tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87828095334711893482024-03-13T06:16:10.083-04:00The Hockey Media BlogWriting about hockey, the Islanders and other topics along the wayUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger261125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-44878821057940479292009-08-14T18:12:00.001-04:002009-08-14T18:12:56.223-04:00Story of the Week: Tampa Uses Twitter to Break NewsAt 2:44 PM on Thursday, August 13, the Tampa Bay Lightning took a huge step forward on how NHL teams will be measured on how they use Twitter.<br /><br />The <a href="http://twitter.com/TBLightning">Lightning’s Twitter team</a> posted (AKA Tweeted) this message: <i>“The Lightning are making a trade today. They'll be getting a player and a draft pick in return. More to come....”</i><br /><br />It wasn’t from an anonymous hockey blogger, a fan or even one of their beat writers. <b>It came directly from the team. </b>Instantly, everyone who was flowing them on Twitter <b style="color: blue;">knew </b>that Tampa was making a trade. And instantly, followers wanted more info. No doubt, page hits dramatically increased for Tampa’s website.<br /><br />At 3:31 PM that same day, the Lightning finally broke the news of their trade with this Tweet: <i>“The Lightning have acquired LW Drew Miller and a 3rd rd pick in 2010 from Anaheim in exchange for Evgeny Artyukhin.” </i><br /><br />Not the biggest trade in the hockey world. In fact, the impact of his trade might be felt more off the ice and then on it by the way the message was delivered.<br /><br />At this point, I believe 29 of the 30 NHL teams use Twitter. Until yesterday, the 29 teams used Twitter mostly to deliver promotional/marketing news and website updates. Some teams used Twitter to update their draft board at the draft, but that news was also available on countless other websites and Twitter accounts.<br /><br />The Lightning not only broke the news of the trade, they teased it to everyone.<br /><br />It was an excellent way for Tampa to drum up interest in a trade that would hardly make headlines in the middle August. It also increased websites hits and the amount of followers they have on Twitter.<br /><br />Today, people are talking about the Tampa Bay Lightning acquiring Drew Miller and a 3rd round draft pick not because Drew Miller is the next Wayne Gretzky, but because Drew Miller will become the answer to a trivia question on a potential historic moment for the NHL and Twitter.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-50692253302537441382009-08-04T15:19:00.000-04:002009-08-04T15:19:28.962-04:00Sad to See AFL Go<a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/afl/news/story?id=4376533" name="&lpos=hn3&lid=AFL spokesman: Demi">AFL spokesman: Demise appears 'inevitable'</a><br /><br />
I got my start in the sports industry with the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League. I saw it as a way to work my way up to a position with the Islanders and for me it worked. Along my journey with the AFL, I made many friends and memories along with way. <br /><br />The AFL had something good going, but in my estimation their failure was their own fault. <br /><br />The NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA took decades to grow into the national and continent-wide powerhouses they are now. The AFL wanted to do that in 20 years. They wanted to rush their growth and the league thought of themselves as equals to the big-four North American leagues.<br /><br />It seemed that when Kurt Warner jumped from the AFL to NFL Super Bowl MVP that the Arena League gained respect. At that moment, the League and its football operations department started to think of themselves as equals to the giant of the National Football League. And from that moment they began to throw away their milk before it spoiled.<br /><br />Instead of continuing to embrace their small-market success, they jumped ahead of the curve to try to find big-market success. Along the way they gained some notoriety, but in the end bite off more then they could chew. They forgot about what they had in exchange for trying to find something more popular.<br /><br />The moral of the AFL’s story is that growth takes times. The NFL did not become the NFL overnight and the fall downward comes a lot faster then the climb.<br /><br />The NHL can learn from the AFL’s failure. There is still plenty of growth ahead for the NHL and they mustn’t rush it. Let success happen and if it takes time, so be it. Rushing to success often leads to failure in the end.<br /><br />And while we think of the AFL’s demise, ask the Arena League how ESPN helped them? Even ESPN doesn’t bring automatic success.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-55324492904864241132009-07-31T00:03:00.001-04:002009-07-31T00:04:03.358-04:00Thoughts on NYI PB and CBAs I told him in a private e-mail on Wednesday, Chris Botta taught me almost everything I know about PR. He didn’t have to take a chance on a 21-year old kid when filling out his post-lockout PR staff, but he did and I owe him more then I can probably ever repay him and if for nothing else then for the memories I made in my time with the team.<br />
<br />
It’s sad to see <a href="http://www.islanderspointblank.com/">Islanders Point Blank</a> leaving in its current form. As an employee of the team, it was a great place to check out what Chris wrote about because 1) It was an opinion of a fan who cares very much about the team and 2) It was an opinion of someone who I deeply respect. And as a fan after my time with the team, well, those same reasons apply.<br />
<br />
I hope one day I can work with Chris again because he is a great person to work with and I’m sure there is more I can learn from him. As fans of his blog, we learned a lot too. And not just about the team, because if you read close enough, you could really get a huge insight on how and why hockey teams make the decisions they do.<br />
<br />
To me, Islanders Point Blank wasn’t just about the news that was broken, but how it captured the hockey spirit.<br />
<br />
There’s more I can talk about, but those thoughts will have to remain between the two of us. Best of luck to Chris in his next step.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-31368887984141428662009-07-25T11:54:00.001-04:002009-07-25T11:54:44.918-04:00Found on Twitter: Miro to Return to LI?From NHL agent <b>Allan Walsh</b> (<a href="http://twitter.com/walsha">@Walsha</a>) on Twitter:<b><i><span style="color: rgb(56, 118, 29);"> "" </span><span class="status-body" style="color: rgb(56, 118, 29);"><span class="entry-content">I can confirm we are currently in negotiations with the NYI on a contract for Miro Satan. ""</span></span></i></b><br /><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">That confirms the Islanders are looking for another scoring winger. While I love Miro, this might not be the best on-ice fit. Miro has had his strugles the past few years, although he did have a solid playoffs.</span></span><br /><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">What I'm leery about is that Miro would in essence be coming home to finish his career. His family loves Long Island and I believe his still owns the house he built while on the Island. He and his family only moved into it in the final year of his contract. </span></span><br /><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">To quote Ted Nolan, Miro is a pro's pro and one of the finest gentleman in the NHL. He was one of the nicest and easiest guys to work with in my time with the Islanders.<br /></span></span><br /><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">It would be interesting if this comes through. It could mean one of the young kids would have to come out of the projected top-12 line-up.<br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-11498350105955695722009-07-20T23:57:00.001-04:002009-07-21T13:38:33.343-04:00Which Islanders Would You Like to Tweet on Twiiter?The Washington Capitals’ <a href="http://twitter.com/ovi8">Alexander Ovechkin</a> does it. Dallas Mavericks’ owner <a href="http://twitter.com/mcuban">Mark Cuban</a> does it too.<br />
<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/pelias">Patrik Elias</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/thenyrangers">The New York Rangers</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/martinhavlat">Martin Havlat</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/KellyHrudey">Kelly Hrudey</a>, Beat Writers (example of two: <a href="http://twitter.com/TarikElBashir">Tarik El-Bashir</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/AnthonySan37">Anthony SanFilippo</a>) and even <a href="http://twitter.com/StanFischler">Stan Fischler</a> use Twitter.<br />
<br />
Countless teams across the four major North American sports league do it.<br />
<br />
From my estimates, the <a href="http://capitals.nhl.com/">Washington Capitals</a> do it best in the sporting-sphere. Aside from Ovechkin, they have <a href="http://twitter.com/nateewell">three members of their PR staff </a>Tweeting individually about the Caps, they also have a <a href="http://twitter.com/capsmedia">Twitter account for their media staff as a whole</a>. That’s separate from their <a href="http://twitter.com/washcaps">website’s Twitter account</a>. And both their t<a href="http://twitter.com/cmasisak22">wo major beat writers Tweet too</a>. Maybe it’s borderline excessive, but if you’re a Caps fan, you can get all of the Twitter updates you can handle. Oh, <a href="http://twitter.com/TedLeonsis">Ted Leonsis -- The Caps’ owner -- Tweets as well</a>.<br />
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To my knowledge, the Islanders are not currently on Twitter. There was a brief experiment with <a href="http://twitter.com/BGervais8">Bruno Gervais</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/BWitt32">Brendan Witt </a>in 2007-08, but it was short lived. <br />
<br />
So, which Islanders would you follow on Twitter?<br />
<br />
I personally would love to read Garth Snow’s quick wit, but I doubt he would be up for it (but I would loved to be proved wrong!)<br />
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More realistically, I wouldn’t mind seeing team president Chris Dey Tweet about the plethora of off-ice activities of the team. Maybe John Tavares can bring us through the trials and tribulations of his rookie season. <br />
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It would be cool to get a scout to Tweet through his journeys, but that would result in a breach of competitive edge. Understandable.<br />
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If I realized what a great outreach tool Twitter was last season, I would have tried to Tweet the team’s travel experiences (editor’s note: I was responsible for the on-site travel coordination of the Islanders last season).<br />
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Twitter can be tied into a team’s website, beefing up the quantity and timeliness of news updates. The Thrashers have their website coordinator <a href="http://thrashers.nhl.com/">Ben Wright not only take care of their website</a> and <a href="http://www.bluelandblog.com/">write a blog</a>, but quickly throw <a href="http://twitter.com/BenThrashers">updates about the team and the website on his Twitter account</a>.<br />
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A lot of teams are using their website departments to promote their website through Twitter. It’s easy to see when they Tweet about a new story on their website or to add extra content. And providing extra editorial content is becoming increasingly important as team’s website are becoming more of a marketing tool as oppose to a means to provide editorial content. Which is in their right.<br />
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So back to the original premise, which Islanders would you like to start using Twitter and how would you like the team to use it?<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: lime;">Comment Below.</span></b></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-37696217900377132202009-07-16T23:58:00.000-04:002009-07-17T00:07:30.268-04:00No Airline Miles on Chartered FlightsAfter the Islanders flew commercial in the 1999-00 season, the NHL made it a rule that teams must fly charter. I heard the Zdeno Chara story of trying to switch into the emergency row seats to stretch his legs more then once. In fact, the Islanders were one of the tallest teams in NHL history that year. Not a good time to scrunch on Southwest.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ontheforecheck.com/2009/7/16/950950/how-much-does-your-favorite-team">Ontheforecheck.com </a>put together some pretty interesting information on how many approximate miles each team in the NHL will travel this year, how many back-to-back sets of game they’ll have and compared both to 2008-09.<br /><br />According to the website, the Islanders will travel approximately 31,550 miles this season, which will be about 3,424 additional miles from last year. It’s unclear whether they include the miles they’ll spend on the bus driving to New York City, Newark and Philadelphia or from Anaheim to LA in March. Those miles are always a little harder on the joints.<br /><br />Chartered flights can get cozy, but when you’re spending that much time in the air and hardly ever getting home before 2 AM, it becomes more daunting.<br /><br />But don’t get me wrong, some of the best memories I have from working with the Islanders was flying on that plane and I’ll miss the camaraderie that went along with it. On one of our many flights last season, broadcaster Howie Rose told me try a Pizza joint in the Great Neck (where he used to live and where I currently live). Coincidently, I did tonight and it was great.<br /><br />Travel can be extremely tough in the NHL as the season goes on, but it’s also a lot of fun with the right people and the right attitude.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-71971581888257393162009-07-15T21:59:00.001-04:002009-07-15T22:02:54.356-04:00NBC Good for NHL, But…<a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=442726">NHL, NBC extension</a><br /><br />It’s really good for the NHL to have a presence on NBC. Period.<br /><br />Sports as a whole are slowly going away from broadcast TV stations and moving on to cable. Cable shouldn’t give you the same bad vibe as it would 10 years ago. Every day, more people are watching brand new, highly rated shows on cable TV.<br /><br />But that said, anytime you can be on broadcast TV, it’s better. Broadcast TV offers up a more broad audience. The hit cable TV shows Jon and Kate Plus Eight and Cake Boss work great on TCL, but wouldn’t on NBC or CBS.<br /><br />I think some of the negative vibes the NHL on NBC gets is because the Peacock ignores hockey. Running promos during golf, bull riding and poker events are one thing, but I think we can count on one hand how times a player or team official appeared on Today (NBC’s morning show), one of the Late Night shows, or even one of their hit TV shows <span style="font-style: italic;">(I know, insert joke here)</span>.<br /><br />I know… There have been some NHL appearances on NBC’s Monday through Friday shows, but not enough to make a significant impact.<br /><br />I’m glad to see NBC and the NHL have agreed to two more years. But let’s see if NBC can boost the cross-promotional tools that are at their disposal. That will really help ratings and be great for the NHL.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-66609180603465370202009-07-15T00:32:00.000-04:002009-07-15T00:32:43.363-04:00Giving the Devil Its Due<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fikhi9JrwcI/Sl1aLphZ6VI/AAAAAAAAAeI/fEvkA1KpbFs/s1600-h/fullteam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fikhi9JrwcI/Sl1aLphZ6VI/AAAAAAAAAeI/fEvkA1KpbFs/s320/fullteam.jpg" /></a></div>
For years the New Jersey Devils were critized by thier fans, the media and other teams in the NHL when "fans" weren't one or two on their priotiy list. "Win at any cost" was one through ten.<br />
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And with three Stanley Cups in nine years, you really couldn't blame them. But even as a perrenial powerhouse and winner, fans didn't flock to the Devils because of it.<br />
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But over the last few years, that has changed.<br />
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Under the leadership of Chairman and Managing Partner <a href="http://devils.nhl.com/team/app?service=page&page=NHLPage&bcid=njd_the_pro_fro_vanderbeek">Jeff Vanderbeek</a>, the Devils have become a more fan-friendly operation. The Prudential Center is a great arena, one which is continuously improving. It's also a great place to watch a hockey game from on-ice action to entertainment in the stands.<br />
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I was perusing <a href="http://devils.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=442638">their website today and I found this article</a>. In case you didn't make the jump to the article, it was about two of their prospects getting into a fight at their prospect camp. Sometime when this happens, teams will try to act like it didn't happen -- especially if it happened without the media present (I don't know if that was or was not the case with the Devils fight today).<br />
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But the article on their website is an example that a franchise who once seemed isolated with thier fan base is becoming much more transparent with them. And if the Devils can combine winning the Stanley Cup with being fan-friendly, then they'll become a real ellite team in the NHL.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-19884292755601339752009-07-13T22:12:00.000-04:002009-07-13T22:12:16.755-04:00Early Predicitions Are In via ESPNESPN.com's (and also of the Denver Post) Terry Frei put together <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=frei_terry&id=4323473">some early Eastern Conference predictions for the 2009-10 NHL season</a>.<br /><br />
He ranked the Islanders at 14 (of 15) in the East. As I'm sure you remember, most publications had the Islanders in dead last last season. The ones that did not, didn't have them higher then 13. I can't find Terry's predictions for last season in his ESPN archieves. <br /><br />
I personally think it's still way early in the summer to offer predicitions. Terry's Western Conference picks were posted a week ago on July 7. Team's are still biulding thier roster via trades and free agent signings, so I'm interested to see if there will be a revised list later in the off-season -- say, maybe September.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-52995296929690061792009-07-12T22:53:00.000-04:002009-07-12T23:03:08.666-04:00What You Learn on TwitterAgain, Twitter is an amazing tool for diseminating information.<br />
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I follow NHL supper agent <a href="http://twitter.com/walsha">Allan Walsh</a>, who represents former Islander Miroslav Satan. This is what Mr. Walsh Tweeted 8:45 PM EST:<br />
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<span class="status-body"><strong></strong><i style="color: blue;"><span class="entry-content">""" Just
received word that client Miro Satan and wife had a beautiful baby girl
a few hours ago. Mother and baby Victoria doing well. """</span></i></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-86653237330923551342009-07-12T21:25:00.000-04:002009-07-12T21:25:24.276-04:00Brooks is Always a Must-ReadLarry Brooks of the New York Post can be a nightmare for a PR staff because he always shoots from the hip and writes what he thinks. Sometimes that can create headaches when his weekly Sunday Slapshots columns hits the web and newsstands. <br /><br />I always enjoyed – well, still do – reading his stories and columns. <a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/07122009/sports/moresports/flyers_likely_will_be_aved_from_own_stup_178810.htm?&page=0">His column today is an excellent example of it</a>.<br /><br />In a little over 800 words, he spoke about four of the five Atlantic Division teams, analyzed the <a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/story/?id=283900&hubname=nhl-blackhawks">potential disaster in Chicago</a> and tackled a major point about his beat team – the NY Rangers.<br /><br />Brooks can be blunt, informative (definitely has the most hokey contacts in the East and this side of the Border) and a lot of fun to read. Unless you’re a PR person for a team in his sights.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-71564936878552182012009-07-03T14:00:00.000-04:002009-07-03T14:00:13.138-04:00Twitter Follow UpThe one thing I failed to mention about Twitter is that there are imposters on there.<br />
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Example: <a href="http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=283588">See this item from Bob McKenzie of TSN</a>.<br />
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While there are ligit Twitter pages out there from some very well know people (<span class="status-body"><span class="msgtxt en" id="msgtxt2457035360"><a href="http://twitter.com/DarrenDreger" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/exit/to/DarrenDreger')" target="_blank"><b>Darren Dreger</b></a></span></span> or <span class="status-body"><strong></strong></span><strong><a class="screen-name" href="http://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano" title="Alyssa Milano">Alyssa Milano</a></strong>), just be careful who you're following.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-84274668081254802382009-07-01T13:35:00.003-04:002009-07-01T13:38:36.906-04:00Hillen/Lawson Resigned?The <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=34760">NHL put out their annual list of restricted and unrestricted free agents </a>(including those who were not qualified).<br /><br />Since <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jack Hillen</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Nathan Lawson</span> are not on any lists, its safe to say they have re-signed.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-90459615634687551092009-07-01T12:36:00.003-04:002009-07-01T12:40:48.289-04:00Twitter and Follow the Action<a href="http://www.twitter.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fikhi9JrwcI/SkuRKLLRT6I/AAAAAAAAAeA/8TdpLDq9fLQ/s320/twitter_logo_header.png" /></a>I plan on going into more detail about how awesome Twitter is. It was great following the NHL Draft on it and it’s great following NHL Free Agency on it. You get updates from multiple sources all in one place. Here are some quick and easy steps to get going.<br />
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1) Go to: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">www.twitter.com</a>.<br />
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2) Sign up for an account (real easy a quick). Don’t get caught up setting up your tweeting page.<br />
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3) Go to <a href="http://twitter.com/Corey_Witt">my Twitter page</a> and click on <a href="http://twitter.com/Corey_Witt/friends">who I’m following</a>. Scroll through and see who interests you. When you find someone, click on their page and then click the follow button.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8782809533471189348&postID=9045961563468755109" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>4) Once you’ve picked who you want to follow, go back to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">twitter.com</a> (make sure you’re still signed in) and you’ll get all your updates there.<br />
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Send <a href="mailto:CWittBlog@gmail.com">me an e-mail</a> if you need help.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-80311825088580502672009-07-01T11:26:00.001-04:002009-07-01T11:26:47.347-04:00Gustavsson Playing Himself Out of $ ?European hotshot goalie Jonas Gustavsson is the late-blooming, undrafted 21-year old unrestricted free agent that has more then a few NHL teams buzzing about his (free) potential.<br /><br />Teams have also been waiting two months for the “Monster” to pick his NHL destination. <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/sports/hockey/2009/05/26/9569566-sun.html">A big reason for his delay is due to the passing of his mother last month</a>. <b><a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283314" style="color: rgb(39, 78, 19);">But Gustavsson is delaying his decision again</a></b>.<br /><br />Today, when free agency in the NHL opens, teams tend to panic. Gustavsson has reportedly narrowed his list to four teams: Colorado, Dallas, San Jose and Toronto.<br /><br />Chances are that Gustavsson will get the max rookie cap number when he signs, but if two or even three teams give up waiting and <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=432091&navid=DL%7CNHL%7CHome">sign one of the other free agent goalies on the market</a>, Gustavsson might find himself with an offer for less then the max. It’s possible. Or at the very least, he might be playing himself out of a better shot at making an NHL club out of training camp if one of the four finalists sign a FA goalie.<br /><br />If I were Gustavsson, I would choose where to play before 12:00 PM EST today. He can’t afford to wait.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-52560293414349337612009-06-30T16:55:00.000-04:002009-06-30T16:55:43.449-04:00Drew Rosenhaus & the Cats?I’ve never liked super agent <b>Drew Rosenhau</b>s before today. He always annoyed me. Next Question!<br /><br />But that changed today <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Why-super-agent-Rosenhaus-took-on-Panthers-fans-?urn=nhl,173775">when I was alerted about this story</a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/wyshynski">Puck Daddy’s Tweet</a>.<br /><br />The Panthers are in a tough spot. They’re not in a traditional hockey market and the odds are stacked against them to turn Sunrise, FL into one. That’s another problem they have. Their fairly new and beautiful arena is located a ways away from Miami and the crowds just don’t have a reason to flock to the area.<br /><br />But I’ll give them props for thinking outside the box. A guy like Rosenhaus is hard to ignore and he’ll make people at least hear what he’s going to say in support of the Panthers.<br /><br />Rosenhaus calls himself <i style="color: #38761d;">“A longtime Panthers fan and a person who believes in giving sports fans the value and the atmosphere they deserve.”</i> I have some reservations about believing that.<br /><br />As an agent and a hockey fan, I would like to think he would have at least one hockey player as a client. I know a large hockey contract can be a fraction of what other athletes make, but I would think he would at least have one.<br /><br />The other part of his quote, if true, would contradict representing high-talent, low-class players and demanding outrageous contracts for them, which in turn drives up ticket prices in the first place.<br /><br />But that’s all debatable. <br /><br />I’ll give credit to the Panthers for an innovative idea and am interested in how this plays out. For the Panthers sake, I hope Rosenhaus doesn’t embarrass them. <b>Next Question! </b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-89105961904809293542009-06-28T13:46:00.000-04:002009-06-28T13:46:50.653-04:00Draft Observations – Part 2<b style="color: #38761d;">The Goalie Odds</b><br /><br />
The Islanders drafted two goalies early on Saturday morning with Mikko Koskinen at # 31 in the second round and Anders Nilsson at # 62 in the third round. Add Stefan Ridderwall, a sixth rounder in 2006, and Kevin Poulin, drafted in the fifth round in 2008, the Islanders most likely have a starting or back-up goaltender of the future in their system.<br /><br />Why am I so sure about that? Because teams are just as likely to find an NHL goaltender in the first or second round of the draft as they are in rounds three or four or five, six or seven. Most goalies do bust before they get signed by their draft team, but by playing their odds over the last four draft, the Islanders have put themselves in good position to beat the odds.<br /><br /><b>Look at the 2001 draft: </b><br />- The Islanders drafted Rick DiPietro with the first overall pick. For better or for worse, he started an NHL All-Star Game and was the No. 1 goalie on the US Olympic team.<br /><br />- The Calgary Flames drafted Brent Krahn ninth overall that year. He has played in one NHL game.<br /><br />- Ilya Bryzgalov was drafted by Anaheim in the second round, 44th overall. Mathieu Chouinard was taken with the very next pick by Ottawa. That’s 189 NHL games vs. 1 NHL game, respectively. <br /><br />- Peter Hamerlik (Pittsburgh, third round), Jean-Francois Racine (Toronto, third round), Stefan Liv (Detroit, fourth round) and a dozen more goalies were taken before the NY Rangers took Henrik Lundqvist in the seventh round, 205th overall. <br /><br /><br />All four Islanders prospect goalies I spoke about above could turn into busts. But with a wide selection of goalies, chances are one of them will make it. And with three of them European prospects, the Islanders will hold onto their rights for a long time unless a transfer agreement gets ratified by the IIHF.<br /><br />Advantage: Islanders.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-31908143348759582122009-06-27T13:41:00.000-04:002009-06-27T13:41:11.519-04:00Draft Observations – Part 1<i>The reason why I didn’t comment on the this year’s draft before it began or during is two fold: 1) I had no idea what was going to happen and 2) If I guessed right, I didn’t want to be accused of actually knowing and spilling the pot. Bu it’s over now, so here we go.</i><br /><br />Jordan Nolan, son of former Islanders head coach Ted Nolan, was finally drafted today by the Los Angeles Kings in the seventh round, 186th overall. This was Jordan’s third and final year of being draft eligible. <br /><br />In 2007, Jordan’s first year of eligibility, father Ted told me he would be a mid-round selection. Unfortunately for the Nolan family, he went undrafted. <br /><br />Last year, Ted told me he thought he would be a late round pick. He was a year off.<br /><br />But this might be a good sign for the Nolan family as Jordan is 20 years old and teams do not usually draft 20-year olds if they do not intend to sign them sooner rather then later. This is somewhat reminiscent of when the Islanders drafted Chris Campoli in 2004 in the later rounds and had him playing in the AHL a few months later. Ditto for Steve Regier that year.<br /><br />Actually, both Chris and Jordan both went undrafted in their first two years of eligibility, so you never know what can happen. <br /><br />Congratulation to the Nolan family.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-54302383978010047122009-06-25T13:36:00.000-04:002009-06-25T13:36:33.383-04:00Other Players from the ’03 DraftLooking at the Islanders draft picks from the 2003 Draft and you can think to yourself what could have been. Jeremy Colliton (2nd round , 58th overall) still has potential to be an NHLer (even though he’s now in Europe) and the team struck gold with Bruno Gervais in the sixth round. But looking at where the team picked and who was picked right after, you can’t help but wonder what-if.<br /><br />Aside from the Nilsson-Bernier-Parise slide in the first round, there are three more occurrences very similar later in the draft.<br /><br />In the second round, the Islanders took a flyer on a Russian named Dmitri Chernykh at 48. Nashville picked Shea Weber at 49.<br /><br />In the seventh round, the Islanders drafted Denis Rehak at 212. At 214 Edmonton grabbed Kyle Brodziak.<br /><br />In the eighth round, the Islanders selected Cody Blanshan at 238. Atlanta took YoungStar Tobias Enstrom at 239. <br /><br />Any draft could be labeled as missed opportunities for almost any team. If a team drafts two players that make a significant impact per draft, they did well. But the 2003 draft just makes you scratch your head. Probably just bad luck.<br /><br />Luckily for the Islanders, it seems like they’ve righted their drafting ship in recent years, a big credit to Assistant GM Ryan Jankowski. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-82597163034776159202009-06-24T12:05:00.000-04:002009-06-24T12:05:07.284-04:00TSN.ca: Feuding Owners in Tampa<b>TSN.ca Headline:</b> <a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282667">FEUDING LIGHTNING OWNERS MEET WITH COMMISSIONER BETTMAN</a><br />
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For the past few seasons, it doesn't seem like the Lightning can get it together. Steven Stamkos is a wonderful kid and in the few times I met him, you get the feeling that you want to biuld a franchise around him. But last year they basically hyjaked his rookie season with over-marketing and over-hyping him. The team also let go of a lot good and long-time staffers like PR man and my colleague Jay Preble, but have not replaced them with adequate replacements. <br />
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There is no doubt the lockout hurt this franchise more than any other.<br />
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The Lightning have a really good arena, a pretty good area surrounding the arena and a fan base that will support the team. Hopefully this ownership group can right the ship after this meeting with the Commissioner and find a way to make it work.<br />
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If the team has good leadship from above, then Tampa Bay will become a strong team on the ice again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-62188246505246051442009-06-23T15:07:00.002-04:002009-06-23T15:23:54.736-04:00E5: Mets Targeting Ryan Smyth?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fikhi9JrwcI/SkEn8IDaY0I/AAAAAAAAAd4/VkkjApqQc10/s1600-h/press_your_luck.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fikhi9JrwcI/SkEn8IDaY0I/AAAAAAAAAd4/VkkjApqQc10/s320/press_your_luck.gif" /></a></div>
One of my frequent stops in the blogosphere is <a href="http://www.metsblog.com/">Metsblog.com</a>. It’s a great blog for Mets fans like myself and I would recommend it for anyone.<br />
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This morning, <a href="http://www.metsblog.com/2009/06/23/buzz-the-mets-and-phillies-can-add-payroll/">Metsblog creator Matthew Cerrone blogged</a> that Jon Heyman of SI.com and Buster Olney of ESPN.com wrote that the injury-riddled Mets can add payroll to their roster to help improve their chances of winning this season. Example: Trade for a high-end talent that will probably cost prospects.<br />
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Cerrone then went on to comment on the trade target possibilities that could be on the Mets radar. To sum it quickly, the Mets would have to give high-end prospects for a player who could only be on their roster for just a few months and/or could create a backlog on the roster for the young, up-and-coming players when the veteran, injured players come back.<br />
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The reason I bring up this topic and the Mets on a hockey blog is to comment on the notion if giving up prospects is for a short-term solution is worth it.<br />
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I guess it all depends on what the status of the franchise in question is. Is a team currently in the middle of a rebuild or towards the end of it -- probably still a season away from the end of the tunnel -- but wants a jump start? Is the team heavily comprised of veterans and have a win-now mentality? Is this a must-win season for the team because of aging stars, stars with contracts running out or a GM and/or coach on the hot-seat?<br />
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A lot goes into the decision on whether to mortgage the future with prospects for a veteran. It doesn’t always work either. Some time it does.<br />
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The 2009 Stanley Cup Champions Pittsburgh Penguins had to give up one of their top prospects in <a href="http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/eric_tangradi">Eric Tangradi </a>to acquire Chris Kunitz from Anaheim. For the production on and off the ice they got from Bill Guerin, they made it up with a steal in that trade (a rare win-win for both teams).<br />
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On the other side, Calgary had to give up a defenseman with some promise in <a href="http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/ryan_wilson">Ryan Wilson</a> plus a valuable second round pick for Jordan Leopold who is slated for free agency this summer. That trade did not work out well for the Flames.<br />
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Trading away prospects is a risky business.<br />
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And while I was looking over what I wrote above, <a href="http://www.metsblog.com/2009/06/23/buzz-the-mets-and-phillies-can-add-payroll/">Cerrone blogged again</a> quoting another Heyman report that a Mets official said they will not mortgage their future for a short-term solution. Not that I doubt Heyman, but it’s always easier for a team to say that now when the trade deadline is still more then a month away.<br />
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<i style="color: #274e13;">P.s. I'm working on setting up a comments section.<br />Edit (3:22 PM) If you have any suggestions, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:CWittBlog@gmail.com">CWittBlog@gmail.com</a>. Thanks!<br /></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-44033839077197444562009-06-22T10:20:00.000-04:002009-06-22T10:20:27.091-04:00’03 Draft Wasn’t Just About One PlayerThe 2003 NHL Entry Draft will always be remembered among Islanders fans as the draft the team passed up Zach Parise for Robert Nilsson. The first round of that draft might go down as one of the best ever. Corey Perry was drafted at 28, Mike Richards at 24. Anaheim, <i>then Mightier</i>, probably scored the best value picks with Ryan Getzlaf at 19 and then getting Perry nine selections better. Only one player has not played in the NHL from the first round of that draft -- Hugh Jessiman who was picked by the New York Rangers at 12.<br /><br />To say the Islanders missed because they didn’t grab Parise<i> isn’t wrong</i>, but it’s not 100 percent correct either. The team missed back then because Steve Bernier was drafted right after Nilsson (and right before Parise), because of Getzlaf, Brent Burns (20th), Ryan Kesler (23rd), Richards, Perry and Patrick Eaves (29th) all went after Nilsson. It was hard to miss in that round and unless Nilsson (a fine person off the ice) finds his desire to play in the NHL for an entire season, the Islanders did unfortunately missed out -- but not just because of Zach Parise.<br /><br />Islanders fans gravitate toward Parise because his father J.P. once played for the team. It would have been a nice story to go along with a solid selection, but that cannot factor in to a team’s decision on a draft pick. It can’t even be a tie-breaker. Every team needs to draft the player they feel is the best available. Unfortunately, the team made a mistake. It’s not the first time that’s happened to a team – Hello Ryan Leaf and San Diego Chargers. <br /><br />The Islanders are currently in a rebuilding phase. Everyone is in agreement that it was necessary for the franchise to resurrect itself. The fan support was tremendous this season, a year where the team finished dead last in the league. To say the fan base was onboard with the rebuild would be an understatement. <br /><br />But when a team rebuilds, it must move on from previous mistakes. The San Diego Chargers aren’t dwelling on Fred Taylor or Randy Moss anymore – Just two guys they passed up when they selected Leafs and both have had NFL Hall of Fame careers. The Chargers rebuilt, got their new quarterback, fixed their mistake and have been a successful franchise.<br /><br />While it hurts to see Zach Parise succeed only because he could have been Islanders and isn’t, it’s time for everyone – myself included – to move on.<br /><br />You can’t move forward with the rebuild until the past has been let go of.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-37863623184903356412009-06-18T23:43:00.001-04:002009-06-18T23:45:37.367-04:00Colliton to SweedenCredit to <a href="http://blog.connpost.com/fornabaio/">Mike Fornabaio of the Conn. Post</a> for finding this.<br /><br /><b>Jeremy Colliton</b>, one of the Islanders' three 2003 second round draft selections but the only one to ever be signed by the Islanders, <a href="http://hd.se/sport/2009/06/19/nhl-center-klar-foer-roegle/">is leaving North America to play for Rogel in Sweden</a> -- The same organization Kenny Jonsson left the Islanders for a few years ago. <br /><br /><i style="color: rgb(56, 118, 29);">(More on the the 2003 draft coming soon)</i><br /><br />According to the<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fhd.se%2Fsport%2F2009%2F06%2F19%2Fnhl-center-klar-foer-roegle%2F&sl=sv&tl=en&history_state0="> Google translation</a>, it's a one-year deal. I'm not sure if the Islanders will retain Colliton's rights or not.<br /><br />Jeremy is one of the nicest guys you'll meet. He's very cerebral and quiet, yet was a great leader on and off the ice for the Sound Tigers over the last few years. The best of luck to him.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-60103365419919794032009-06-18T11:41:00.002-04:002009-06-18T11:44:04.964-04:00Billy G. = Winner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fikhi9JrwcI/SjmzMqxinAI/AAAAAAAAAdw/vjsH5CuhQVE/s1600-h/BillyG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fikhi9JrwcI/SjmzMqxinAI/AAAAAAAAAdw/vjsH5CuhQVE/s320/BillyG.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the year and a half I worked with <b>Bill Guerin</b>, we didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but more than 95% of the time we did. He’ll always be one of players that I’ll look back to and remember him for teaching me a few things about the hockey community. </div><br />I’ll also remember <b style="color: rgb(191, 144, 0);">Billy G. as a winner</b>. Looking back, that other 5% that I spoke of before probably had to do with winning or lack thereof at that particular moment.<br /><br />Billy would take every loss harder than most others and it would take him a little bit longer to get over one. Maybe a winner shouldn’t be judge on victories, but how he handles losing. And how Billy dealt with losing, showed what type a winner he is.<br /><br />I have zero doubt that the Penguins would not have won the Cup if it were not for the Islanders’ former captain. The same could be said about Dan Bylsma and dozen other Penguins. But I’m positive Billy taught that team how to win and maybe even more importantly, what losing really means.<br /><br />If you had asked me in December if this was Billy’s last season, I would have guessed yes. And I was surprised when <a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_629556.html">he told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he plans on playing next season</a>. Who knows, this could all change.<br /><br />But what I do know is that Bill Guerin in a winner on and off the ice. He did so in a small way with helping me <i>(and I wasn't the only one like this)</i> and he did so in a big way helping the Penguins.<br /><br />Even if Billy doesn’t retire this summer, plays more hockey and doesn’t win another Cup before he hangs up his skates, he’ll go out a winner no matter how or when he decides to leave the game… whatever the circumstances are when he chooses to do so.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:xx-small;"><i><a href="http://penguins.nhl.com/">Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Penguins</a></i></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782809533471189348.post-52733834608818439382009-06-17T11:20:00.001-04:002009-06-17T11:22:05.771-04:00So, What's New?So, it’s been almost a month since I was let go by the Islanders and I’ve been doing a lot thinking over the past few weeks.<br /><br />But first things first, I would like to thank <a href="http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/blog/2009/05/pr_man_corey_witt_leaves_isles.html">Greg Logan for his blog entry</a>. It was very touching and personally meant a lot to my family and myself.<br /><br />Second on the agenda: Part of my lost in thought moments over the past few weeks is what I was going to do with my blog. I’ve always enjoyed writing. I started with the Islanders as an intern writing for the team’s website and publications. When I moved over to Public Relations, I didn’t have the opportunity to do the free-form writing I was doing previously. When I started this blog, I was able to start writing again, but was still limited by my position with the team.<br /><br />But now, with most of those restrictions and strings no longer attached, I’m going to give it a shot. I don’t know the ultimate direction that I’ll take or how long I’ll write for. I have some pieces that I wrote when I was still working for the team, but never published. I’ll throw those on and go from there.<br /><br />What I won’t be doing right now is trying to break any news and trying to scoop anyone or anything. I’m just going to take the opportunity to write and comment on a few things around the League that I wasn’t sure if I could before.<br /><br />So, we’ll see where this goes and see what happens.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0