Over the holidays we’ll be re-visiting staff writers’ favourite pieces from 2015. Today: Chris Johnston explains how the thrill of breaking the Eddie Lack trade is why he became a hockey writer in the first place.
They amounted to 127 words punched into my iPhone on an early-morning bus ride from Ft. Lauderdale to Sunrise during the NHL’s draft weekend.
They were arranged in the easy-to-understand inverted pyramid style taught in journalism schools all over the world, and were arguably among the most utilitarian to appear under my byline in 2015.
However, on the morning of June 27 they held appeal because they combined the magical journalistic elements of breaking news and exclusivity.
That’s why those 127 words on Eddie Lack being dealt from Vancouver to Carolina comprised one of my top-read stories of the year. And ultimately my favourite.
While I wrote better pieces and broke more significant news, the Lack story is a tangible reminder of the power of information. It was about a backup goalie (albeit, an extremely popular one) that everyone expected to be traded and appeared in the black hole of the news cycle before 9 a.m. on a Saturday and still moved the needle.
Pretty cool.
Breaking news is increasingly difficult in a shifting media landscape where reporters now compete with teams, agents and even the players themselves to share information. Getting the news out first in a story, rather than on Twitter, is damned near impossible.
Yet, for me it remains the goal.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of the chase, especially at an event like the NHL Draft where the entire hockey world descends on one place.
When I first told my mom that I wanted to be a hockey writer at age five, I did so because there was a fundamental appeal in trying to figure out what’s going on behind the scenes and sharing it with others.
I’m lucky now to have that chance.
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Excerpt: Canucks deal Lack to Hurricanes for draft picks
The Vancouver Canucks are sending the 27-year-old goaltender to the Hurricanes in exchange for a third-round pick in Saturday’s draft and a seventh-rounder next year, according to two sources.
The Hurricanes currently have Cam Ward ($6.8-million) and Anton Khudobin ($2.5-million) under contract for 2015-16.
The Swede is a cheaper option — he’s owed $1.3-million in the final year of his deal — and could prompt a subsequent move for the Hurricanes.
More of Chris’s most-read stories from 2015:
Kane skipped game after incident with teammates
Things have never looked this bleak for Maple Leafs
NHL to announce opening of expansion process
How Toronto got out from under Clarkson’s contract
