Hockey Insiders and Social Media

By Sunil Agnihotri Social media has naturally integrated into professional hockey. Not only can fans use social media tools to get access to information and to connect with other fans, but they can also play a role in the development of information surrounding the game. For example, fans can get up-to-the-minute injury reports for their…

Assessing the State of Hockey Analytics

By Sunil Agnihotri Hockey analytics is an excellent example of fans getting immersed in the game and changing the way they consume professional sports. Along with watching games, and following the narratives that surround teams and players, fans can use various software applications to apply their own ideas and models to analyze the game. Hockey…

Promoting Grassroots Participation while Building the Brand: To What Extent are NHL Teams Community Institutions?

Yesterday’s Globe and Mail ran an interesting article by James Mirtle about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ contributions to grassroots hockey in Western Pennsylvania. For the past four years, the Penguins, and in particular captain Sidney Crosby, have been extremely active in promoting hockey amongst Pittsburgh youth by providing free equipment and on-ice instruction. The initiative, while…

A League Falls in the Wilderness

By E. Martin Nolan The Detroit Hockey Association is done. Dissolved. How did I just hear about this? In the Spring of 2012, I published a piece here on Jack Adams Arena in Detroit. I meant to follow it up, but it got lost in the shuffle—until recently, when into the comment section of that…

Review: “Hockey: A People’s History” (2006)

In 2006, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) aired a 10-part series entitled Hockey: A People’s History (HAPH). Adopting the approach used in its popular 2000 miniseries Canada: A People’s History, the CBC focused in this series on the experience of Canadians with the sport of hockey for over a century. Beginning with early ball and…

Fantasy Leagues as a Tool for Digital Literacy

By Sunil Agnihotri The amount of information available to internet users is growing exponentially every day. In every form imaginable, including text, images, audio and video, among others, users are inundated with a plethora of data, information and knowledge at an alarming rate. The technology available allows for anyone with a basic computer to make…