Phil Kessel

[bustaheims]

Any player that the media wants to talk to? I believe specific players aren't required... just a spokesperson or two.  Kessel never speaks to the media so why does he suddenly have to now?

I'd rather have all players focused on being as ready as possible and Kessel suddenly required to do media events is not in his normal routine.  There are 10 guys on that team who will talk - let the media talk to them.

I'm pretty sure it's all players and coaches, for that matter. It's more that there are really only a handful that the media really wants to talk to. Kessel rarely speaks to the media because media knows he very rarely has anything interesting to say. In this case, there's a storyline that he's directly connected to, so . . .

 

[Kin]

Any player that the media wants to talk to? I believe specific players aren't required... just a spokesperson or two.  Kessel never speaks to the media so why does he suddenly have to now?

This is apparently the policy on games in the Media Access Policy:

No later than five (5) minutes following the conclusion of the game, all players must be physically present and available for media interviews in the main dressing room for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 45 minutes.?

I assume the rationale behind it being everyone and not just the Captain or whoever is that if someone, like say a Matt Cooke, commits a penalty that everyone's talking about during a game that he has to face the media and can't just hide behind someone else giving a "no comment".

 

[Corn Flake]

Any player that the media wants to talk to? I believe specific players aren't required... just a spokesperson or two.  Kessel never speaks to the media so why does he suddenly have to now?

I'd rather have all players focused on being as ready as possible and Kessel suddenly required to do media events is not in his normal routine.  There are 10 guys on that team who will talk - let the media talk to them.

I'm pretty sure it's all players and coaches, for that matter. It's more that there are really only a handful that the media really wants to talk to. Kessel rarely speaks to the media because media knows he very rarely has anything interesting to say. In this case, there's a storyline that he's directly connected to, so . . .

Is this a playoff specific thing or all the time?  Obviously only a handful of players ever talk to the media on any kind of regular basis. We almost never hear from Kessel, Kulemin or Orr, McLaren, etc.. some guys we see all the time like Reimer, Phaneuf, Lupul. 

So there is no absolute requirement (as in fined if they don't) but a general assumption they will be available.

I just don't get why the sudden shock from the media that Kessel wouldn't talk. He hardly ever does so why expect it to change?

 

[Deebo]

This is apparently the policy on games in the Media Access Policy:

No later than five (5) minutes following the conclusion of the game, all players must be physically present and available for media interviews in the main dressing room for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 45 minutes.?

I assume the rationale behind it being everyone and not just the Captain or whoever is that if someone, like say a Matt Cooke, commits a penalty that everyone's talking about during a game that he has to face the media and can't just hide behind someone else giving a "no comment".

Was there anything about non-game day practices where you read that?

 

[Zee]

Any player that the media wants to talk to? I believe specific players aren't required... just a spokesperson or two.  Kessel never speaks to the media so why does he suddenly have to now?

I'd rather have all players focused on being as ready as possible and Kessel suddenly required to do media events is not in his normal routine.  There are 10 guys on that team who will talk - let the media talk to them.

I'm pretty sure it's all players and coaches, for that matter. It's more that there are really only a handful that the media really wants to talk to. Kessel rarely speaks to the media because media knows he very rarely has anything interesting to say. In this case, there's a storyline that he's directly connected to, so . . .

Is this a playoff specific thing or all the time?  Obviously only a handful of players ever talk to the media on any kind of regular basis. We almost never hear from Kessel, Kulemin or Orr, McLaren, etc.. some guys we see all the time like Reimer, Phaneuf, Lupul. 

So there is no absolute requirement (as in fined if they don't) but a general assumption they will be available.

I just don't get why the sudden shock from the media that Kessel wouldn't talk. He hardly ever does so why expect it to change?

That's almost exactly what Kessel said today.  Something along the lines of "you guys barely talked to me all season why was it so important to talk to me yesterday?"

 

[bustaheims]

Is this a playoff specific thing or all the time?  Obviously only a handful of players ever talk to the media on any kind of regular basis. We almost never hear from Kessel, Kulemin or Orr, McLaren, etc.. some guys we see all the time like Reimer, Phaneuf, Lupul. 

So there is no absolute requirement (as in fined if they don't) but a general assumption they will be available.

I just don't get why the sudden shock from the media that Kessel wouldn't talk. He hardly ever does so why expect it to change?

It may be heightened for the playoffs, but it's a full season thing. They're all supposed to be available after every game and other team events.

 

[Kin]

Was there anything about non-game day practices where you read that?

Unfortunately no. I don't think the Media Access policy is public.

 

[bustaheims]

This article is a little out of date (it's from before the 2000/2001 season), but it details what the policy was then, and coming out of the 2005 lockout, the league vowed to make players and team personnel even more available, so, I imagine the current guidelines give the media even more access.

http://archive.apsportseditors.org/oct2000/16bradley.html

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

This article is a little out of date (it's from before the 2000/2001 season), but it details what the policy was then, and coming out of the 2005 lockout, the league vowed to make players and team personnel even more available, so, I imagine the current guidelines give the media even more access.

http://archive.apsportseditors.org/oct2000/16bradley.html

Here's some stuff Spector wrote on it earlier this month: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/spector-on-nhl-player-media-relationship-a-tricky-one/

Doesn't mention practice days though.

 

[Corn Flake]

This is apparently the policy on games in the Media Access Policy:

No later than five (5) minutes following the conclusion of the game, all players must be physically present and available for media interviews in the main dressing room for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 45 minutes.?

I assume the rationale behind it being everyone and not just the Captain or whoever is that if someone, like say a Matt Cooke, commits a penalty that everyone's talking about during a game that he has to face the media and can't just hide behind someone else giving a "no comment".

Alright... but the reality is we know that this is hardly ever - if ever - the case.  Media have pointed out many times how many of the Leafs players hide out in a back room and usually 3-4 players are available.  Seems to be typical for most teams on most post games. 

 

[bustaheims]

Here's some stuff Spector wrote on it earlier this month: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/spector-on-nhl-player-media-relationship-a-tricky-one/

Doesn't mention practice days though.

Yeah, I saw that. The article I linked stated this:

? All areas of NHL locker rooms - except the medical areas - will be open to all media.

? Players must be available to the media 10 minutes after every practice and 10 minutes after every game.

? Locker rooms will remain open for 30 minutes after each game, with teams working with reporters who need access for extended periods

I imagine the part about practices is still included in some form in the current policy.

 

[Kin]

Alright... but the reality is we know that this is hardly ever - if ever - the case.  Media have pointed out many times how many of the Leafs players hide out in a back room and usually 3-4 players are available.  Seems to be typical for most teams on most post games.

And I assume that most days nobody really cares about it because typically the players who will be available will be the players they want to talk to and, being as that most of them will be writing on deadlines for the next day or sooner, they're writing specifically about that game.

What I suspect happened here is that someone wanted to write something along the whole "Boston vs. Kessel" narrative, wanted to talk to Kessel and was told that he skipped out.

 

[Corn Flake]

What I suspect happened here is that someone wanted to write something along the whole "Boston vs. Kessel" narrative, wanted to talk to Kessel and was told that he skipped out.

Oh for sure and he knows it's going to be the story going in.  A quiet guy normally isn't exactly going to jump in and open up.  Of course avoiding the media yesterday created the poop storm we are seeing now.

He interviewed today and that was indeed a topic.  Rosie Dimanno asked him some baited questions and he shot back some pretty awesome answers: http://mapleleafshotstove.com/video/kessel-interviews/

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

In situations like this, I miss Burke a little.

He'd have told these reporters the 101 ways in which they could go forth and multiply.

This situation was blown way out of proportion, but Burke was pretty good at shifting the media's ire from our stars to himself.

 

[Rick C.]

In situations like this, I miss Burke a little.

He'd have told these reporters the 101 ways in which they could go forth and multiply.

This situation was blown way out of proportion, but Burke was pretty good at shifting the media's ire from our stars to himself.

Quinn was just as good as Burke.

 

[Kin]

I doubt it. Say what you will about Burke he was a pretty good soldier for the NHL's side during the lockout negotiations. I'm guessing he'd be no more lax about the league's media policy than Nonis.

 

[Derk]

Once the post lengths got beyond a certain size, I gave up reading. I must admit there were some gems hidden in between the verbosity (I'm looking at you WIGWAL - thanks for the chortle).

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Ummmmm, obviously the player doesn't make the decisions himself in regards to practices.Like I said, if the coaches/management felt it was effecting his play/attitude etc;

Well, A) you said that in regard to the media availability and B) you said "if he, being the star of the team, deems it effects his play". What I did then was take your position on media availability and, to heighten the absurdity of it, posit if the same policy were in place regarding practices.

I, as you see, have no problem typing it all out for you.

It is not absurd for a player to be opted out of practices. It happens all the time. It use to happen with Kovalchuk as they felt he played his best when he had more rest, plus he played a boatload of minutes per game.

It's also not absurd for a team and a player to come to an agreement that said player does not want to speak with the media despite what you and the media may think of it. Like I said...if he, or any other significant part of your team feels that it's effecting their play, I don't see the harm in not meeting with the media...Like I said, if it helps your player play better, you should be happy to pay the fine.

I don't personally have an issue with players being made available. I also don't have an issue if they're sick of the idiotic questions and want to skip a day.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

And I as a fan, don't feel that a single guy out there owes me anything, nor do they owe it to the media to feed into their tabloid style of writing.

 

[sleepyone]

And I as a fan, don't feel that a single guy out there owes me anything, nor do they owe it to the media to feed into their tabloid style of writing.

opinions vary where at times I think the media feels responsible in providing us a channel to "connect" with players on their respective teams


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk