Behind the Blog: Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog
After a long break, BtJ’s Behind the Blog feature is back up and running. To start us up again, Mike Chen of Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog answered 10 questions about his blog, his favorite team (the San Jose Sharks), and the NHL. Next Monday, PB of One Fan’s Perspective will be in the spotlight. If you would be interested in participating in a BtB interview, please send me an email!
Q.1 - According to your archives, you started Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog in September 2005. Why did you start a hockey blog?
Honestly, it was originally just a normal blog back in June or so of 2005. The idea was to get blog posts for search engine optimization for my copywriting business. Problem was, I had no idea what to write about and I got bored REALLY fast. I posted a few things about the impending lockout and people, for whatever reason, actually found them and read them. In September, I deleted the non-hockey stuff and rebranded it as a hockey blog. So the whole thing about the blog helping out my business went out the door really fast but I’ve had fun becoming part of this very cool hockey blogging community. Plus I now make a little money off advertising. That blows my mind.
Q.2 - You recently started blogging for Fox Sports and Battle of California as well. How did these opportunities come about?
The Fox gig came about because Lyle “Spector” Richardson recommended me and a few other bloggers to his editor at FoxSports.com, and for that, I’m super-mega-ultra grateful. I’m hoping the exposure will lead to bigger and better things. BoC came about because the illustrious James Mirtle started it last playoffs to go with the Battle of Alberta site. He needed bloggers for all of the California teams; PJ from SharksPage and I signed up for the Sharks, and Mirtle dug up the awesome Earl “That’s Not My Real Name” Sleek for the Ducks. They’re actually auditioning Kings bloggers right now if anyone is interested.
Q.3 - When did you become a San Jose Sharks fan and what made you do so?
I grew up a Chicago Blackhawks fan living in the Bay Area because the Hawks team of Roenick, Chelios, Larmer, Graham, Goulet, Belfour was ALWAYS on SportsChannel. They were awesome to watch for an impressionable middle-school kid — they ran over people, beat them up, and scored at will. Then the Sharks came into existence and they were my #2 team. In the late 90’s, Evil Bill Wirtz screwed over Hawks fans everywhere by getting rid of all that talent and destroying a Cup contender. When they got rid of Tony Amonte while he was still putting up 30-40 goal seasons, that was the last straw and I renounced my Hawks fandom. The Sharks went from #2 to #1. My dad, however, is still stupidly loyal and the Hawks and Sharks are still his #1-#2. When they play each other, though, he generally cheers for the Sharks because they need the points for the playoff race and the Hawks are always in the basement.
Q.4 - What do you hope to achieve with your blog over the next few years?
It’s really hard to ask for anything more other than more readers. I’ve met (via email) some really cool bloggers and hockey fans, I’ve become part of this great community we have, and I write for a mainstream website now. I think in the future, I’d like to try and get a press pass for some Sharks games. I’d like to write a book about the Sharks history some day, and I think the blog and FoxSports will definitely help with that. So if there are any publishing agents out there who’d like to help me out, please contact me!
Q.5 - Who is your favorite hockey player (either current or retired player)? Why?
Growing up, it was Jeremy Roenick and Wayne Gretzky for two different reasons. JR was awesome in his prime because he did it all and he always said stupid but funny things in the media. I loved watching how Wayne played because he was so cerebral with his game; he always pulled these insane passes out of nowhere and made it look easy.
Today, my favorite players are Patrick Marleau and Peter Forsberg. Marleau’s a homer pick, but it’s pretty special watching a gawky teenager transform into your team’s captain and one of their top players. I’ve always loved how fearless Forsberg is; even though that’s led to his injured body, when he’s healthy he’s still a beast out there. Right now, I have to say that I watch Pens games almost exclusively to see what Sidney Crosby will do. If I had to pick him or Ovechkin, I’d go with Crosby.
I should note that Ben Clymer is also one of my favorite players just because a bunch of my friends and I all have our random crappy players that we like (this spawned the Crappy Player Pick ‘Em on my site). I’m actually going to send Ben Clymer an invitation to my wedding. I figure JR and Forsberg get a lot of fan mail and probably don’t read most of it but a fourth liner like Clymer might actually read something he gets!
Q.6 - Obviously things may change by the time you answer this question and the trade deadline, but which two teams to do you foresee making the Stanley Cup finals?
Right now, Nashville’s depth is frightening, but I think Anaheim will come out of the west (I can hear Earl Sleek laughing from here). I think the Sharks will peak next season when their defense matures a little bit but I just don’t see them having enough to get past Anaheim. Every time I see the Ducks play, their defense just controls the whole game. It’s really not fair.
The easy pick out of the East is Buffalo, but it’s kinda boring to say Anaheim and Buffalo so I’m going to go with a slightly insane sleeper pick and say Tampa Bay just because of the way they’ve been rolling over opponents since 2007 began. It’s eerily similar to the year when they won the Cup. The only issue is whether or not Holmqvist will fall apart.
Q.7 - The debate about fighting in the NHL has gone on over the past year and the Sabres-Senators brawl has only hightened this debate. Where do you stand on this issue?
The Sabres-Sens brawl almost seemed like a circus act to me. Something about it seemed a little different from the vitriol of the old Avs/Red Wings brawls. I’m all for standing up for your teammates but I don’t like it when it ventures into WWE territory. The last Sharks/Ducks games had Scott Parker and George Parros basically scheduling a date to go at it. That kind of stuff seems very staged to me and I’m not a fan of that. There was a game a few weeks ago where Patrick Marleau fought someone, and it was out of pure emotion and leadership. That’s the kind of thing I like to see. When two squads dress their goons and they have their requisite fight, that just seems very stupid and phony.
That being said, I do like the move to free up the instigator suspension because I think it should be clear — if you mess with Sidney Crosby/Alex Ovechkin/Joe Thornton/etc., our goon will beat you down. It establishes a necessary level of fear to protect the skill player while not letting it be a free-for-all total brawl.
Q.8 - If you could change one thing about the NHL to increase its marketability in the US, what would you do and why?
ESPN. I think the ideal thing to do is keep Versus programmed like the pseudo-NHL network with a lot of hockey, then make a side deal with ESPN for at least one game per week. The important thing is that ESPN will not allow advertisers for competitors, which it sees in the NHL/Versus deal. The NHL’s great new ad campaign is being missed by millions of viewers because they can’t get on ESPN. If they could get SOME exposure on ESPN, then they could make their in-roads by advertising during Monday Night Football, etc. ESPN’s done it before with the NBA’s dual deal with ESPN/TNT, so I don’t see why the NHL wouldn’t want to attempt this.
Q.9 - Which team has surprised you the most this season (whether a good or bad surprise)?
Columbus. I thought they were an 7th/8th team with reasonable depth at forward. To see them implode, mostly because Rick Nash and Nik Zherdev have had awful seasons, was a bit of a surprise.
Q.10 - Is there any hockey blog or website that you look to for inspiration?
Every blogger who answers this question winds up giving a “most hockey bloggers are great” answer and I have to do the same. Whether they’re team focused or general, every one of the successful hockey blogs has its own unique tone that makes it special. I think that any blog that has sustained itself for more than a few months and posts regularly is pretty much worth reading. So I’m not going to play favorites here because I really do read a bunch of them and I respect the hell out of every one, whether they’re funny, informative, or analytical. My only standard is that I need to read something that is written well. The blogger doesn’t have to be an English major or a journalist; I just need a basic sense of grammar in anything I read.
I do think that Paul Kukla, James Mirtle, and Lyle “Spector” Richardson should be acknowledged for their dedication and quality work. They’ve done so much to establish hockey blogging as an accepted form of information and entertainment, and they should be applauded for that.
Any additional comments?
To Doug Wilson: Please trade for some defense. Please.
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February 26th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
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February 26th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
[…] In the meantime, Christy asked me 10 questions in case you ever wanted to know more about me. […]