(Newark, NJ) We got the royal treatment for this very, very optional New Jersey Devils practice.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
The interview excerpts you read in today’s articles were collected through one-on-one interviews with Dawson Mercer and Ryan Graves. Individual for the simple and good reason that The Press was the only media present at the Prudential Center on Wednesday.
As for Lindy Ruff’s press briefing, it took place at three, the other two people being Devils employees. Among them was Quebecer Amanda Stein, a friendly and tireless former colleague of TSN Radio in Montreal who has been working for the Devils for a few years.
There was a time when colleagues Rich Chere and Tom Gulitti were to Devils training what Joe Tête-de-Pierre was to the bowling alley of Saint-Granit: they were part of the furniture.
Chere wrote for the Star Ledger, but he retired. Gulitti was an employee of the North Jersey Record, and was hired by the NHL website. He is now based in Washington.
They were briefly replaced, but these two outlets dropped coverage of the Devils. The latest article from Star Ledger about the Devils refers to attempts by team owners to buy Chelsea Soccer Club and is dated 12 days ago; no mention of newsworthy news like the injury of Jack Hughes, the Devils’ best player…
As to Recordthe section on the Devils is a bit more extensive and the journalist assigned to the coverage of the team, Robert Aitken Jr., publishes regular tweets about the games.
The Athletic site has a journalist assigned to cover the team, but very, very part-time. There is also a scribe from NHL.com.
We are assured that the games attract more local reporters and that there will be a larger contingent this Thursday, for the Canadian-Devils duel. But the good side, on this training day, is that we were treated to a most relaxed atmosphere, with a Ruff who had plenty of time to answer our questions. Not to mention Mercer and Graves, who didn’t seem bothered by the idea of granting an interview.
That said, there is certainly some consideration to be given to the resources available to local media in certain US markets. Far from New York, Boston and Chicago, the realities are variable.