Some Final Thoughts About The Leonsis Interview

First of all, I need to thank Ted for granting me the sort of access that few reporters even get. Once I was inside the box, he made it clear I was his guest, and he never hesitated to introduce me to everyone. I should also make it clear that Ted put absolutely no preconditions on my visit, and never hesitated to answer any of my questions -- something that's completely in line with the way he's run the franchise.

Another important note: It was interesting to hear Ted introduce me to his guests as a blogger. The first time I heard it I guess I was a bit taken aback. The second time he said it, I realized that hearing him introduce me that way lent credibility to what I -- and every other sports blogger for that matter -- was doing.

I don't think it's any accident that Ted's invitation came at a time when one of the local papers, the Washington Post, has downgraded its coverage of the team. That's not just my own interpretatation of the paper's actions, it was also expressed loud and clear by the working journalists who attended Gary Bettman's speech at the National Press Club.

Don't get me wrong -- I am not saying that Leonsis invited me as a shot across the bow of the mainstream media. But we ought to be clear that as reporters, editors and producers try to push the NHL down the media value chain, more folks like me will be inside the owner's box and the locker rooms. And that's an exciting prospect. Diversity of opinion is always a good thing, and I think this visit was an example of how it can work to the league's advantage.

There was one thing I was trying to pass along to Ted that I didn't have a chance to fully articulate during my visit, and I don't think there's any reason why I shouldn't share it with everyone else now. Here in the states, ever since NHL2Night disappeared from ESPN2 last Spring, I've felt disconnected from the league at a very basic level -- this, even though I make it a habit to watch at least a period or two of hockey every night, and always make sure to record the Hockey Night In Canada doubleheader every Saturday night.

And the reason why I feel disconnected is that I don't get a chance to see many highlights on my 32" television at home. Sure, as John Buccigross has mentioned, the addition of the shootout has meant that the NHL has elbowed its way back into the highlight reels at ESPN's SportsCenter. That's all well and good, but as we get deeper into college basketball season, the portion of the show dedicated to NHL highlights is going to be squeezed out.

Perhaps this is a problem that will solve itself once COMCAST begins distributing the NHL Network on its systems throughout the U.S. In the meantime, I think the league needs to serioiusly consider creating its own nightly highlight package and distributing it via RSS. And while COMCAST has begun to distribute a weekly highlight reel on its cable systems using video on demand, it's not enough.

Everyone who reads Off Wing knows that if I only wrote once a week, most of my readers would only show up once per month. I think the same rubric applies here.

When I told Ted this, he responded by saying that OLN puts together a good postgame show, and that's certainly the case when it comes to the quantity of highlights it shows from around the league. I just wish they did the same thing every night of the week.

I think something has fundamentally changed when it comes to the way the NHL is covered, and I hope the rest of the league will start to take notice. There's no reason why what I did on Tuesday night can't be replicated in every other NHL city -- and the league, its owners and its players would be all the better for it.

My next thank you has to go to Jamie Mottram of AOL Sports Bloggers Live. I've been fortunate to have been a guest on the show a few times, and I've always enjoyed myself. The Leonsis visit was the direct result of Jamie passing along a link to my summary of Bettman's speech at the National Press Club to Ted. Later, Ted told me that he was doing a periodic Google search on Alex Ovechkin and came across my name again.

Then came the invitation.

Jamie, along with another friend -- James Mirtle in Toronto -- are going to become forces to be reckoned with in sports reporting in the years to come. That's because they not only know sports, but intimately understand how and why things have changed when it comes to journalism. I'm looking forward to see what else they can do.

Finally, I need to thank you, my readers, for putting me in the position to make this happen. While Off Wing might not be the biggest blog, I have a cadre of very dedicated readers who seem to like passing my URL around the world by word of mouth. Without that, I don't get this invitation.

As always, thanks for reading Off Wing.

Ok, enough navel gazing. Regularly scheduled sports blogging will now be joined already in progress...

Eric 06:50 AM

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