Blogging, Journalism, and Ethics

A really awesome piece by Dylan Wagner over at Backhand Shelf about ethics and writing about hockey.  Maybe I found it more interesting than most since I am a blogger and many of you aren't (that I know of).

Blogs are, however, slowly infringing on the hallowed ground of journalism. The advent of the internet is gradually squeezing out print media and forcing it to adapt or die. As time goes by, more and more bloggers will be setting foot into press boxes and locker rooms in arenas around the NHL.

The issue is, journalists have a code of ethics and standards. They also tend to have editors. The blogosphere generally has neither.

To what extent should bloggers be expected to follow those same standards? Without the same editorial oversight of a newspaper, how are bloggers to know when a line has been crossed or more research is needed? It’s an important question to ask: how many of you get your hockey news and opinions from a newspaper and how many get it from hockey blogs? It’s a bit of a biased question, given where you’re reading this, but it’s worth asking nonetheless.

[...]

I think that’s one of the fears of many teams in the NHL: where is the accountability? Who is responsible for content on a blog? If a newspaper reporter says something false about an NHL team, the general manager can call up the newspaper and hold them accountable. After all, more than one person is responsible for an article in a newspaper: there is a team of people involved in most cases, even if it’s a small team.

On a blog, responsibility falls squarely on the blogger, and that’s not a situation that is very comfortable for the NHL. To their credit, the NHL has been remarkably open to bloggers, but has left it up to the individual teams when it comes to giving out media credentials. Some teams have welcomed bloggers into the press box, while others have resisted, but it’s just a matter of time before bloggers with media credentials are more and more common.

As that happens, those bloggers will need to behave ethically and exercise due diligence when researching articles. It is, however, a two-way street to a certain extent. If NHL teams, coaches, GMs, and – yes – agents want bloggers to follow such standards, they need to be open to bloggers contacting them to answer questions as it is necessary in order to act in good faith.  (Backhand Shelf)

There's a couple of things I want to address with this.

1.  I do not want access to the press box or locker room.  This is something I do for fun as a fan, and want to keep it that way.  I do not see myself as a journalist and I don't need immediate post-game quotes and all that.

2.  I believe bloggers (such as myself) do have a duty and an obligation to do research and to know what I'm talking about.  Granted, there certainly are times I don't know what I'm talking about and there's a whole lot of my random opinion.  But I fully understand that if I want to be taken seriously (though not too seriously, the sub-title is Hilariously Inappropriate), I have to know what I'm talking about.

3.  As for accountability, I'm fortunate to follow a nice small-market WHL team.  Wagner's example of a GM calling a newspaper reporter and holding them accountable applies--I've had several talks with Bob about things that have been or will potentially be written.  He wants, as do I, to get the story right.  If I have questions the front office has been more than helpful, as they have also granted me interviewing permission.  I understand that things might be a bit different in the NHL where there is SO much coverage by mainstream media and blogs.

4.  If I make mistakes they are quickly pointed out (by the team or my awesome readers!) and I try to correct as best I can, because that is the right thing to do.

5.  Again, I'm not a reporter, but I do try to hold myself accountable for what I write and publish.
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Speaking of due diligence and accountability, Annie has corrected herself:

In working on the Jordan and Marcus Messier story, I thought I'd done my due diligence in finding other brother pairs who had played together for the Americans. I said there weren't any, but a couple of longtime and loyal fans have told me different.

Jill Williams and Nancy Wogman both let me know that Mike and Mark Hurley, and Dan and Steve O'Rourke also suited up at the same time.

I ran across these guys in my Americans record book that Dan Mulhausen works hard on every year to bring us everything you could want to know. I could have assumed, but then again ...

I went to my favorite hockey site: hockeydb.com to look them up. This site is a gold mine of information on players. In trying to determine brothers, I looked for hometowns, then googled the players to see if I could find a connection. I didn't. This is what I found.

Mark Hurley: Where and when he played, but no personal information.

Matt Hurley: RW, born Nov. 17, 1977. hometown of Sherwood Park, Alberta. 6-1, 180. List of teams where and when he played.

Dan O'Rourke: LW, born Aug. 31, 1972, hometown of Calgary, Alberta. 6-3, 195. Shoots L. List of teams where and when he played.

Steve O'Rourke: Defense, born Sept. 11, 1974, hometown of Summerland, BC. 6-1, 195. Shoots L. List of teams where and when he played. (Red Light District)

Game Day @ Calgary

The Calgary Hitmen are easily one of the hottest teams right now in the Western Hockey League.

Which means Sunday’s home date with the Tri-City Americans (4 p.m., Scotiabank Saddledome) will be a litmus test.

The Americans (35-11-1-1) have spent the last 15 of 18 weeks as one of the top-ranked junior clubs in the CHL. Heading into Saturday’s action, they were fighting with the Kamloops Blazers for the Western Conference lead and had three of their players in the league’s top-10 scoring.

Patrick Holland, who was drafted by the Calgary Flames but had his rights traded to the Montreal Canadiens, enters today’s game with 20 goals and 47 assists while Adam Hughesman and Brendan Shinnimin have 29 goals apiece.

However, Tri-City will not be underestimating the Calgarians.

Winners of 13 of their last 14 games, the Hitmen own a 30-17-2-1 record and have won five straight including Saturday’s 5-2 decision over the Medicine Hat Tigers. (Calgary Herald)

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When your last name is Messier, hockey is part of your DNA, and your first shoes are a pair of skates.

Brothers Jordan and Marcus Messier, cousins to Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier, fit that profile down to the last drop of sweat.

Donning skates at an early age, the Messier brothers were quick studies of the game, often playing up a level and filling the net with plenty of goals.

After years of playing on different teams, the Messiers finally are on the same team -- with the Tri-City Americans. General manager Bob Tory thought if one Messier was good, two could be better.

Now, wearing the same jersey, the brothers are waiting for the day they hear the arena announcer call their names together for contributing on a goal. It could be a goal and an assist, or two assists. Anything would do.

"We've had a lot of chances, but we haven't connected yet," said Marcus, the younger of the two by two years. "When we were younger, Jordan was always better than me, and he was always playing up and scoring lots of goals."

The brothers have heard their names called back-to-back plenty of times by their mom, Lisa, but it was never for scoring -- more along the lines of scolding.

"They are brothers. They can have their moments fighting and teasing each other," Lisa Messier said. "We had some serious stick hockey games in the house, and there are holes in the wall. They are competitive, but they are always there for each other."

From Canmore, Alberta, the Messiers will play near their hometown today when the Americans take on the Calgary Hitmen. Canmore is 65 miles west of Calgary.

The Messiers are the first brothers to be on the Americans' roster at the same time. Tory has drafted, or invited to camp, the younger brothers of other Tri-City players, but none have impressed enough to earn a jersey at the same time as their brothers.

"It's not a case of brothers, but are they good enough to play in the league?" Tory said. "Marcus is here because he is good enough to play at this level. You have to be good enough to get the job done." (Tri-City Herald)

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The NHL All-Star game is today also.  I'm very "meh" about it since IMO it's not really the best of the best of the league.  The NHL has this policy of making sure there's a player from every team, even the horrendous Columbus Blue Jackets.  Also fan voting, while it gets the fans involved and really that's what is all about, skews the whole thing.  Yes, Ottawa has had a great season, but of course there were going to be a lot of Ottawa guys on the team(s) since it's taking place in Canada's capital.  So yeah, I probably won't watch.

BUT.  But I do love the skills challenge.  If you watched it yesterday you saw some silliness and some amazingness.  Like I'm pretty sure Zdeno Chara isn't even human.  One hundred and eight miles an hour slapshot??  Holy hell.

Remember when the Americans had a skills challenge??  It was probably my favorite day of the season.  The boys, who are naturally all competitive, had fun against each other.  Can you imagine watching Brendan Shinnimin in a fastest skater competition?  Who would even be close to his time, maybe B-Dubs?  Willy (well, not while he's injured obviously)?  I'd love to see shot-accuracy--who would it be?  Shinny, maybe Hughesman?  Oooo or even Yuen?

On skills day they'd also bring in the little pee-wee kids to do their skills competition too, those kids had a good time sharing the ice with the Americans.  HAhaha remember when Carey Price won the shot accuracy?  It was a FUN day.  It was fun for the players and the fans.

I suppose since they only auction off the practice jerseys that are worn that there isn't a lot of money raised.  The Muscular Dystrophy Association used to do it.  Now they do the Go Green for MDA in March and auction off all kinds of stuff.  But still.  Even the money raised is less, I'm sure there is some charity in Tri-Cities who would like to be a part of it.  I dunno, maybe that's assuming a lot.

What do you think?

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Sunday and Mountain Time mean a 2:45 start for us around here, bring the funny. No, really. Bring the funny.

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Game Day @ Red Deer

There's a game tonight.  It's on tv (Root Sports).  Feser brothers playing against each other.  I will be drinking copious amounts of gin and stuffing my face with pizza.  It's been one of those days weeks.

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Late update

What a game against Edmonton, eh?  Wowza.  Turns out, one of the goals was credited to Feser, not Shinnimin, so no overtime hattrick to win it, but still a hawt goal with 32 seconds left to seal it.  And a win's a win.

Hard to say it was a battle of goaltenders with nine goals being scored, but it was as shots were 44-46 in favor of the Oil Kings.  Offensive battle as well.  Just a damn good battle is really what it was.

No. 2 star: Ty Rimmer, Tri-City Americans (WHL)
The much anticipated Americans-Edmonton Oil Kings tilt was everything one could have asked for, with Tri-City taking the bonus point when Brendan Shinnimin snapped home the decider for a 5-4 overtime win. The game likely never would gone into extra time without Rimmer, who made at least a half-dozen dial 911 worthy saves among his 46 saves as he got the most out of his only scheduled game in his hometown of Edmonton. On one third-period save, Oil Kings snipers Tyler Maxwell and Michael St. Croix were 2-on-0 against Rimmer and somehow he came up with the stop. He also robbed Maxwell, in Oil Kings play-by-play man Corey Graham's estimable opinion, of at least other two goals. (Picture Maxwell afterward thinking that he was done facing Rimmer after he was traded out of the U.S. Division.) Rimmer also assisted on the Americans' first goal by Montreal Canadiens prospect Patrick Holland.

It was a terrific game and perhaps it was a sneak peek at what a best-of-7 league final between the two might be like. Oil Kings star defenceman Griffin Reinhart had two goals in his return from an injury that kept him out for two weeks.  (Buzzing the Net)
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The 2 clubs combined for 90 shots, 9 goals and almost 65 minters of excellent hockey. According to Corey Graham who calls the games on the TEAM 1260, there was talk it was the best game at Rexall Place since the Stanley Cup run of 2006. I'm not sure about that, but it was the best game I've seen this year at Rexall Place and a lot of the scouts I spoke with agreed.


Tri City started hard but once the Kings held them off for a bit the tide started turning. Edmonton outshot the Americans 19-8 and led 1-0 after T.J. Foster notched his 19th on the season and closed to within 2 points of his career high of 54. Edmonton should have been up more but Tri City tender Ty Rimmer was sensational making a couple of stops he had no right to.  (Coming Down the Pipe!)

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What no one wants to hear/see:

The Americans learned Tuesday that captain Mason Wilgosh will miss an undetermined amount of time with a lower-body injury.  (Herald)

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From the Red Deer Rebels whom the Americans face tomorrow night:

Rebels call up Scott Feser from AAA Optimist Rebels to play tomorrow against his older brother Justin, and the Tri-City Americans.  (Twitter)

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Expect a late post tomorrow too, busy life is busy

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/26/1801811/americans-beat-edmonton-in-overtime.html#storylink=cpy

Game Day @ Edmonton

First some tidbits from around.

A Tuesday afternoon tweet from TSN hockey analyst Bob McKenzie: “No decision req'd until trade deadline but my sense is TBL more inclined to keep Brett Connoly in NHL than return him to Tri City (WHL).”
McKenzie, Part 2: “If Connolly finishes NHL season with TBL, and Bolts miss playoffs (as expected), he can be assigned to Norfolk for AHL playoffs.” (Taking Note)

There's more from Tampa:

Connolly has done less and less. He has no points in his past 14 games, and in eight games since winning a bronze medal with Canada at the world junior championship, the right wing has played more than 10 minutes only once, has nine shots and was demoted to a fourth line.

More to the point, Connolly, 19, has struggled defensively, which Boucher said is the primary reason for the loss of ice time.

But instead of sending Connolly back to juniors, Tampa Bay decided to continue his development in the NHL with what Boucher called "tough love."

"We said as a staff that if we're going to take him back after Team Canada, that he'd fit wherever he deserved to fit at that moment," Boucher said. "He's not a young kid anymore. He's part of the team and subject to the same positive or constructive criticism as the other guys who have been in the league for 10 years.

"We've taken a lot of time with him, probably more than any other guy. It's a question, now, of his willingness to focus on the small details to become a complete professional."

Quite a change from the feel-good story in which Connolly surprised even the Lightning by earning a job out of training camp, getting power-play time and playing on a line with Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis.

"With the puck he's fine," Boucher said of Connolly, who has four goals and eight points in 36 games. "But he's got to improve without the puck. He gets surprised defensively."

That is "normal for a 19-year-old," Boucher said, but added, "He has a lot to learn."

"Be hard on the walls," Connolly said. "Make sure you have your guy in the slot. Little things, little things that go a long way."

Steven Stamkos, who at 18 struggled through the first half of his rookie season, knows what his teammate is going through, so he offered perspective.

"It's a tough situation," Stamkos said. "You're used to being the go-to guy all the time, and you're used to playing all situations. … You know you have the capabilities, but sometimes you have to take a step back and realize you are at that age and it's a learning process and it's not going to happen overnight." (Tampa Bay Times via Red Light District)

So there you have it.  It doesn't sound like he'll be coming to Tri.  Obviously, that could still change, but I'm not holding my breath.

From the WHL discipline department:

01/21/12 Campbell Elynuik Prince George Four games for one man fight at Calgary on January 20
01/21/12 Campbell Elynuik Prince George One game for receiving third game misconduct of season at Calgary on January 20

So...let me get this straight. Walter gets six games for his one-man fight in Kelowna, but Elynuik only gets 4? And no explanation? Apparently the league felt the circumstances were different, but they have posted no explanation like they did on the discipline page when Walter was suspended. Don't get me wrong, I think a one-man fight has got to be one of the dumbest things ever, and both players pretty much deserve the suspension, but it just is yet another reflection of the inconsistency of the league. How frustrating.

In the Things That Must Matter to Some People department there's this:

1. Tri-City Americans, WHL (.565 RPI, —) — What's better heading into a showdown of conference leaders, to be on a win streak or have been tested by top teams? Tri-City no doubt hopes it's the latter, since they had tough outings against two of our ranked clubs, Kamloops and Spokane, last week. One could give the Ams a partial pass on those results. The losses to the Chiefs and Blazers came in their ninth and 10th games in an 18-day stretch. That's almost too much hockey. One bonus for Jim Hiller's team is they do not play back-to-back during a three-game Alberta swing this week. (Buzzing the Net)

I have to agree with BTN here, that was a lot of hockey.

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Some are calling it the 'game of the year' at Rexall Place. Tonight the Edmonton Oil Kings play host to the Tri City Americans. Edmonton leads the Eastern Conference while The Americans are 2 points back of top running Kamloops in the Western Conference.

When you look into the match up statistically it's even more intriguing. Edmonton is the highest scoring team in the league with 208 goals through 48 games while Tri City is #1 defensively with just 112 goals against this season.

While they are tied for points with 69 which is just 2 back of Kamloops, the Americans are clicking at a .750 win percentage and have 2 games in hand on the Oil Kings.(Coming Down the Pipe!) 

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Call it the Dub Bowl.


It’s not an indisputable, conclusive championship title. Like the NCAA football Bowl setup, it will just add further debate as to who’s the best.

But the real beauty of it is that nobody knows how the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Tri-City Americans stack up next to each other. Until the buzzer blows.

It’s also a game all eyes concerned with the WHL will be looking to see what happens.

Two teams from different conferences playing their only game of the season against each other.

Because the hot-damn Kamloops Blazers used their game-in-hand (with a 9-1 run) to slip ahead of the Americans, this won’t be a showdown between first-place East and West.

But it will be a showdown.  (Edmonton Sun)

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Remember earlier game time tonight because of time zones, pre-game starts at 5:45.  Bring the funny.

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"Tough to swallow"

"A great game between two of the top teams," said Tri-City forward Brendan Shinnimin, who had a goal and an assist. "I thought we had a chance to win. We had a lot of opportunities in the third. Their goalie stood on his head, and they beat us in the shootout.

"It hurts. This is tough to swallow."

"They played terrific," Tri-City coach Jim Hiller said of the Blazers. "It was a good game -- the best we've played in three months. I'm disappointed because we fought so hard to come back and not get two points. They fought as hard as they have in months, and I thought Zach Yuen had his best game of the year."

"It's not like we have been playing bad hockey. It's been one or two bad plays that cost us games," Shinnimin said. "It's not a lack of effort. We won 13 in a row. It will take a little something to get us going again." (Herald)

At the halfway point of the game the Americans only had 9 shots on goal.  That's not going to win any games.  Full props they pushed harder the 2nd half of the game, got 20 more shots and mostly controlled the play in the third.  But to me, passing looked sloppy and Kamloops is too good a team to be sloppy against.

I don't know what it is, but to me it seems like Rimmer has lost some of his swagger.  I can haz swagger back plz?  kthxbai.

I thought Mason Wilgosh played his ass off last night, not like that is any surprise, but still.  Lil' Messier's tenacity was missed last night.  Dallman got a few shifts, Hamonic played some with Grist still out.

Did you know that January is National Ice Skating month?  I didn't either until I saw this:

Improvement in Skates, 01/22/1867

In 1867, Robert E. Ellerbeck applied for a patent for improved ice skates. He states in his application that straps are no longer needed because his improvement allows the skate to be attached securely to the shoe using clips.  (Today's Document from the National Archives)

Game day vs. Kamloops

Ok, I am going to try blogging via iPhone, we'll see how this goes, just don't expect much.

As far as last night, meh. I kinda thought Spokane looked hungrier, Spokant disagreed, and the more I thought about it, it wasn't hunger that was missing (not completely anyway), it was mental sharpness, mistakes were made and the Chiefs were insanely opportunistic. They jumped on those errors like hungry wolves on a rabbit. Or whatever hungry wolves eat.

Comments by coach and Wilgosh in the Herald seem to each that, you'll have to read it on your own, I don't see where or how to insert links.

So tonight they're back to work against the red hot Kamloops Blazers who, with their win last night, have taken over the top spot in the league.

Alright, I think that is sufficient enough a post for today, I prefer my computer though.