Heidi Androl quickly becoming a queen among Kings

Heidi Androl is the co-host of the Cisco All-Access Pre-game Show on NHL.com

Once upon a time, the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders were locked up in an important and tight AFL game with playoff implications. As many people may know, with the Jets leading 32-29 and just over two minutes to go in regulation, NBC television stopped broadcasting the game before it ended. At 7:00PM Eastern Time, half the country was switched from the game to a family movie about a pint-sized girl skipping care-free through the base of the Swiss Alps.

Millions of football fans would forever cringe at any future interruption of their hard core sports viewing in favor of some girl named Heidi.

Today, the viewers of Los Angeles Kings hockey games have the same issue. But instead of dreading the interruption of their similarly hard core sports viewing, many fans are becoming more and more enamored at the idea of a woman named Heidi appearing on-screen.

But make no mistake; Heidi Androl is more than just some girl interfering with the game. She, in fact, adds to it.

Androl has just completed her second season as a member of the Los Angeles Kings broadcast team. Her work on ‘Kings Vision’, as well as her feature pieces which ran during pre-game, between periods, and post-game of Kings’ broadcasts, has allowed her to take on a new responsibility. Unlike the club she covered, she advanced to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Androl is the co-host of Cisco All-Access Pre-Game Show, which airs daily on NHL.com’s ‘The Portal’. Shot at the NHL Store in New York City, she and co-host Rob Simpson help hockey fans get ready for that night’s playoff action, and she recently told Examiner.com what fans can expect from the show.

“The show gets the fans up to speed on the night’s playoff action,” Androl admitted, “with insight and analysis, road reports, interviews and fun features. It is everything that you need to know about the Stanley Cup playoff games before they get under way each day. It has been a lot of fun so far!”

So how exactly did a young girl from a small farm town of Unionville, Michigan, wind up with a big-time broadcasting job in a big city? The fact is that she is not just a pretty face. Having grown up playing sports all her life, the transition to broadcasting came naturally. But while success has come her way, it didn’t happen without a lot of hard work and determination on her part, and Androl feels like she is still gaining valuable knowledge on the job.

Heidi with Rob Simpson on the set of the Cisco All-Access Pre-Game Show
(Courtesy NHL.com/Getty Images)

“I am still learning every single day and have plenty more to learn,” Androl stated, “but I think that my overall comfort level with the team and the coaching staff, as well as the hockey operations department, has improved, and my listening has gotten much better.” One of the things that endear her with Kings’ fans is her ability to not just ask questions, but to actively engage in conversation with the people she interviews.

“I’m not so worried about what I am going to say, but rather listening to the answers,” Androl commented. “I prefer to think of it as having a conversation rather than ‘an interview’. I work very hard to provide the fans with a light and fun interpretation of the sport and the off-ice personalities of the players.”

One of the things that Androl knows she has to deal with is the constant scrutiny of people who still see the sports broadcasting business as a male-dominated one. But she feels that she is helping to make inroads for other women wanting to get into the business, and she feels that there is no substitute for preparation when it comes to do the job effectively.

“As a woman it is easy to be stereotyped,” Androl commented, “but my best advice is to be yourself, I know for me that I had to find my brand and do my homework. I am an over-preparer to a fault. I always say as long as I do the homework and do everything I can to be prepared.” And when you watch the way she makes her interview subjects feel comfortable, it’s no secret that her success again is because of her ability to stay in the moment.

“I feel the most important thing I can do during an interview is to listen to what the other person is saying,” Androl said. “That is one thing that I have really gotten better at too. Your next question usually comes from the last answer of the other person.” In addition to developing her interviewing skills, she is also hard at work on completing a book which she hopes will further inspire women to seek out careers once thought to be predominantly male.

The book is titled In the Men’s Room: A Girls Guide to Success in Male Dominated Business. It was primarily about her experience in the helicopter industry, which is where she worked for several years.

“It has evolved as I have added a career in sports and hockey,” Androl said, “and I wanted to share what I have learned from this experience as well. The book highlights what I have learned about being a female in a predominantly male field. I share my struggles, my mistakes, my achievements and after all of that, my advice with women working to climb the ladder as one of the few wearing high heels.” The book is due to be released later this year, and marks yet another part of the entertainment industry that she has conquered.

Androl has had a diverse career path that has included hundreds of modeling gigs, working as an actress in films and television, and even a memorable stint on the sixth season of ‘The Apprentice’. But she says don’t be fooled into thinking Donald Trump’s persona on-camera is just an act.

“Well, he is exactly as you would expect him to be,” Androl mentioned. “Yes, the hair is real and there’s actually someone responsible for keeping it in place. I joked that she should be fired….not me! All joking aside though, I did genuinely learn from him and appreciate the experience.” But even as rewarding as that experience was, she is convinced that she has found her dream job talking hockey on a daily basis.

“I work in hockey - it is a great sport and one that I really love,” Androl admitted. “I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work in a sport with such humble and kind people. I would say the best parts of the job have been being able to be creative in a sport that I love so much and all of the wonderful friendships I have developed over the past two years.” And it’s that passion for hockey which has allowed her to put aside her ego in order to be a little zany with some of the pieces she has done for Kings Vision.

Heidi with fellow Fox Sports West reporter Patrick O'Neal (Courtesy LA Kings)

“I’ve done some crazy things, like getting checked in Salzburg in the ‘Sound of Music’ outfit was pretty zany,” Androl mused, “and maybe attempting to Dogsled and hold a microphone….My curling was pretty pathetic too.” Androl also sighted her shoot with Columbus forward Rick Nash for the NHL 2K9 video game. But as wacky as she can allow herself to be, and she admits she would welcome the chance to interview Will Ferrell, she also has the ability to analyze the current status of the Kings franchise like a seasoned veteran.

“This season was an exciting and different team to watch,” Androl stated. “I am seeing the light at the end of the ‘Dean Lombardi’ tunnel… the Kings goaltending situation has the depth that it does now with all of the young goaltenders; Drew Doughty was so fun to see in his rookie year, and he far surpassed my expectations for his first year in the NHL; Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar have developed as leaders this year, which is important. Having Jack Johnson healthy for an entire season would be nice.”

The development of the young talent on-the-ice for the Kings has mirrored the development of the woman who covers them off-the-ice. As for predicting the future, Androl is cautiously optimistic that the Kings can break their seven year post-season drought.

“With a couple additions, this team is one that should make the playoffs next year, and wouldn’t that be great!” It would indeed, and perhaps the only thing better than seeing Brown and his teammates drinking from the Stanley Cup in the near future would be having Heidi Androl providing interviews on the ice at Staples Center during that celebration. Now that would be an interruption that we would glad give a pardon for.