To Tweet or not to Tweet?

This story appeared in the Spring 2009 edition of Convergence Magazine. It can be found online at
http://issuu.com/Convergencemag/docs/spring09/33

To Tweet or not to Tweet?

Pat Lovgren

When Jack Dorsey posted his first message, “inviting coworkers” on Twitter, he was shocked by the number of people who were ready to take him up on his offer.

After a period of steady growth over its first two years, the social networking internet service co-founded by Dorsey and colleagues Biz Stone and Evan Williams, has exploded, increasing in size by nearly 1,000 per cent during the last six months to more than 8 million visitors. Web trafficking and ranking website, compete.com ranks Twitter the internet's third leading social networking service behind only MySpace and Facebook.

Dear Mr. Zelkovich

This story appeared in the Spring 2008 edition of Fine Cut Magazine. It can be found online at

http://magazines.humber.ca/finecut2008/section_page_core.html

By Pat Lovgren

From calling out Don Cherry for his Coaches Corner antics to taking Pete Rose to task for gambling on baseball, Toronto Star columnist Chris Zelkovich pulls no punches in his writing.

Zelkovich is entering his 10th year in his position as a sports media columnist for The Star and in his own words, “can’t imagine a better job.” He has carved out his own niche writing a weekly Monday TV review along with his sports media news columns.

``The running joke around here that people tell me is that you’ve got the best job in the business, you get paid to watch TV,” he says. “Well that’s only partly true, I get paid to watch it one day a week.”

In 1998 he decided to submit a column critiquing a TSN broadcast of the World Series. His editor at the time, Steve Tustin, loved it and that was the beginning of his weekly review. He then added sports media news columns to round out his work and has been doing that ever since.

The Heart of the Matter

This story appeared in the Winter 2008 edition of Sweat Magazine

By Pat Lovgren

One would hope hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) – the disease responsible for the greatest number of deaths among young athletes – would be something most athletes and coaches would know about especially because of the long list of athletes who have recently become victims of the disease.

The long list is headed by New York Rangers top prospect, Alexei Cherepanov, who died from the disease after collapsing during a hockey game in Russia. However, when it comes to knowledge of the condition, medical experts say athletes are still mostly in the dark – a situation that Lisa Salberg, founder and CEO of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association, wants to change by focusing on education.

Get ready for a busy week at camp

This story appeared in the February 9, 09 issue of The Hockey News, Vol. 62 No. 17.

by Pat Lovgren

Although there are a variety of hockey camps out there that offer different levels of on- and off-ice training and teaching, an aspect they all preach is a commitment to player development within a fun atmosphere. The camps are run using a fast paced, entirely scripted schedule that challenge their players at many different levels with every minute of the day being accounted for.

“We work the kids pretty hard,” said Marshall Uretsky, the director of the World Hockey Centre’s In-Residence Youth Superskills Summer Camp. “But after the first few days the kids get used to it and by the end of the first week they are showing great strides.”

Pros at camps make kids feel like stars

This story appeared in the March 30, 09 issue of The Hockey News, Vol 62, No. 21.

By Pat Lovgren

From a young age almost every young hockey fan dreams of having the opportunity to skate on the same surface as their NHL heroes. for a select few who attend certain hockey camps, that chance can become reality.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for kids,” said Matt Kuzniar of CAN/AM Hockey which holds youth camps in both Guelph, Ont. and Lake Placid, N.Y. “You have nine-year olds who look up to them and they get the chance to ask questions and interact with their heroes.”

It`s ladies` night with the Capitals

This story appeared in the Summer 2009 edition of the Hockey Business News, Volume 14, Number 6.

Wooing female fans helping Washington grow its footprint

BY Pat Lovgren

It was not too long ago the Washington Capitals were a franchise in trouble both on and off the ice. The team had won just five playoff games in the new millenium, were playing in a building that was normally less than half full and were paying about 40 percent of Jaromir Jagr’s $8.6 million salary, while he was playing for the New York Rangers.

Fast-forward a couple of years and almost everything related to the Caps has changed 180 degrees; whether it’s the uniforms, the sold-out building they play in or their reigning Hart trophy winner Alex Ovechkin – the polar opposite of the disgruntled Jagr – the franchise has undergone a dramatic revival.

The on-ice success the team has achieved has attracted a wide-variety of fans, including a large group of female supporters as passionate and supportive as any fans in the league. Sensing an opportunity, the Caps decided to create the league’s first female fan club.