The Watermark: MSG Network + NHL Media Day

The Watermark is a free-flowing, frequently exasperated weekly column concerning the NHL and its media coverage. If you come across something relevant to the NHL and media coverage, please do send the link over to the.sahilness@gmail.com — especially if it’s a video of someone saying something stupid.

The absolute worst part about the weeks leading up to the hockey season, especially if you’re trying to write a column detailing how the media handles its coverage of the NHL, is the general lack of anything of substance for you to cover. We’re still not at a point where stupid analysis and comments from the unholy triage of Milbury, Melrose and McGuire (just going to start calling them “The Three Ms”) are coming at us on a daily basis. I’m not necessarily complaining, but then again, yes I am. So as redundant and overdone as it sounds, the season needs to get here. For all of the regular reasons plus this one which is specific to me.

MSG NETWORK + TWITTER + TRAVERSE CITY + AWESOME

Full disclosure: I’m a pathologically obsessed Rangers fan. I’ve probably mentioned this on previous columns, but might as well put it out there again before I talk about how cool of a thing MSG Network did for the Traverse City Tournament this past week.

First and foremost, I am not going to praise MSG Network for simply televising the tournament. Yes, they did something cool for Rangers fans by showing the organization’s future prospects participating in this tournament in Michigan. It was nice to get an early taste of hockey while everyone was still waiting for training camp to begin. However, it’s not like the network has an incredibly bounty of compelling programming that they’re setting aside in favor of a tournament full of future all-stars, almost-rans and never-will-bes. I don’t want to get into too much detail, but let me just say that the summer season is not too kind on a network that is almost entirely devoted to the Knicks, Rangers, Devils and Islanders (in that order).

The real fascinating element of the production was its integration of social media, specifically Twitter, into the programming. Using the #NYRprospects hashtag, fans were encouraged to tweet in questions to the network, the guys in the booth, special guests and even some of the prospects. Provided that you asked an appropriate question, there was a good chance your inquiries and tweets got on to the programming. Combine that with the fact that the fans who are on Twitter, and would be watching the tournament, are also probably some of the more knowledgeable group of fans within the entire fanbase, and you saw a steady stream of smart questions, reasonably smart answers and solid interactive coverage in a manner that was very engaging and very unique.

So, you know, kudos to you MSG. There’s no way a similar program could run during the actual hockey season, but to get a more in-depth glimpse of the franchise (and the opponents’ franchise as the network frequently had personnel from the other teams participating in the tourney) was a nice and welcome change of pace from the regular pre-training camp doldrums. It’s the time of the year when fans are most hungry for hockey, and MSG found a smart and easy way to feed that appetite.

NHL MEDIA DAY

I’m not going to lie to you guys. I was really stoked for this. The biggest stars in the NHL going around in Manhattan and Newark being interviewed by multiple outlets, we were BOUND for something stupid to happen or be said. Right? Right?

Wrong.

The most fascinating aspects of the entire day of coverage just ended up being glimpses at new promos the league was shooting that would run on all of the major NHL-oriented networks in North America. I’m always excited for new slates of hockey commercials because I always hope that eventually the league will find a solid way to advertise the game as being the coolest game (no pun intended, okay, sort of intended) on Earth. The Flyers/Capitals commercials from last year with Verizon were solid productions and I’ve always been a fan of the running series on NHL Network with the eccentric coach. So it’s not like the league is completely incapable. It’s just that there is still a lot of room for improvement. I mean, I’m still not over the use of Switchfoot in the 2010 All-Star Game promos. I mean, COME ON! But that’s another diatribe for another day.

WHAT’S COMING UP

So I am hoping, starting next week, I’ll be inundated with enough content and coverage that I’m not looking around on the dregs of the intertube to find something funny for us to laugh at. Really, I just want The Three Ms to finally come out of their caves and give me stuff that I can work with, know what I mean?

But besides that, starting next week, I’m also going to be documenting for how long hockey is covered during each weeknight’s 6PM and 11PM SportsCenters. I already have a good idea of what kind of numbers and coverage we are going to see, but it’ll be fun to take a look at it in a concrete way. For example, I’ll average out the number of minutes the so-called WWL covers one of the four major networks on their flagship program.

Prepare to get really agitated about this stuff, especially if you’re like me.

Sahil Patel can be reached on Twitter @sahilness. Give him a shout-out, tell him how awesome he is. Sometimes he just really needs the boost.