Not even a year ago it was quite shocking for some to see the Colorado Avalanche organization implementing social media as a means of promotion. Starting with a Facebook page and a Twitter account, fans began wondering if they’d ever see an Avalanche player take on a social media role.

The NHL caught up with former players Craig Anderson and Chris Stewart earlier in the season and asked them about their thoughts on using social media. At the time it seemed quite the long shot that any Avalanche player would end up engaging with fans or sharing their life as a professional athlete.

Then Matt Duchene emerged. Talking with Adrian Dater about joining Twitter, Duchene said:

“Growing up, I was always wondering ‘what was Joe Sakic like or what was Peter Forsberg like as a person, or Patrick Roy. This way, anybody who is a fan of the team – or me, I guess – would get to see that more, and make them feel closer.”

The tweeting was few and far between, about what you’d expect coming out of the media controlled state of the Colorado Avalanche, but it provided some nice glances into what made Matt Duchene tick. A scandalous comment about vodka during the All-Star Game and Duchene all but vanished for the second half of the season, yet he reappeared, more talkative than ever in the off season.

Duchene joined quiet Norwegian defensman Jonas Holøs, who’s largely inactive Twitter account saw less than once monthly action.

Conspiracy theorist’s suspicions about the Avalanche organization stifling individual voices reignited anew as almost immediately after Chris Stewart was traded to the St. Louis Blues, he was tweeting all of the time – despite his above comments about not intending to use the service.

Less than a month after the season ended, two new additions to the Avalanche roster also joined their fellow NHL comrades in using the social media service to spread the gospel of themselves. The first was Dan Winnik, who likely gave in to peer pressure from his friend and social media sports icon Paul Bissonnette from the Phoenix Coyotes. With a enjoyably refreshing twist, Winnik was the first of the current Avalanche roster to consistently interact with fans and frequently responds to questions while also leaving his opinions on the current Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Winnik also called out fellow teammate Ryan O’Byrne, exposing his presence on Twitter before O’Byrne had even sent his first message out into the interwebs. O’Byrne, who is moonlighting as an analyst for the NHL Network, is likely to pick up tweeting more consistently, though it will be hard to beat out Winnik in instant social media popularity.

But it isn’t just current players who are active online. There are both prospects and alumni using the medium as well. Colorado’s 2010 first round draft pick Joey Hishon is somewhat present on the service, as is up and coming goaltender Calvin Pickard. They are joined by alumni Marc Denis, Matt Barnaby, Curtis Leschyshyn, Theo Fleury, Shjon Podein, and Rick Berry, and John-Michael Liles.*

Wouldn’t it make sense to have Joe Sakic be the online face of the front office? It could be similar to how local football hero John Elway behaves in regards to his work with the Denver Broncos. Who wouldn’t listen to every word Joe had to say?

*More prospects have joined the Twitter game as well as some new draftees including: Tyson Barrie, Stefan Elliott, Brad Malone, Duncan Siemens, Garrett Meurs, and Dillon Donnelly. Fan favorite and current Lake Erie Monster Greg Mauldin has also joined.*

*Newly signed defenseman Shane O’Brien and recently signed forward Joakim Lindström are also on twitter.*

*TJ Galiardi is the latest comedian to join the online crowd and he hit the ground running. He has been joined by the newly married David Jones as well.*

What do you think? Who will be the next to join Twitter? Who would you want to see active on the site?

The National Hockey League announced today a multi-year television agreement with NBC-Versus, keeping the broadcast rights with their current broadcasting partner.

Worth an alleged $200 million a year for 10 years, the television deal gives the NHL some much needed growth revenue while continuing to allow exposure for both hockey as well as NBC-Versus to grow together. Say what you will about coverage – like showing one playoff game at a time – or the overall presentation package, but there is no denying that Versus and then NBC-Versus did a decent job at cultivating a new hockey landscape in the aftermath of ESPN dismissing hockey during the lockout.

The NHL is seeing incredible action on the ice. The game itself, the competitive balance probably has never been better, and our business continues to thrive. – Gary Bettman

Still, both the success and implications of such a large, multi-year deal might not be known for some time. As long as the relationship remains fruitful and helps further the reach of the NHL, emphasizing both casual and die hard fans as a priority, the real winner becomes the league itself. Exposure is something that the NHL has strived for as the lockout was quite damaging to the overall image and reputation of professional hockey in the United States.

We’re delighted. We’re thrilled. There is absolutely nothing that fits the NBC Sports Group better on all platforms than the National Hockey League, between the national cable rights, the broadcast rights, the digital rights, and the fact that the NHL is a significant part of some of our strongest RSNs. It brings a strength to that entire platform or that group of platforms that nothing else can, and with it this deal brings such significant exclusivities that never existed before, not only in the regular season but in the post-season… – Dick Ebersol

Many casual fans abandoned the sport that abandoned them, and not all of them have returned to witness the triumphant return, a phoenix rising out of the ashes reborn. Still, fans have seen coverage of the Winter Classic and the Stanley Cup Playoffs receive excellent reception and acceptance as ratings have only increased dramatically over the last few years. The only missing piece to the puzzle, aside from national coverage priorities, is accessibility. Being that NBC-Versus beat out ESPN, who has multiple channels and avenues of broadcast including online with services like ESPN3, NBC-Versus is now tasked with finding a way to satiate the appetite of the most die hard hockey fans who have been left in the dust as of late.

I never had any regrets about the deal that we had with NBC over the last six years. They have been extraordinary partners. They stood by us through a difficult time, and I think that they are deserving of tremendous credit for the positioning that we find ourselves in today as a sport and a media property. So the deal was never an issue from our standpoint. – Bettman

Every playoff game needs to be available simultaneously. Regular season games need priority over UFC and sport fishing. The NHL has done a great job at getting the NHL Network available across television providers while also enhancing their NHL Game Center offering to support emerging mobile device platforms, but there is still more to do until NBC-Versus is considered a legitimate sports contender.

By the way, in the regular season there are now a total of 90 games. In the past there were 77. But that’s not the key thing. Of those 90 games, all of those 90 games are exclusive, either exclusive windows or exclusive games. In the past that number was 50, so that’s an 80 percent increase in exclusivity in the regular season – Ebersol

Still, things are looking up for the once relegated NHL and it will only get better as time goes on.

Per the NHL Press Release:

According to the agreement, the NBC Sports Group obtains digital rights across all platforms and devices for the games it televises. In the regular season, NBC will continue to broadcast a national “Game of the Week,” along with its coverage of the NHL Winter Classic® and “Hockey Day in America.” VERSUS also will telecast an exclusive national “Game of the Week,” as well as NHL Premiere™ Games, NHL Faceoff™, the NHL All-Star Game and any future NHL Heritage Classic™ outdoor games in Canada. NBC and VERSUS remain the exclusive home of the Stanley Cup Final. The NBC Sports Group’s commitment includes building a new studio for NHL Network™ at its existing facility Stamford, Conn.
…
“We have significantly increased the value of the NBC Sports Group with this unprecedented, 10-year agreement with the National Hockey League,” said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. “What’s particularly exciting for us is not only the significant increase in regular season games, but the reality of a dream that every single playoff game will air on an NBC Sports Group platform. For the first time, the Conference Semifinal round will be exclusive on VERSUS with a 200 percent increase in games. In the regular season, we’re increasing VERSUS’ coverage from roughly 50 to 90 games.
…
The agreement between the NHL and the NBC Sports Group includes targeted promotion across the combined Comcast/NBCUniversal company which, since the merger, consists of 20 television networks and more than 40 digital platforms. VERSUS, which was in 64 million homes in 2005, is now in more than 79 million homes and is on course for further expansion of its distribution. The combined promotional muscle has already led to increased ratings for events such as the NHL Winter Classic, NHL Heritage Classic and Hockey Day in America.

What do you think of the new deal?

The injury bug is affecting the Colorado Avalanche early this season, with defenseman Kyle Cumiskey being the next to miss time.

The Denver Post is reporting that Cumiskey missed practice Monday due to a concussion allegedly suffered in Saturday night’s blowout victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Coloread has recently been rolling seven defensemen, so it isn’t as if the team is left with a void in Cumiskey’s absence. As of today, there have been no assignments from the Lake Erie Monsters which begs the question: Is Adam Foote ready to return from his concussion?

Played off as a mild injury, Adam Foote has been out since October 21st. If he doesn’t return for Thursday night’s rematch against the Vancouver Canucks, his injury is clearly more serious then initially reported. In the event that Foote doesn’t play, Cameron Gaunce is the next likely candidate to get a call up based solely on his statistics. As we all know now, based on the appearance of goaltender John Grahame, that the Monsters coaching staff suggests players based on their current performance.

The news from Avalanche practice hasn’t been all bad this week, as Craig Anderson was spotted skating on the ice during practice. While no return timetable, or even specific injury information, has been released by the club, Anderson skating is the best possible sign. Better still is the word that Peter Mueller should be able to return to the team at some point this season.

While that sounds vague at best, it does displace the theory that his career was in jeopardy from the severity of his situation. Marc Savard from the Boston Bruins suffered a concussion last season and has yet to return and former Av Ian Laperriére has all but officially retired after a series of injuries including a puck to the face and a concussion have physically crippled him since last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It may not look like it now, but things are starting to look up for the Colorado Avalanche. With another full day off before they face the Canucks, look for some of those lingering injuries to heal up before the hungry young team takes the ice.

What do you think? Are concussions the most prevalent injury in the NHL?