/
RSS Feed
NOTE: The frequently updated version of this is --> here <--
How fans consume the game of hockey changes more and more each year with advancements in broadcast rights, new and updated media outlets and the ever-growing presence of online viewing.
Do you remember when you couldn’t get updates on your iPhone or listen to radio broadcasts of games on the web?
Hell, now you can even watch games online and tweet with your peeps while doing it. It’s like a rudimentary visual reality game. #Awesome
Sidebar: The real-deal virtual reality version is just around the corner. It’s possible for teams and the NHL to do it now, but, you know, money and broadcast rights. We touch on this in a few of our The Future of Hockey podcasts, notably this one. The Future Of Hockey: How We Watch The Game.
Best Media Outlets for factual and official news
Our quality equation:
Factual + Timely + Educated + Experienced = Quality hockey coverage
- Adrain Dater: No matter who he’s working for at the time Dater is one of the first beat writers/reporters on the Colorado hockey scene. Before the Avalanche were even named the Avalanche Dater was covering the team inside and out. He’s written countless articles and even a few books about his time covering the Avs. But his best quality is that he’s not afraid to speak in truths. Even if it pisses you/me off. Sure, he’s not everyone’s mug of beer (update from Cup of Tea) but he’s factual, honest and timely. Really, what else do want? I also hear rumblings of a podcast from Dater on the way in 2016 which will be the second attempt for Dater & CO at transitioning to the spoken word of podcasting. If he can solve his tech issues from the first go-round with podcasts, it should be worth adding to your list of Avs Podcasts.
- Follow Dater on Twitter @adater (https://twitter.com/adater)
- Read Dater’s articles on Bleacher Report —> http://bleacherreport.com/adrian-dater. I typically just wait for the articles to be posted with a link on Twitter, though.
- Get our hands on his book 100 Things Avalanche Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (100 Things…Fans Should Know) from Amazon. It’s cheap, awesome and full of fun facts, stories and even a few “things to do.” Mostly it’s a fact-checked, inside story machine that will leave you thinking “oh, so that’s what happened to __________.”
- BSN Avalanche: When I hear rumblings about something and want to get an official and informed word on it I usually look to the @BSNAvalanche Twitter handle (twitter.com/BSNAvalanche).
- The Colorado Avalanche: You’d think this was my first choice for “factual and official news” but the news is, as you would suspect, a bit rosy. They keep it simple and pro-Avs, as they should. If you want a bit more meat on your bones and maybe even some pretty feathers… focus on Dater and BSN Avalanche.
Honorable mentions and less heartfelt coverage:
- Rick Sadowski – Formally of The Rocky Mountain News (@RickS7)
- Terry Frei of the Denver Post – @TFrei
Recap: Go follow @adater, @BSNAvalanche, and the @Avalanche if you don’t not already.
Or, subscribe to this Twitter list: https://twitter.com/hockeycolorado/lists/official-avs-coverage which includes all of the aforementioned names.
Hockey Math AKA Hockey Savants
Love CORSI? Who doesn’t? Not 100% sure CORSI is? Who is? But there is a bit of magic in the math and I occasionally want to do something like visualizing a player’s entire career on a graph. Or, sometimes I just want to know who had the better position time so that I can sound intelligent in a podcast. Whatever your reason for wanting to bring math into the game of hockey, we have some resources for you.
- Micah Blake McCurdy AKA HockeyViz.com AKA @IneffectiveMath: First, Micah was kind enough to do a podcast with us and do his best to explain the methods of his madness. Check that out here. What Micah is attempting to do (IMHO) is to make statistics not suck. He does all the hard work of collecting data, applying algorithms and dealing with unruly Twitter types to spit out a user-friendly, infographic-like visual for folks like me to look at. I can see in a very visual way how well Landy did in his rookie year and where he had slumps. See for yourself here http://hockeyviz.com/player/landega92. More importantly, though, Micah does it of his own good will and desire to make hockey better from an unlikely source. He get’s paid in appreciation and as of the writing of this article, there are no ads to clutter up the flow. I will note, that I still have trouble with some of the visualizations but it gets better every single time I stop by the site. http://hockeyviz.com/ FTW!
Nathan MacKinnon 3 year player card from HockeyViz.com
Honestly, Hockeyviz.com is my go-to advanced stats site (I support them on Pateron.com) and I never have to go beyond that. But I did grab this cool list of sites form HockeyAnalysis.com that looks legit:
- Stats.hockeyanalyis.com
- HockeyViz.com
- Hockeystats.ca
- NaturalStatTrick.com
- XtraHockeyStats.com
- Fenwick-Stats.com
- DataRink.com
For a select few worth following, subscribe to this list: https://twitter.com/hockeycolorado/lists/hockey-s-savants
Trades, transactions and roster moves:
- General Fanager: That’s a play on General Manager for those who didn’t catch it. Clever, they are. This is a labor of love run by @TOMPORASZKA and it’s a beautiful thing. Need to know how much the Avs just signed the Bourques for? General Fanager! Need to know salaries and cap hits? General Fangaer! It’s not fancy, but it is timely, factual and accurate. You get the idea.
Other resources:
- Quanthockey.com is yet another stats site but the way the package the stats is interesting. For example, do you want to know which NHL players were born in 1997? They’ve got it on their front page. How about the average save percentage in the NHL over the last 35 years? They’ve got you covered. Have a browse on the home page for some fun stuff you might have known, that you needed to know.
- HockeyDB.com: We use this site for our podcast Every Avs Player – Ever! Sorting by games played. This is yet another stats site… and again, it’s all about how the package the stats for you to consider. They are becoming a dime a dozen but having a lot of options never hurt anyone. HockeyDB.com also has a list of sites they find useful here HockeyDB.com link page. There’s a lot of fun stuff there like the Bush League Factor!
Podcasts and Radio:
- Colorado Hockey Podcast at ColoradoHockey.com
We like to think that we bring our own flavor to the party. While there are plenty of “official” outlets and a number of media credentialed reporters duking it out for the same story, there aren’t any other podcasts digging into the rest of the game and Colorado Hockey Experience. We’re candid, outspoken, and often wrong. But, we’re genuine and authentic in our love for the game, the #AvsFam and the hockey community.
- BSN Avalanche Podcast featuring @AJHaefele, @JJoftheYear and @DanTheNorseman combine their forces and produce one hell of a podcast that is worth listening too as soon as it comes out. Not only because it’s awesome but because it’s almost always old news within a couple of days. It’s the nature of beat reporting and I think they do it better than most at the time of this post. Put them at the top of the podcast list to stay up-to-speed on all things Avs.
- The Avs Cast: (On iTunes)This is a good podcast if for no other reason than… they have access to players that nobody else does. You’ll hear some good podcasts that break out of the usual dullness of player interviews and scripted recordings. They are short and not overly produced but worth having on your radar.
- The Avs Hockey Podcast: James “Tapeleg” Gralian and Jay (just Jay) produce a long-format podcast that will pop-up in your podcast player of choice ever 2-3 weeks. But, even more entraining are the #AvsChat sessions they hold and the game day #AvsTwitterPsychic picks. They get a ton of fan participation and a good time is almost guaranteed.
- The Altitude Sports Podcast: This is a professional radio show with legit press/personalities, that is available online. But, for that reason, you can’t just subscribe on iTunes or with Stitcher, and that sucks. You’ll have to go to the website on your mobile phone and hope that you don’t lose the audio when your phone goes into power saver mode. For this reason, It’s worth knowing about but not nearly as accessible as the aforementioned podcasts.
- More to come.
How to watch the games on TV and online
- If you have cable, it’s here Altitude TV.
- If you’re a cord cutter like me, you have a few options:
- NHL.tv————— BUT…. If you’re living in Colorado and would like to watch the games live, you’re screwed. Don’t get me started on the NHL blackouts, but do listen to this podcast for my feelings on such things.
- Now, I’ve only heard about this and cannot condone it… but I hear that there are [ALLEGEDLY} free web streams available online for just about ever NHL, KHL, AHL… all the L’s out there. The are free but they do [ALLEGEDLY} open a plethora of ads and sometimes try to get you to download apps [DON’T!] But, if you’re jinxing for it, explore the rumors… my understanding is that they are virtually live as opposed to the NHL.TV feed which is at least 1 minute latent at all times. This is important if you like to keep up with the cable TV folks on Twitter as the game is played. But again, what do I ‘know, I’ve never attempted such things.
Watch with other fans:
- At The Can, obviously.
- The official Avs watch parties.
Avs Hockey Apparel and Gear
Of course, we love www.avsfam.com like water is wet but we’re not the only game in town and we have some awesome friends making some very legit gear.
- 5280 Shirt Shop – The friend of the fan and authentic Colorado sports fans making awesome shirts and fan gear.
- Altitude Authentics – Logo wear right from the source
- Sports Chirps – …work with pro athletes to create funky t-shirt designs that benefit the charity of their choice.
Hockey related causes we like
- (Scott) Parker’s Platoon – “In 2007, Scott and Francesca Parker founded a 501c3 nonprofit called “Parker’s Platoon” to raise donations for wounded veterans, in honor of Scott’s father, Roger Parker; soldier, 1st cavalry division, u.s. army, Vietnam 1970-1971. …”
- Sticks for Troops – “The mission of the Sticks for Troops program is to provide hockey equipment to deployed service members worldwide. (Multiple sites in Afghanistan as well as Qatar, Kuwait, and Egypt) The goal is not only to provide equipment but to also share the valuable lessons learned through teamwork, dedication, and sportsmanship.”
While exhaustive, this is an incomplete list and will be updated as the season progresses. We’ve omitted a few of our previous favorites that seem to have gone on hiatus. But if they reappear, we’ll add them as well.
If you have suggestions for any portion of this list send us an email and we’ll see if we agree.
- Show sponsor: www.avsfam.com – on Facebook – on Twitter
- Other Sponsors
- Subscribe to the Colorado Hockey Podcast on iTunes
