image credit: brianpoulsen [Flickr]
I’m a huge hockey fan and I visit my favorite sites on an almost daily basis. Usually for me it’s more about who scored last night, what the latest trade rumors are, and so on. But a recent post from the On Frozen Blog and article from the Washington Times made me think about how accessible hockey coverage and information has become even in the last 2 or 3 years.
“Hockey’s not lost in translation. ‘New media’ ” has had a profound impact on coverage of sports in general and hockey in particular. The result has been access to new information about European players that members of the ;old media’ in North America would struggle to provide. For years, fans have read quotes that were limited either because of a player’s grasp of the English language or his comfort level with the North American media.” Corey Masisak, The Washington Times
I grew up playing hockey (and still do.. just not well) plus I’m Canadian so believe me when I say my bias isn’t intentional. With this said, I do believe the NHL to be by far the most international of all North American pro sports. Many of the hockey’s superstars hail from overseas – Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic & Slovakia to name a few. Last year for example, 8 of the league’s top 12 scorers were from across the pond.
That’s why the use of new media has been such a game changer. First you had a few people sharing interviews and translating them on message boards. And now you have bilingual bloggers doing interviews and foreign television video clips spread through YouTube.
Maybe it’s just me, but mention Hockey & New Media in the same sentence and you’ll get my attention every time.
Patrick Dunphy
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It’s also amazing how involved forward thinking owners are in the new media world. My friend Ritch Duncan (who writes the excellent AMERICAN HOCKEY FAN blog, http://www.americanhockeyfan.com/)wrote some disparaging comments about Ted Leonisis on his blog. He was shocked when Leonisis contacted him directly about the comments and even more surprised when Leonisis invited him to come to Washington and live blog a Caps game.
BTW Patrick, if you’re in NYC, you should drop me a line. Two Canadians named Patrick working in the interactive world should definitely share a beer sometime.
What a fantastic story about the Caps owner. It clearly illustrates the power of the web and how wide reaching the audience can be.
It’d be interesting to know how many pro sports team owners have their own blog’s.
Thanks for sharing. AFN is definitely on my shortlist now.
-PD
As a Caps fan and Organic in NYC, I figure I’ll just chime in that Patrick and I have now been arguing via email on whether or not hockey is the most “international” north american sport.
But one thing I know: Ted Leonsis is a good owner. And from what I hear, a good guy, too.
As for social media: as non-NHL leagues continue to expand, that extended coverage of draft picks, free agents, etc is only going to get more interesting…
Brian.
Great thoughts.
Hockey has come a long way with how information is spread out. It is a great step for the sport to be adopting new media. The bigger the better.
Justin
(The Hockey Card Show)
I’ve connected with the Red Wings just because I twittered while watching their games. It’s really a great way to connect with fans.