The Hockey News Behind The Scenes 2019

WHEN ONE OF MY colleagues floated the idea of putting Gritty on the cover of this issue, my guts did an eye roll. I consider myself open-minded, a manager by consensus, but this was a test of my leadership philosophy. A frivolous, fictional, furry, freaky gimmick occupying our most valuable real estate? I’ve never been drawn to mascots (except for the time Greg Brady stole Raquel the goat from archrival Coolidge High. That was awesome). Mostly, I’ve tolerated them, viewing them as garnish to the entree. After my wave of skepticism subsided, I listened and agreed to put it to our editorial group for consideration. I braced for a spirited dialogue, anticipating the old guard and the young pups to lock horns. It never happened. We had unanimity. The rise and…

Dear readers, For close to 20 years, The Hockey News has shared office space with employees of other magazine brands owned by my predecessors, TVA and Transcontinental. I remember on one visit to TVA after I acquired The Hockey News, I saw my new colleagues surrounded by the editorial staffs of Canadian Living, Style at Home and Elle. There was nothing to identify that I was at the head office of The Hockey News. It was as though they were crashing at a friend’s pad for the weekend. Due to time constraints, I moved them to a temporary location. I did this so we could manage the transition of ownership and immediately implement improvements that all of our readers are currently experiencing. In the months leading up to the one-year anniversary of my stewardship,…

GIVEN THE TOWN’S association with Silicon Valley, San Jose was the perfect spot for a host of NHL executives, partners and professionals to get together and talk tech during the All-Star Game weekend this year. The main attraction at the NHL’s Innovation Spotlight was player- and puck-tracking technology, something that has wide-ranging applications for the way fans may enjoy the sport in the future. The summit also brought an opportunity to have fun at the expense of the NHL’s infamous foray into technology, the 1996 introduction of the “glowing puck” on Fox television broadcasts. “The glowing puck wasn’t ready,” said commissioner Gary Bettman. “Sometimes it was on the puck, but sometimes it was in the stands or on someone’s head.” More than 20 years later, the NHL demonstrated a new layer of…

THE PREDATORS ARE AS committed to Gnash as he is to them. On their website, a detailed origin story claims he was found as a frozen baby saber-toothed tiger, preserved from the Ice Age, when construction workers dug the foundation of Bridgestone Arena in 1994. The lore echoes the real-life story of a partial saber-toothed tiger skeleton that was found in a Nashville construction site in 1971, inspiring the team’s nickname and logo. The Gnash version is a fittingly hardcore tale for arguably the NHL’s most daring mascot. Gnash handles all the standard cute, cuddly duties of a mascot, sure, making more than 600 community appearances per year. But the beast lives dangerously game to game. He rappels to the ice from the rafters of Bridgestone Arena, swings from the scoreboard to…

THERE WAS NOTHING SUBTLE about the trade. Shea Weber in exchange for P.K. Subban. One for one. Two productive right-handed defensemen in their primes. Both had been named all-stars on multiple occasions and had played for Canada at the Olympics. It is a credit to the two players that the fans in both cities were displeased with the trade. Needless to say, there are far more hockey fans in Montreal than there are in Nashville, and they have never been shy in, as Danny Gallivan would say, “expressing their displeasure.” At the time of the trade, the Canadiens were coming off a disappointing non-playoff season and for the next two seasons struggled to rebuild a contender. This year, they appear to be on the right track. Nashville was just coming…

MOOSE JAW HAS MISSED on third jerseys in the past, but the team’s latest effort is really good. Playing off the town’s famous name, the Warriors have introduced a crest featuring a fearsome moose on a red background. The new mascot is stylistically different enough from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose logo (which is also nice) and also features a cool “Moose Jaw” word mark below. Interestingly enough, for having such a distinct city name, Moose Jaw’s regular jerseys only say “Warriors” on the front. Add some nice, simple striping on the arms and the main logo on the shoulders and you’ve got a pretty sweet sweater.…