Why Can't More Teams Do This?

They have yet to name a single player to their roster nor have any games scheduled against opponents, but it seems pretty obvious that the Seattle NHL team is looking to make an impact on their city and communities long before the first puck is dropped in franchise history. The announcement today by the Seattle NHL team is one that I wish more teams - specifically one that is located in my city - would offer because it sounds awesome as the Seattle NHL team, in conjunction with the Pacific Science Center, will hold an evening where the scouts for the Seattle NHL team will tell those in attendance "how they prep for games, what they watch for, and how they use live game-action, video, and data to evaluate players"!

Held at the PacSci Center's PACCAR Imax Theatre on January 28, the team of Stu Barnes, Cammi Granato, John Goodwin, Dave Hunter, and Ulf Samuelsson will explain their roles, what they do, how they evaluate talent, the tools they use, and, ultimately, how they build a roster for the newest NHL franchise. This is the kind of information that hockey fans crave, and it's rather phenomenal to see the newest NHL team getting out in front of their 31 brethren with these kinds of information sessions.

What will be on the agenda that night? Outside of the brief quotation that explained "how they prep for games, what they watch for, and how they use live game-action, video, and data to evaluate players," I'm sure there will be talk about their careers, how they got into scouting, what they like and don't like about their jobs, and more. Honestly, this could be a week-long seminar with these five hockey minds, but the people of Seattle will have their brains flooded with information in one night on January 28.

When will this idea hit the streets of your local city? I can't answer that. I would hope sooner than later, but it seems my local team prefers to hide the business side of the game behind a curtain of mystery rather than informing its fans and helping those who have an interest in this sort of stuff understand how NHL teams scout players.

Maybe your team already does this? If they do, you should be attending these events, but I have my doubts that there any many, if any, teams who are willing to educate their fans like the Seattle NHL franchise seems intent on doing. Full marks to the Seattle team for this effort and future efforts to make their fans the most knowledgeable in the game. That's how you build a groundswell of support for your team.

I'm already a fan of this team, and I don't even know what to call it since it has no formal team name at this time. Regardless of that, count me in as a Seattle Sockeyes/Kraken/whatever-they-decide-to-call-it fan for pulling back the curtain and telling fans what they're looking for when it comes to building the 32nd NHL franchise.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!