Sportsnet Balance in Coverage

[Matty81]

Visited sportsnet.ca this morning to see this as the headline story:
"The Incredibly Overrated Kris Russell"
written, as you might have guessed, by one of their two resident Oilers writers (it's the basement blogger one, not Spector)

An assassination piece on our broadcaster's website, at a time when he has been mentioned as a potential piece in trade rumors for a player the Oilers want seems a little suspect to me at best and hack journalism at worst - not saying I think Russell will be traded for Hamonic or has anywhere near that value, to be clear.

I don't think this piece is going to impact how GMs see Russell, but after the dumpster fire that the Oilers have been the last couple of years seeing Sportsnet calling out Kris Russell with a headline article by an Oilers writer just really irritates me.

It made me wonder - should the flames have a writer doing Calgary stories once in a while on sportsnet (maybe they do and I've missed them?)?

They have an amazing play by play team but the website coverage and analysis of the team is terrible in my opinion. Outside of the PBP team, there is nobody with a flames perspective doing analysis between periods the way the Oilers have Debrusk and Canucks have Valk.

Anybody else care? Indifferent? Happy with the coverage our broadcaster provides outside of play by play?

[Ashasx]

I don't think Russell is very good but I just laughed when I saw that headline this morning. No beating around the bush anymore I guess.

[Racki]

It irked me too Matty. I can ignore Willis and his drivel on my Twitter feed but when you give him a column on a national website it's a little more difficult. Odd for Sportsnet to let such a known fanboy get this responsibility.

[Finger Cookin]

It seems over time that the Sportsnet articles themselves are not too bad. But the headlines seem to be written by someone other than the author of the article, and the headlines are often sensationalized in a click bait kind of way.

I tend to ignore most of Sportsnet's content unless a Flames game is on.

[BigFlameDog]

Headlines to generate hits.....the article is pretty accurate though. Russell is not a very good nhl defenceman.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Visited sportsnet.ca this morning to see this as the headline story:
"The Incredibly Overrated Kris Russell"
written, as you might have guessed, by one of their two resident Oilers writers (it's the basement blogger one, not Spector)

An assassination piece on our broadcaster's website, at a time when he has been mentioned as a potential piece in trade rumors for a player the Oilers want seems a little suspect to me at best and hack journalism at worst - not saying I think Russell will be traded for Hamonic or has anywhere near that value, to be clear.

I don't think this piece is going to impact how GMs see Russell, but after the dumpster fire that the Oilers have been the last couple of years seeing Sportsnet calling out Kris Russell with a headline article by an Oilers writer just really irritates me.

It made me wonder - should the flames have a writer doing Calgary stories once in a while on sportsnet (maybe they do and I've missed them?)?

They have an amazing play by play team but the website coverage and analysis of the team is terrible in my opinion. Outside of the PBP team, there is nobody with a flames perspective doing analysis between periods the way the Oilers have Debrusk and Canucks have Valk.

Anybody else care? Indifferent? Happy with the coverage our broadcaster provides outside of play by play?

This same article would be written the same way by anyone who looks at shot attempt stats as a good barometer for on ice evaluation. Most Flames bloggers agree and would have penned the same article

I get why fans of this team may get upset with the article, but it's a reasonable argument

[kmart]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Visited sportsnet.ca this morning to see this as the headline story:
"The Incredibly Overrated Kris Russell"
written, as you might have guessed, by one of their two resident Oilers writers (it's the basement blogger one, not Spector)

An assassination piece on our broadcaster's website, at a time when he has been mentioned as a potential piece in trade rumors for a player the Oilers want seems a little suspect to me at best and hack journalism at worst - not saying I think Russell will be traded for Hamonic or has anywhere near that value, to be clear.

I don't think this piece is going to impact how GMs see Russell, but after the dumpster fire that the Oilers have been the last couple of years seeing Sportsnet calling out Kris Russell with a headline article by an Oilers writer just really irritates me.

It made me wonder - should the flames have a writer doing Calgary stories once in a while on sportsnet (maybe they do and I've missed them?)?

They have an amazing play by play team but the website coverage and analysis of the team is terrible in my opinion. Outside of the PBP team, there is nobody with a flames perspective doing analysis between periods the way the Oilers have Debrusk and Canucks have Valk.

Anybody else care? Indifferent? Happy with the coverage our broadcaster provides outside of play by play?

Put me in the indifferent category. A lot of sportsnet writers aren't great to begin with. I also feel like every article these days analyzing players always uses Corsi or Fenwick. Yawn. I just wonder if Corsi or Fenwick is the easy way out for a writer that doesn't watch the games. If you read the article you have to wonder if this Willis guy even watches Flames games.

What I'd like to see is some video analysis done on a players or teams strength/weaknesses. The smaller details that impact a game that a GM would notice, but go unnoticed by normal hockey fans.

[heep223]

It's just an obvious click bait headline. Doesn't really bother me if the article is based in fact.

[adc]

The article is bang on and the title is fitting. Even if it wasn't who cares? Why do people get so worked up if a media member doesn't like their favorite team.

Maybe it is because I spend most of my time here but it seems like many (not all) on this site are especially whiny if media members aren't gushing all over the Flames.

I find Hughson's gushing over the Canucks annoying but that is true whether they are facing the Flames, Oilers, Leafs etc. Other than that media members, PBP guys can talk about the other team all they want I don't need their approval of the Flames or their players.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

This same article would be written the same way by anyone who looks at shot attempt stats as a good barometer for on ice evaluation. Most Flames bloggers agree and would have penned the same article

I get why fans of this team may get upset with the article, but it's a reasonable argument

Yeah I get that Russell isn't very good based on analysis of these metrics and deserves critique, but there are quite a few players around the league who are worse (cough, Andrew Ference) - so why single out Russell, especially a guy who doesn't even cover our team?

This year for example, among western canadian teams, high profile players like Griffin Reinhart, Justin Schultz and Bo Horvat, all have worse fenwick ratings.

I guess what I take issue with is having an Oiler's writer given a national platform by the team's broadcast partner to do it.

[IgiTang]

Is he not the NHL leader in shot blocks still? Does that not count for something anymore?
Add to that, the entire team has been terrible Defensively until late.
Also, being paired with Wideman early on who was an absolute mess would add to Russell's problems Defensively.

Lately, he's been much better, still wears his heart on his sleeve. He's farm boy strong and doesn't get pushed around. Still skates like the wind and is making some solid plays offensively. I have no doubt he finds his offensive touch from last year.

Speaking of last year, and every year we have had Russell, he's been a gem. Wideman and Russell were our top pair last year when Gio went down. That wasn't a fluke.

I'm not saying he's the guy we keep as our Nik Hjalmarsson (dependable 3rd dman or 4 th dman) and we keep him. But to think or say that he isn't even an NHL defender is just wrong.

The entire team has been poor and now turning it around the last few games. To think Russell won't follow suit with the team really frustrates me.

Russell has a ton of value, perhaps not in a trade but in terms of what he can still bring night in and night out. I have no doubt he finds his game again with everyone else.

Edit: Sportsnet makes me sick. The talking heads are always gushing over the opponent during Flames games. The second the Flames are in a playoff position, the "its not sustainable" talk begins.
Just seems the Flames are Sportsnets whipping boy night in and night out.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Yeah I get that Russell isn't very good based on analysis of these metrics and deserves critique, but there are quite a few players around the league who are worse (cough, Andrew Ference) - so why single out Russell, especially a guy who doesn't even cover our team?

Willis has covered many teams since joining national networks, and Ference is not overrated. Nobody thinks he's good, so he doesn't fit the definition of overrated

[adc]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

Is he not the NHL leader in shot blocks still? Does that not count for something anymore?

Not really, at least not as a stand alone stat.

If you give the puck away 100 times a game and rack up big shot blocking totals that is not an impressive feat.

Likewise if you take the puck away from the other team and keep it from them so you have a very low shot block totals it isn't a bad thing.

Unfortunately for Russell his high shot blocking totals come from the first example and are at worst as much of a negative as a positive and likely more of a sign of how much issues he has in his own end that he is forced to block so many shots rather than controlling the puck.

[Resolute 14]

When Rogers Sportsnet is giving idiots like Jonathan Willis and Thomas Drance time and space, they sacrifice all right to be called professional.

[N-E-B]

I don't have a problem with the article, as long as there's equal crap about all the Oilers overrated trash I don't care.

I never read Sportsnet articles though so I have no real opinion on if they're biased or not.

[GranteedEV]

Russell is a solid #4-#5 NHL defenseman with clear limitations in his game. I'm perfectly happy with his role on the Flames as long as he isn't overpaid. His cap hit right now is fair for his contribution.

[adc]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

I don't have a problem with the article, as long as there's equal crap about all the Oilers overrated trash I don't care.

I never read Sportsnet articles though so I have no real opinion on if they're biased or not.

Why does there have to be an equal amount?

Sportsnet is in the business of getting readers to their site they have no obligation to provide an equal number of articles to each team.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by adc

Why does there have to be an equal amount?

Sportsnet is in the business of getting readers to their site they have no obligation to provide an equal number of articles to each team.

Pretty sure you know he wasn't saying the number of articles have to be equal. It's about balanced coverage overall

Tough not to slip into old habits isn't it?

[adc]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Pretty sure you know he wasn't saying the number of articles have to be equal. It's about balanced coverage overall

Tough not to slip into old habits isn't it?

I meant balanced coverall not just straight number of articles.

Why does Sportsnet have to have an equal amount of coverage for every team? They are a private business that wants to maxmize revenues that should be their goal not making sure every fanbase has a lollipop at the end of the day.

Not sure about the last line there but it seems to be a garbage comment that would get non-mods in trouble.

[HotHotHeat]

If we're going to focus on how terrible Sportsnet (still) is, we should start with their HD cameras, not their website. Who goes to Sportsnet's website, anyways?

Every time I flip on a hockey game now I have to double check it's the HD version of the channel... How is it possible that HD has gotten worse in the past ten years?