Summary: Behind the Scenes Working at the NHL - Chris Wojcik NHL Director of Event Communication and Player Relations<br> Hi everybody I’m Brian Clapp Director of Content for WorkinSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast.<br> <br> When I first broke into the sports media, way back in 1996, I was 100% behind the scenes as a production assistant. But over time, my employer CNN/Sports Illustrated liked to throw me and some of the other behind the scenes types a bone, sending us out into the field on little press coverage projects.<a href="https://www.workinsports.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/eps16_cover-1.png"></a><br> <br> My first time in a pro locker room was after Michael Vick’s debut game in the NFL. The players didn’t really want to talk, they wanted to fulfil their media obligation and go home. This was my initial introduction to the sometimes awkward relationship between the media and athletes.<br> <br> Next was Ken Griffey Jr. Nice enough guy, but he never even looked at me and all of his answers were very short and almost drifting in space.<br> <br> At this point I had lost almost all the romanticism of being in the events… my sports heroes we’re just grumpy, which took the shine off of the experience.<br> <br> And then things changed. I had an assignment to gather some sound after the Atlanta Thrashers played the Detroit Red Wings …who at the time were the prohibitive Stanley Cup favs. I expected nothing.<br> <br> Boy was I wrong.<br> <br> Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman, Domink Hasek, Nick Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov, basically the team I crushed everyone in NHL 95 on my sega genesis during my college years all were warm, welcoming, open to questions, stuck around to chat. I felt like I could just hang with these guys and be a part of their world for a bit.<br> <br> So I was hooked – Hockey was my jam because I liked the people so much. And this wasn’t a one time event, everyone I talked to in the sports media was like – oh yeah I love doing hockey stories…the guys are just different.<br> <br> Which brings us to today’s sports industry expert interview – imagine for a second you are in change of player relations for the NHL? And not only that, you also run the communication for all the major events that happen throughout the year… The Winter Classic, All-Star games, International series games…. What a job!<br> <br> And as you’ve probably guessed, our guest this week is that guy. Chris Wojcik is the Director of Event Communication and Player Relations for the NHL, having previously worked in similar roles with the Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers.<br> <br> So give this one a listen – I know you’re going to enjoy it<br> Questions For Chris Wojcik, NHL Director of Event Communication and Player Realtions<br> 1: Let’s start off by just getting a deeper understanding of your role with the NHL – your title has two distinct parts – take us through the event communication side of your role what are your responsibilities there?<br> <br> 2: What about player relations – in the past you’ve worked for the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes so a role in player relations has a clear objective – acting as a conduit between your players and the media -- now that you are with the league, how has the role and your daily objectives changed?<br> <br> 3: Before you started working in media relations and team communication you had a background in broadcasting – how much has it helped your career working with the media, to have been on the other side for a while there?<br> <br> 4: In my experience in the sports media, hockey players are unlike any other athletes – they are more accessible, more excited to talk to you – I loved working on hockey stories. In your view why is that… is it a league or team objective to make players as accessible as possible… or are they just a good group of guys?<br> <br>
