Believe it or not, in the 1930’s the NHL was ahead of the game. No league could match it’s coverage in the US. Hockey was taking the continent by storm and the future of the sport might never have been as bright…. and then the Great Depression came.
In the 1960’s, the few NHL team owners who were around to have witnessed the hard times, were ready to pass the torch to their predecessors. And with the injection of new blood, the League looked around them to notice that they had began to take a back seat to their Baseball and Football counterparts.
In 1969, with dollar signs in their eyes, the NHL decided to expand the league to double it’s size. They targeted past markets that failed and desperately went after new markets on the West Coast. Their rash decision was not their wisest one, as teams were shuffled back and forth and in and out of cities for decades on.
Now in the year 2007, the NHL has quietly been regaining a lead into the future. That future, being here on the net. It would be foolish to solely credit those in the League’s offices for this approach. But it would be equally foolish to not credit them at all.
Truth is it is the fans that have brought us this new era of NHL. A dozen or so writers/hobbyists that made up the original NHL blogosphere. And let us not forget their readers that gave them the motivation to keep writing, and thus inspiring others to follow them.
Is there a connection between NHL fans and a blogging community that is seemingly more superior than fans made up of any other league? Do hockey fans enjoy reading their own thoughts more than others? Are NHL fans unhappy with the allotted coverage big brother hands them of their favorite sport? Are they generally more educated and rehearsed in the gift of writing? Are they more obsessed with trade rumors, stats, or player analysis? Or are they more apt to come together with their thoughts and opinions as a community?
Whatever the reason, there is no questioning that NHL fans are sweeping the web and the ratio of fans that extensively surf the net, to all fans is greater than any other sports related market.
This year alone, the NHL has jumped on YouTube. Major sports broadcasting companies have been snatching up independent hockey bloggers left and right. Pretty much every one of it’s thirty teams, now have prominent members hosting blogs on their official sites. While other web pioneers are creating other web material, such as the ‘Vote For Rory’ campaign.
Even your very own NHL Arena has caused waves in just 4 months of existence, making something out of nothing.
Throughout the month of May, I will be going further in depth of the great NHL blogosphere, it’s members and it’s effect on the web…
