The rise of the tweet has led to a more interesting training camp than one would find in typical years.
Rob Rossi, Dejan Kovacevic and Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (with a major tip of the hat to LetsGoPens.com’s Eric Majeski) have provided a constant stream of updates from the Consol Energy Center, doing everything from sharing the most banal of minutia, to providing rumor control directly from the source.
A prime example, yesterday, Evgeni Malkin, Twitter’s man of the hour (a total fish out of water and seriously welcome source of humor) tweeted that Sid had participated in a full-contact practice.
Mass hysteria ensued. People retweeted his post, friends were shooting me text messages. It was a great day to be a Penguins fan. Except, it didn’t happen, and Molinari made it known pretty quickly.
@MolinariPG: To clarify: There is no indication that what Crosby did today constitutes being cleared for contact. He still wore no-contact white helmet.
@MolinariPG: Crosby got bumped and jostled as much as anyone during today’s scrimmage, but it wasn’t close to game-caliber hitting.
A short while later, we learned that Malkin was just pulling a prank (“Just jokes I bump Sid in faceoff today…”), but it showed the power of the medium when used right.
With all of this in mind, I thought I’d provide an update on today’s camp, plucked solely from the Tweets of those men whom cover the Penguins on a daily basis.
First, in the “HA!” category…
@RobRossi_Trib: #Pens Orpik returning to practice, still a little stiff #morningskategags yfrog.com/khpanxej
And then, the real stuff. Like power play work..
@Dejan_Kovacevic: #Pens umbrella power play here now: Letang center point, Malkin and Sullivan outer points, Kennedy and Neal low.
…practicing draws…
@Dejan_Kovacevic: Lots of faceoff work for #Pens this morning. Not the set plays. Just the actual draws. http://yfrog.com/hsb9mhqj
…Sid’s status…
@Dejan_Kovacevic: Sid not with this group, obviously, as it’s morning skate for game tonight in Chicago.
…Malkin praise, which we should all be adept at at this point…
@Dejan_Kovacevic: One last thing before interview session: I’ve never seen Malkin move with such strength/energy. #Pens
…another Sid update…
@Dejan_Kovacevic: Sid heading out to ice now for practice, white helmet donned, smiling and joking with teammates. #Pens
…and tonight’s starting goaltender.
@Dejan_Kovacevic: Bylsma: Brent Johnson will play whole game tonight in Chicago. More of usual lines, special teams starting tonight. #Pens
It’s all short and precise. Brevity is the key, and only option. But, it also shows how the newspaper industry can keep up with the ever-changing landscape of online media, and use it to their advantage.
Providing constant updates and inside tidbits makes fans follow. Share a link with them every now-and-then that further expounds upon something tweeted earlier, and you’ll attract some solid hits to the paper’s website. It all supports each other.
Tonight’s game in Chicago is not televised. Unless you wouldn’t mind sitting by the radio to hear play-by-play (and to be honest, with Mike Lange on the call that’s never a bad option), Twitter may be your best source for up-to-the-minute information on the Penguins game as it happens against the Blackhawks.