In our\u00a0previous\u00a0trips to Carolina, the media lift has never been heavy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Raleigh is one of those cities\u00a0that\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0have a huge\u00a0contingent of hockey\u00a0writers, which means our post-game media sessions\u00a0for regular season games\u00a0at Lenovo Center usually just include our team reporter Jackson Starr.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what made Sunday\u2019s media availability at our team hotel so unique.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We had a dozen reporters show up\u00a0to speak with Tim\u00a0St\u00fctzle, Thomas Chabot and Travis Green.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Granted,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0a tiny number in comparison to\u00a0our playoff series against Toronto from last spring. But for an Ottawa-Carolina series in this current media landscape\u00a0\u2013 where reporters hardly ever travel \u2013\u00a0it was a refreshing scene.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s\u00a0even more\u00a0encouraging is that we had a sizable number of local media members who made the trek down\u00a0from Ottawa\u00a0to Raleigh for the first two games of this series.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many of our regular reporters \u2013 like Brent Wallace, Alex Adams, Graeme Nichols, Julian McKenzie and\u00a0Max Jolicoeur \u2013 were on the scene yesterday for our\u00a0media session in Raleigh. CBC Ottawa even sent a crew down here, which\u00a0produced this story on\u00a0all the Sens fans in Carolina<\/a>\u00a0from reporter David Fraser.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The playoffs are a different animal, where a Hurricanes-Senators matchup\u00a0draws a lot of attention and eyeballs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n So\u00a0this week I thought it would be fun to take our readers behind the curtain to see what\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0like to prepare for a\u00a0playoff series in a\u00a0PR and\u00a0communications department.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to the start of each series, the NHL arranges conference calls to make sure everybody is on the same page.\u00a0We had\u00a0a\u00a0Zoom\u00a0call\u00a0with the Carolina Hurricanes PR staff\u00a0on Thursday,\u00a0which included a handful of representatives from the NHL.\u00a0<\/p>\n We went over all the media and broadcasting policies,\u00a0which was\u00a0probably old\u00a0hat for Mike Sundheim\u00a0and his Carolina PR staff who\u00a0have\u00a0been in the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons. But this is\u00a0still relatively fresh for our department in Ottawa,\u00a0so\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0nice to get reminders of all the rules and regulations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For starters, there is a distinct flow to the post-game media sessions. Each team\u00a0is required to\u00a0bring personnel\u00a0over to a formal press conference area, in the following order:\u00a0<\/p>\n Losing team coach\u00a0<\/p>\n Winning team player(s)\u00a0<\/p>\n Winning team coach<\/p>\n This requires a lot of coordination between PR departments, so we set up a group text\u00a0to make sure things flow smoothly. On Saturday afternoon, for example, we texted into the group chat to let the Hurricanes staff know that we were bringing Travis Green to the podium. That\u00a0gave them an idea of timing so they could plan\u00a0on bringing\u00a0Frederik Andersen and Logan\u00a0Stankoven\u00a0over to the same room. And as soon as Travis\u2019 session with reporters was over, we texted to\u00a0let them know the room was all theirs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n We also have a group text set up with all the\u00a0national\u00a0broadcasters\u00a0since we have\u00a0three networks \u2013 Sportsnet, ESPN and TVA \u2013\u00a0calling\u00a0these games from Raleigh.\u00a0This way, we know which players they want to interview in between periods or after the game.\u00a0And there is also a priority list here.\u00a0Let\u2019s\u00a0say both Sportsnet and ESPN want to do an interview with Brady Tkachuk in the hallway after the first period. Which network\u00a0gets the priority to\u00a0execute that\u00a0interview\u00a0and which network\u00a0must\u00a0pivot to a different guest?\u00a0<\/p>\n Down here at the Lenovo Center, the priority list goes as follows:\u00a0<\/p>\n ESPN\u00a0<\/p>\n Sportsnet\u00a0<\/p>\n TVA<\/p>\n So\u00a0on Monday night, for example, if both ESPN and Sportsnet want to do a live intermission interview with Tim\u00a0St\u00fctzle, ESPN would have priority and Sportsnet would have to shift to a different guest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But back\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0Canadian Tire Centre, the priority list shifts to:\u00a0<\/p>\n Sportsnet\u00a0<\/p>\n TNT (they will be doing our games\u00a0back home)\u00a0<\/p>\n TVA<\/p>\n Simply put:\u00a0American broadcasters have priority when\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0in the United States, but Sportsnet takes that role when\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0back in Canada.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n There are also strict rules about media availabilities on days where the team\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0hold a practice.\u00a0Neither team\u00a0skated\u00a0on Sunday, so we had\u00a0to coordinate with the Hurricanes PR staff\u00a0to make sure our sessions\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0conflict with each other.\u00a0And the home team gets to\u00a0choose\u00a0the\u00a0time for their media availability\u00a0first\u00a0and the visiting team must work around that.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After Game 1, the Hurricanes informed us that Rod Brind\u2019Amour would speak at 11:30 a.m. at Lenovo Center\u00a0on Sunday morning. We had to build in time to make sure reporters could cover that session and still make it to our hotel for our availability, so we chose a starting time of 12:30 p.m.\u00a0for a session with Travis Green, Thomas\u00a0Chabot\u00a0and Tim\u00a0St\u00fctzle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n During the Stanely Cup playoffs, you must have your head coach available to the media, along with a couple of key players too. The only exception you have is when there are two consecutive days off in a series\u00a0\u2013 like we\u2019ll experience on Tuesday and Wednesday in between Games 2 and 3. In that instance, we are\u00a0only\u00a0required to make Travis Green available to the media at some point on Tuesday \u2013 but if we\u2019re not practicing, no players have to speak to reporters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As you can see, there are a ton of rules and protocols baked into\u00a0the Stanley Cup playoffs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And the further you advance, the more complicated it gets\u00a0\u2013 especially since the number of media covering your series\u00a0probably\u00a0doubles\u00a0in size each round. But\u00a0once you reach the conference final, the NHL\u2019s PR department comes in and handles a lot of\u00a0these\u00a0logistics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Do you have a question about media policies and access in the playoffs\u00a0or otherwise? Send them our way to\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Trivia time:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ve\u00a0got a Game 2 on the horizon on Monday here in Raleigh, so\u00a0let\u2019s\u00a0go with a playoff-themed question.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Can you name\u00a0the four players who have scored an overtime-winning goal for the Senators in Game 2 of a playoff series?\u00a0(Hint:\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0two forwards and two defencemen).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Answer at the bottom of this column.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Inside our small\u00a0tribute to Joe Bowen\u00a0<\/p>\n This feels like it happened\u00a0about two weeks ago, but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0only been five days since Joe Bowen broadcast the final game of his\u00a0remarkable career in Ottawa on Wednesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bowen has been the voice of the Maple\u00a0Leafs\u00a0since 1982, a 44-year run\u00a0with a single team that is almost unheard of\u00a0in this day and age.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n When we\u00a0found out that Bowen would be travelling to Ottawa to call his final game in person at Canadian Tire Centre, we knew we should acknowledge the moment in some manner. But given the tension and\u00a0animosity that often envelopes games with the Maple\u00a0Leafs, this was something that needed to be handled with some degree of caution.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a bit of a tightrope walk to execute something like this.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The decision was made to give Joe a brief\u00a0scoreboard\u00a0tribute during the first TV timeout of\u00a0Wednesday night\u2019s game.\u00a0And we\u00a0came up with\u00a0a fun twist: We thought\u00a0we\u2019d\u00a0show some\u00a0Bowen calls of iconic Ottawa goals against the Maple\u00a0Leafs\u00a0from\u00a0the Battle of Ontario.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel Alfredsson\u2019s goal in\u00a0Game 5 of\u00a0the 2002 playoffs<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 moments after he hit Darcy Tucker \u2013 is often cited as one of the most explosive moments in the provincial rivalry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This Mike Fisher goal<\/a>\u00a0to keep the Senators alive in a Game 6 overtime on home ice was magical for Ottawa fans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And Ottawa fans always get a kick out of watching\u00a0Curtis Joseph\u2019s meltdown after this Rob Zaumner goal<\/a>\u00a0in the 2000 playoffs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Only problem\u00a0with trying to track down these audio clips\u00a0featuring Bowen\u2019s voice?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n None\u00a0of them\u00a0exist anywhere.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n We spent\u00a0time\u00a0trying to track\u00a0these down with TSN\u00a01050\u00a0and The FAN 590 in Toronto\u00a0and unfortunately, their archives only go went back to around 2013 or so \u2013 well after the glory days of the Battle of Ontario.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n So\u00a0we settled on three other moments\u00a0to highlight\u00a0featuring Bowen\u2019s voice:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Evgenii Dadonov\u2019s OT goal<\/a>\u00a0to cap a furious comeback from a 5-1 deficit and give the Senators a 6-5 win at Toronto during the 2020-21 season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Dylan Cozens\u2019\u00a0shorthanded\u00a0goal<\/a> from Game 5 of last year\u2019s playoff series.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And\u00a0Jake Sanderson\u2019s OT winner<\/a> from Game 4 in that same series.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The end result was this montage\u00a0and scoreboard appearance,<\/a>\u00a0all of which was captured by a national TV audience on Sportsnet.\u00a0There\u00a0was a tremendous ovation inside the building, which is what we really wanted \u2013 a special moment\u00a0to cap an impressive broadcasting career.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was\u00a0really nice\u00a0to see Ottawa and Toronto fans take a\u00a0moment and salute something in unison. And if\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0being honest,\u00a0we may never see\u00a0that\u00a0again in\u00a0the month of April\u00a0between these two fan bases.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Media roundup: Looking back at some interesting and fun Senators stories you might have missed over the past seven days.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Travis Green received a late push for the Jack Adams voting, thanks in large part to\u00a0articles like this one<\/a>\u00a0from Alex Adams with Sportsnet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The theme of \u201925 best friends\u2019 has been big around these parts, ever since\u00a0Jake Sanderson uttered those words<\/a>\u00a0in a post-game interview with TSN. Our Andrew\u00a0Wilimek\u00a0paints a great picture of that\u00a0camaraderie,\u00a0by taking readers\u00a0inside the dressing room for this story last week<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Daily Sens games now available on our app\u00a0<\/p>\n Our app has been up and running for about a month now. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and there has been great engagement\u00a0with\u00a0our fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ll\u00a0slowly be rolling out\u00a0new updates\u00a0and\u00a0features\u00a0and I wanted to draw your attention to a particularly fun one that quietly dropped last week.\u00a0We\u2019ve\u00a0got daily Sens games going on the app now, powered by\u00a0Daysies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Click the \u2018More\u2019 button on the\u00a0bottom of the\u00a0app\u00a0and then\u00a0you\u2019ll\u00a0see an option for \u2018Daily Sens Games.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Then\u00a0you\u2019ll\u00a0see options to play six different games: Trivia, Petal Puck, Scramble, Lie Detector,\u00a0Crossword\u00a0and a Word Search.\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019re\u00a0in the\u00a0early\u00a0stages\u00a0of these\u00a0producing these\u00a0games, so there is a lot of room for us to grow and improve.\u00a0If\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0got an idea for a fun\u00a0game\u00a0you\u2019d\u00a0like to see us incorporate into the app, please shoot us an email to\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n