Twitter Cred: Being First and Being Right

For a news starved NHL fan, Twitter has been a huge revelation in the ability to gather news quickly and easily and process it.  During my recent break from this blog (due to a family crisis) I was able to keep up with the comings and goings of my beloved Islanders, the cross town rival Rangers and really the entire NHL, even if I was not able to watch a game or read a paper.

As one of the producers of the sports segment on a local NYC TV station told me once (via Twitter) the time squeeze and the prominence of regional sports networks pushes hockey off the air during local news.

But unlike in a broadcast report, or in a paper–the “professional” filter is not there so their readers beware.

Now as team’s gear up for the long haul through the winter-and into the trade deadline-and contenders separate from pretenders the rumor mill will fly.

The best advice is to find a couple of sources you trust, who have access and rely on them.  Reading the rumors, and even commenting on them is a lot of fun, after all that’s what fans should do.  But it’s also important to be realistic.

The Rangers are not trading recently demoted Michael Del Zotto no matter what you read on Twitter, and the Devils are not trading Martin Brodeur–but its fun to think about it.

Probably the downside is that as the Twitter fueled rumor mill heats up (remember the Kovalchuk to the Isles rumors this summer?) the professional journalists, beat reporters and regular bloggers have to spend time debunking what’s out there rather than report what’s happening.

Some suggestions if you want some good coverage from across the NHL:

John Giannone at MSG for Rangers

Jeff Marek from CBC

I love the regulars here at HI

Katie Strang for the Isles

Dmitry Chesokov for almost every Russian player

And for almost anything west coast Helene Eliott is tough to beat