Normally I don’t email the podcast episodes out anymore, but I did this time for two reasons. First off, I think you’ll really enjoy the conversation I had with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, which was wide-ranging and honest in our 10th episode of Talking Hockey Sense.
Secondly, I wanted to let all of the Hockey Sense readers know that my next podcast episode is going to include a reader Q&A. Subscribers at any level, including free, can submit questions to hockeysensewithcp@gmail.com or you can leave your questions in the comments on this post by Monday, May 24 to be included. If you don’t listen to the podcast, that’s no big deal. I will also be answering those questions in print right here as part of my very first reader mailbag.
My intent is to answer every question I receive from subscribers, so if there is any burning question you have about the NHL Draft, a particular prospect, an NHL team farm system, college hockey, the men’s world championship, women’s world championship, USA Hockey, betting advice, fantasy hockey advice, drop me a line at hockeysensewithcp@gmail.com or in the comment section on the website and I will answer both on the pod and in the mailbag right here on Hockey Sense.
And if you haven’t yet taken the jump to a paid subscription, now is a great time with draft rankings already up. I’ll also be providing a draft ranking update after the men’s world championship. I also plan to put together mock drafts before and after the draft lottery is held, plus a whole bunch more draft related content. There’s a lot more coming your way, so click below and upgrade today.
Alright, back to this week’s podcast…
I couldn’t have been happier to bring in another one of my former ESPN colleagues to break down the Stanley Cup Playoffs and a whole bunch more. Emily Kaplan, the national NHL reporter for ESPN, stopped by to talk about the early goings of the postseason, some of the storylines of note and what we’ve enjoyed most about the playoffs so far.
We had a wide-ranging, honest conversation about many topics including mental health and the strain placed on NHL players in this difficult season. Emily and I also talked about our own mental health journeys, with Emily also explaining how that has informed her coverage of such topics.
Emily has also taken on bringing more coverage of women’s hockey to a national platform and we talked about the difficulties placed on women’s hockey by the pandemic and what the path forward may look like for a professional league.
I also wanted to dig into Emily’s meteoric rise in the media business and how she went from student journalist at Penn State to being hired by Sports Illustrated straight out of college. We also chatted about her transition to covering hockey at ESPN and going from print journalist to budding TV star. You can find Emily on ESPN shows like Around the Horn, SportsCenter and Outside the Lines, among others. She talks about making that leap to TV and the thick skin it requires to be a talking head on big platforms like that.
After the interview, I also covered a few players of note NHL Draft fans should be watching at the upcoming Men’s World Championship including Jason Robertson, the Dallas Stars’ breakout rookie this season, who will be playing for Team USA for the first time at the senior level.
Specifically, I referenced this tweet:
I went into a little further detail about the mistake I made in my previous evaluations of Robertson that led me to being caught off-guard by how impactful he was as a rookie this season and the lessons learned from focusing in too much on one specific trait. It’s always important to review your processes and I thought I’d give you a little insight into my own re-evaluation of where I fumbled on a prospect that has simply produced at every single level he has ever been at. Sometimes the counting stats really do tell the story about a player.
Find Talking Hockey Sense on these apps:
Apple Podcasts Spotify Audible Stitcher Google Podcasts
Don’t forget to subscribe to Talking Hockey Sense on your podcast app of choice and if you can, leave a rating and a review to help the pod move up the charts and keep that audience growing. And the best way to support the podcast, if you’re a fan, is with a paid subscription to Hockey Sense on Substack. To all that have supported already, I cannot thank you enough and will keep working every day to create content you enjoy.
Talking Hockey Sense Episode 10: Emily Kaplan + Call for reader questions