About BTJ
I consistently started blogging on Behind the Jersey in the late months of 2004 during the lockout. I started BTJ as a place to write features about Red Wings players going behind the jersey and looking at more than just stats and awards. Soon thereafter, I wrote posts about NHL and Wings news including rants about the lockout. At that time, there was just a couple other Red Wings websites and I felt that there was a place for me to voice my opinion on the matter.
Today, BTJ still focuses on the Red Wings, but also discusses some of the bigger NHL stories. As a sport management major, I find the business stories to be particularly interesting so the league-wide news pieces tend to have something to do with business decisions. I also post about the other three Detroit sports teams and my University of Michigan hockey and football teams, but the primary focus of this blog is the Detroit Red Wings. BTJ posts include news, game recaps, and features such as Behind the Blog, interviews, and Behind the Jersey.
Visitors come from all over the world including the US, Slovakia, Brazil, Poland, Canada, Switzerland, France, Jordan, Croatia, Netherlands, Ireland, Hungary, Taiwan, Sweden, Argentina, Greece, Czech Republic, Russia, Denmark, South Korea, India, Finland, Belgium, Japan, Australia, China, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Finland, Norway, Philippines, and the UK.
Here’s what people are saying about BtJ…
John Niyo of The Detroit News:
“I’ve had your site bookmarked for a long time — keep up the good work!”
Derrick Luck of Lucky Sports Management:
“I just wanted to say you did a great job!! I have known Steve Yzerman for 12 years and have represented his Memorabilia exclusively for 10 of those years. I know you have to be a fan to write like that and the pictures are wonderful.”
Eric Adelson, senior writer for ESPN the Magazine:
“I’m so impressed with what you’re doing. Your blog is great.”
One of “the top NHL bloggers.” - Deadspin.com
Paul @ Kukla’s Korner:
“Christy is one busy blogger; not sure how she finds the time to do all that she does. In my opinion, Christy has a great future ahead of her…Christy does great work and is an avid Red Wing fan.”
IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman:
“All I could think about was how bad Christy at Behind the Jersey was going to kick my ass on this one. Oh, and she did. No one covers Yzerman like Christy. And you just knew she’d pull out all the stops on this one. Premium seats at the Joe. Video coverage. Minute-by-minute description of events. Don Cherry chance meetings. Still coverage. It’s almost unfair, and I’m more than a little bitter today.” … “There is probably no more passionate Wing fan on the net than Christy Hammond. Yzerman expert and UM student, bionic knees and a great writer.”
Matt @ Battle of Alberta:
“Call me a snooty MCP, but I would never have expected a hockey blog written by a 19-year-old girl to be readable, let alone interesting. More impressively, Christy’s blog is probably the best one out there for appreciating the Game of NHL Hockey as a whole. It doesn’t hurt that her home team has a lot of excellent and interesting veterans, but I frequently find myself reacting to her posts with, “Yep - hockey kicks ass.” Her regular “Behind The Blog” feature is original and inspired.”
Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun:
“Thank you for the link to your website. Great photos and a nice wrap up on the ceremony. As you know, I’ve followed Steve’s career closely and have always admired him as a professional. During the lockout I had the chance to go down and see him in Detroit, spend time with him and did an indepth feature on him.”
PB @ One Fan’s Perspective:
“In my mind, you are the best female hockey blogger/writer that is out there, not that the gender should make any difference whatsoever - your writing is very good and that is all that matters to me…There was no way that I would even write about Yzerman in any blog preview, post, article, column, knowing that you would do the honors, and extremely well. There are very few players that embody the true nature of the game like Steve Yzerman, and you captured everything incredibly well.”
Ansar Khan of MLive.com and Booth Newspapers:
“Good recap of the Yzerman ceremony.”
Natalie @ Need4Sheed:
“Great roundup, I loved it. As always you do great work.”
“Your blog is an absolute treat. As a Habs fan used to seeing things done in a classy manner, I’ve gotten the next to nearest of front row seats to Yzerman night via this site. The class of the Red Wings organization couldn’t hope for a better outlet to be seen from than Behind The Jersey. Your dedication to your blog is both inspiring and intimidating - hopefully the heart of it gets cloned across the NHL.”
“Christy, the mad profiler of hockey bloggers…Your new blog looks phenomenal.”
Behind the Jersey is your source for all of your Red Wing-y needs. Brilliantly written, they’ve also managed to remain surprisingly humble considering the Wings record. I like that. Maybe I should try that for a little while.
BTJ reader Duponceau:
“Even though you may not realize it, you could have a fabulous career in journalism. You write well and are very articulate, you have a unique voice all of your own, you are conscience & have strong ethical standards, and you understand the importance of a deadline. You are passionate about your subject, you have a strong grasp of the subject of the NHL, and you have a thorough understanding of the Detroit Red Wings. Finally, your BTJ site (and the blog it grew out of) is better than most professional websites.”
Michael @ Confessions of a Hockey Fan
“Behind the Jersey is a well-done hockey blog that is dedicated to the Detroit Red Wings. The writing is top notch.”
Chris @ ZetterbergFan.com:
“You are a talented writer, who articulates your thoughts and opinions very well. I could read your stuff all day. Christy, if your other career aspirations don’t work out (I have no doubt they will) then you could have a solid future in journalism/writing. Don’t stop writing!”
Wow, just wow, there ain’t no better Red Wings blog out there.
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This page is here to highlight articles/blog posts by mass media publications that featured or linked to Behind the Jersey.
The most recent mention came from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s hockey blog called Empty Netters on April 4, 2007 when they linked to BTJ’s post about the availability of Red Wings’ playoff tickets.
On February 21, 2007, the Detroit Free Press decided to add a new online column to highlight blogs and BTJ was mentioned as the Detroit Red Wings blog in the first column.
USA Today’s sports blog called Sports Scope linked to Behind the Jersey on January 30, 2007. The link to BTJ is with the text “resounding echo.”
On January 25, 2007, Sports Business Daily’s Blog Hound referred to BTJ’s opinion on the NHL schedule staying put for another season.
During the NHL lockout, I collected statements from all the teams from their websites about how sorry they were that the season had to be cancelled and The Daily Fix, a sports blog for the Wall Street Journal linked to that post on March 7, 2005.