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Why does the NHL hate Twitter?

Charlie Cachinnator

Entry posted by Charlie Cachinnator

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When Alex Burrows lashed out and gave Stephan Auger a verbal donkey punch, I wasn't surprised in the least.

Burrows is a passionate guy who cares about two things - helping the Canucks succeed and the Montreal Alouettes winning.

What shocked me about his tirade was that he did it the old fashioned way. Burrows stepped up to the mic and didn't hold back, something not often seen from athletes anymore.

It would have made more sense for Burrows to Tweet his thoughts, circa Larry Johnson 2009.

AlexBurrows @S_Auger – Are you pregnant 'cause you missed three periods in the game. You should sit out the rest of the year for making calls like that.

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His full outburst to the cameras was much better than it would have been squeezed into 140 characters, but still, the way he went about things was so '90s.

Or maybe the NHL simply hasn't heard of twitter.

According to twitter-athletes.com, 15 current NHLers, spread over 11 teams, connect with their tweeps, that list includes such big names as Brad Winchester, Riley Cote, Bruno Gervais, Mike Commodore and Colby Armstrong. Sign me up!

There are also 28 fake player accounts circulating out there, not that anyone wants to follow @ShaneHnidy whether it's legit or not.

Why haven't hockey players caught on to the one communication tool that lets them cut the media out of things and speak directly to the fans? No more misquotes, no more confusion, no more boring life.

ESPN Magazine reports that there are 134 NBA players killing time on Twitter these days, that works out to about 30% of the league. The NFL and MLB are also on board; all 32 NFL teams have at least one tweeter, led by the New Orleans Saints with 15. Twenty-two of 30 MLB teams have at least one and three teams are tied for the most with three tweeple.

So what gives? Do other athletes have more to say? Is what they're saying more important? Do they have a bigger audience? I'd argue no to each question, raising the larger question of does the NHL has something to do with the players being left off the twitter boat?

Forget Burrows, there's your real controversy.

TweetingInChurch.widec.jpg

One could argue that the NFL and NBA have more characters and to a certain degree this is true.

Number one in Twitter followers amongst athletes, and 11th overall on Twitter, is Shaquille O'Neal. His 2,769,223 followers get not only messages (Merry twitmas everybody) but also pictures (http://yfrog.com/32yd4vj question do I have pretty feet, I say yes).

Chad Ochocinco isn't in the top 10 athletes, but his 677, 419 followers puts him second amongst NFLers behind Reggie Bush. Neither has anything overly intelligent to say and that's fine, Twitter isn't always for people with brains (Britney Spears has the second most followers on Twitter behind Ashton Kutcher…)

Did I miss something?

Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Roberto Luongo, Sean Avery, Ryan Miller, Patrick Kane, Rick Nash…I could go on and on listing characters of the league who fans would love to follow. I'm not sure why the NHL was left out of the contagious, outrageous, spontaneous fad (don't kid yourself, that's still what it is), but I don't like it.

The next time Burrows has a bone to pick with someone he should zip the lip and let his fingers to the talking. The text is mightier than the sword after all.

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Pinhead

Twitter much like yahoo messenger or anything else. The medium is the internet. And all the hyping in the world hasnt made twitter any more credible.

The reason many try to hype it is for the simple reason that they themselves think they can then start up their own twitters and become famous. laugh.gif

Real hockey folks who use the mediums of TSN, sportsnet, THN, and other legitimate hockey broadcasts have started side twitters. The twitter fanatics use these twitters as proof twitter is legitimate. It cracks me up.

The only reason its legit is the writers were legit to begin with. Aint got nothing to if they use bloggspot , yahoo , twitter or any other form of blogg.

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Trevor Presiloski

Great post. Though I think you missed the most prominent NHLer w/ a Twitter account: Mike Green.

I'm still trying to figure out why anyone likes twitter.

Tons of reasons, depending on who you are or what you're looking to get out of it.

It's useful if you travel a lot and/or are addicted to texting. The mobile component is huge, especially for people who aren't heavy internet users.

It's great for breaking news. 9/10 people like Bob McKenzie or Darren Dreger will post news before it goes up on TSN.ca or elsewhere. I've also found out information on Canucks prospects I wouldn't have found elsewhere w/ minimal work. You also find out little things from folks like Botchford that may not make it into their regular pieces. Probably the reason I use it the most.

Also great for networking and meeting people. I've made a number of professional contacts along with some regular friends through the service. Not something that I set out to do, but rubbing shoulders with marketing and social media types in Vancouver was a nice added bonus when I signed up.

It's blogging for people with ADHD. Some people don't like writing long, coherent blog posts but want to have a forum to voice their thoughts. Like Pinhead said above, some folks wanna get famous. Twitter is perfect for that.

Twitter's not for everyone and it may just be a passing fad (remember Friendster) but it's a great tool right now.

Okay. Shutting up now. Nice post Cachinnator! Nice diversion from all the Burrows talk as of late. :D

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ThoraSEB

Actually, Alex Ovechkin does have a Twitter account (@ovi8). Granted, he hasn't posted in almost a year, but he was fun to follow in the lead-up to last years' All Star game.

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