportunity to watch one yet. I know Kim, Ozzy's mom, really enjoys it, and a lot of her family members as well that are deaf enjoy watching those types of broadcasts."

Were you surprised about how popular the Blues ASL hat became so popular?

"I don't think you ever expect anything that you designed or created, I guess, to be that big, but the fans love the style of them and love the movement behind it. And you're right, they were flying off the shelf. It was really nice to see the support from the fans and how much awareness it brought the deaf community."

What's the response in the deaf community to your knowledge of ASL and efforts to raise awareness?

"I have had instances where someone who is deaf will see me in public and I don't know if they're a fan of hockey or seeing me through the ASL community, but I've had conversations that way. Sometimes I'll say hello to the people at concerts to do the sign on the side."