Ian currently serves as the afternoon host for TSN 1200’s ‘The Drive’ which can be heard weekdays on the station. Prior to that, Mendes spent 12 years covering the Ottawa bureau for Rogers Sportsnet, where he served as host for Ottawa Senators games on the network. A graduate of Carleton University’s journalism program, he lives in Barrhaven with his wife Sonia and their two daughters Elissa and Lily.
In 2004, Elissa was born with an enlarged cyst in her brain — a form of hydrocephalus. Doctors at CHEO performed brain surgery on her when she was only nine days old, installing a shunt on the left side of her body. Today, Elissa is a thriving Grade 4 student who shows no signs of any neurological issues. The Mendes family owes much of the happiness in their lives to CHEO and are always eager to help out in any fundraising causes that can help the hospital.