What’s this about?
Multidimensional, inside LA Kings coverage with context and personality. Keeping close tabs on the Kings while writing for The Hockey News and reporting for NHL Network, I stayed in the houses of people I knew from hockey, I ate dinners with their families. I reconnected with old friends, former players. In Helsinki, Brian O’Neill shared unsolicited words of respect for Dean Lombardi. In Helsinki, Olli Jokinen told me about a new karaoke machine in Mikkelin Jukurit’s dressing room. In Erfurt, I ate Käsespätzle with Kyle Beach and the Black Dragons captains with the Michigan-Rutgers game on in the background. In Red Deer, I received the sought-after Darryl Sutter shoulder pat, and after showing him pictures of my kids hustled downstairs to find Chris in the souvenir shop. These moments far outweigh the less desirable parts of hockey journalism, like the amount of time spent waiting in cold rink corridors or when a door slams in your recording.
And I’ve also kept a close eye on the Kings.
Why are you doing this now?
There’s similar criteria as what existed when LA Kings Insider was created 13 years ago, and I also believe we’ll look back at this period as part of a wave in which distributors of digital content fragmented similarly to the dispersal of the traditional broadcast sports model. ESPN has yielded its market share to the MLB Network and the SEC Network and the Longhorn Network and steaming services and smaller packaging, just as reporting space freed by budgeted newspapers and print media sparks possibilities in start-up digital reporting and content creation. I’ve watched a lot of soccer during the pandemic, and Grant Wahl and Meg Swanick’s subscription model sites and newsletters are good templates. In hockey, a number of excellent newsletters and podcasts have arisen, like those created by Chris Peters and Ken Campbell, and more beat-focused team reporting by Craig Morgan in Phoenix and Erik Erlendsson in Tampa. I’m betting on my ability to complement the experience of following the Kings with a perspective and voice similar to my nine seasons with them and FOX Sports West, and I’m honored to have been invited to join the Professional Hockey Writers Association in this endeavor.
What will I get for my subscription?
Comprehensive, accountable, hyperregular and nonjaded beat reporting by an expert who has lived and experienced 36 seasons of Kings hockey and has relationships with important figures inside and outside the organization. Road coverage. Constant on-the-ground updates in a live scroll similar to the earliest LA Kings Insider format. Darryl Sutter memories. Drew Doughty stories. Recollections of Stanley Cup runs by those who bled. Reconnections with alumni. Top-flight reporting, analysis and storytelling, whether by word, pixel or spreadsheet. (We’re gonna take a look at scoring chances this year.) Live event meet-ups. Regular ticket contests. My everlasting appreciation that you’d consider paying money to read my words and listen to my voice.
Wait a minute, you used to be free.
Not a question but I’ll address it anyway. Yeah, I get it. There’s a change in our relationship. But for this to succeed, and to build something worthy of a subscription fee, there has to be boots-on-the-ground coverage both at home and on the road. Internal funding has provided an excellent base, but to grow this well beyond this year, and fund playoff coverage, I come to you, hat-in-hand, asking you to add Forum Report to your monthly ($7) or annual ($65) subscriptions.
But I’m excited to bring you a wealth of new features and bring back a few old ones. I’ll share perspectives from experts. I’ll accurately report on hockey marketing and media rights news, a realm in which I have very good contacts. And as I did before, I’ll take you on the road and cover the experience of covering the game while also covering the game itself.
I wouldn’t be doing this without humility. This is not Ben Affleck as Edward Alleyn in Shakespeare in Love. It is not What Is The Play, And What Is My Part?! I’m not thrusting myself into the center of attention or doing this to pal around with old friends. This is head-down, humble hockey. All reporting, analysis, interviews and Jake Muzzin propaganda will be shared with the understanding that you’re expecting the highest quality content and journalism.
How does the content at Forum Beat differ from your content at LA Kings Insider?
Not too much in the sense that there’s a similar rhythm of reporting, content and multimedia with the same voice. A return to the scrolling format facilitates quick hits and the hyperregular content I’ve been going on about. If there’s an important long-form story, I’ll attack it with perspective and deliberation. But I lean more towards Axios-style reporting with a combination of bullet points atop articles in the 500-to-800-word range. Digestible statistics in areas the Kings place value in. Waking Up with the Kings. Good Morning. Storytelling through words and data and pictures and videos – AND SONG!
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