By Sunil Agnihotri

Over the course of four years, Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz has gone from local hero to shady business man.  Why the change in perception? One can easily point to his demands for a new arena, funded by taxpayer dollars. Or to his subtle threats to move the team to Hamilton, Quebec City or Seattle. But in the case of Daryl Katz, there’s something deeper than these recent events that has changed his public image. And unfortunately for Katz, these changes are difficult to reverse.

Background

Daryl Katz is chairman and CEO of the Katz Group, which owns and operates over 1,800 drug stores in North America. As of March 2012, Forbes estimates Katz’ net worth to be $2 billion, ranking him 13^th in Canada, and 634^th in the world. Born and raised in Edmonton, Katz is the quintessential local-boy-who-did-good story. He attended the University…

By Sunil Agnihotri

Background

While NHL owners and the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) work towards a new collective bargaining agreement, a fan, Janne Makkonen of Finland, created and published a short video, entitled “Together We Can”, imploring hockey fans to work together to stop the impending lockout. The video serves as an excellent example of the participatory culture fan communities are immersed within, allowing creators such as this one to share their message to a massive audience. A collection of hockey highlights, mashed up with other cultural artifacts delivers the message that fans are significant to the game and the need to stop the lockout.

As of this writing, the video has received over 750,000 views on YouTube, with over 4,300 comments. The video has received press coverage and has been shared using various social media applications by fans as well as NHL players. Makkonen has even collected over…

By Sunil Agnihotri

Within any form of entertainment lies numerous narratives, designed to engage the audience. Television shows, books and films are all examples of entertainment that utilize plot development and characters to develop a storyline and convey some sort of message to the audience. Traditionally, storytelling came across a single medium, like a book, or an orator. But now the technology available has altered the way these narratives are distributed to audiences. For example, movies not only have their stories distributed across screens, but also across other platforms such as websites, video games and comic books. This is referred to as transmedia storytelling and can be described as:

“…..a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes it own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story.” (Jenkins…

By Sunil Agnihotri

Since we’re in the midst of the NHL off-season, there are plenty of rumours and gossip circulating, which is no surprise since one of the biggest by-products of professional sports is speculation. We don’t know what will happen next and watch games to find out. The off-season is never dull, especially in Canada, with the draft being held, followed by the start of free agency. Both events are surrounded by rumours of player movement and team strategy before the season starts in October. Add to the fact that the Collective Bargaining Agreement between league owners and players has expired, putting the 2012/2013 season at risk, and you have quite the speculative content available for consumption.

Jonathan Willis of the Edmonton Journal’s Cult of Hockey blog recently compiled a list of some very bogus hockey rumours an individual had tweeted. These included rumours regarding where players were going…

By Sunil Agnihotri

Before the NHL’s free agency kicked off, University of Wisconsin defencemen Justin Schultz was deciding on which NHL team he would start his professional career with. Originally a second round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2008, Schultz became an unrestricted free agent after his contract expired on June 24^th, 2012. Schultz and the Ducks were unable to finalize a deal to keep the highly regarded prospect with the organization creating a unique situation for the US college player.

Over the course of three years at Wisconsin, Schultz played 121 games, scoring 40 goals and 113 points (Hockey DB). Corey Pronman of Puck Prospectus provides a scouting report of Schultz:

If you want a defenseman who can control a power play, make great outlets, be creative with the puck, hit his passing targets through tight seams, and know when to join the rush…