Enhancing your hockey experience: in-game online puck talk

One of the great innovations in hockey-watching in recent years is the explosion of mobile internet access, which allows the fan attending a game to access, well, pretty much the entire sum of human knowledge. That can be a daunting amount of information to sift thought, so how do you get to the important stuff, like hockey talk?

As noted over at Lighthouse Hockey, sometimes when you're at a Nashville Predators game you can easily miss an important development, and replays can be scant or nonexistent at times. So what to do? Rely on your friendly online community of fellow hockey fans to help you out...

OtF Game Threads

Here at OtF we have our Game Threads which are used for in-game discussion, and are easily used from a mobile browser such as you might have on an iPhone, Blackberry, or Droid. They are a great way to keep in touch with other Preds fans who may be watching the game on TV, and can provide background or review on something that passed too quickly to be caught when you're at the rink.

Here's an example from the Capitals-Predators game a couple weeks ago...

He went straight to the locker room after being hit…

by Lil cutie on Oct 16, 2010 8:34 PM CDT up reply actions  

He got boarded by Backstrom

Tumbled into the boards, could’ve hurt his wrist or shoulder. We’ll see…

On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators. Catch me on Twitter at @Forechecker.

by Dirk Hoag on Oct 16, 2010 8:34 PM CDT up reply actions  

I think we'll see Goc back after the break

There needs to be comeuppance after that hit too, may I suggest a dance card with Jordin Tootoo?

by eamus-catuli on Oct 16, 2010 8:35 PM CDT up reply actions  

I hope so...

He’s centering that 4th line really well. He’s always been underrated.

by DonBorvio on Oct 16, 2010 8:36 PM CDT up reply actions  

Jim Diamond just tweeted that Goc will not return

Wonder if Wilson plays center…

On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators. Catch me on Twitter at@Forechecker.

by Dirk Hoag on Oct 16, 2010 8:51 PM CDT up reply actions  

Just make sure you're a registered user of the site before heading to the game, and jump into the fray!

Twitter

On game nights Twitter is always loaded with hockey talk, and particularly for Nashville fans, the @Predfans Twitter group serves as a hub for conversation related to the team. All you have to do is follow @Predfans, and any messages you send to @Predfans get re-broadcast from that account, and are thus seen be everyone else who follows that account as well (now over 750 fans).

Heck, with @Predfans, you usually also get helpful traffic and parking tips from everyone else who's heading to the game!

Mobile Apps

The NHL just announced earlier this week a new lineup of apps covering a variety of platforms, all designed to provide greater access to information than we've ever seen before. I've used the GameCenter app on my iPod Touch, and it provides a quick view of where the latest shots have come from, Time On Ice data, and of course box scores from games around the league. It's an impressive piece of work, and these things seem to make a leap forward just about every year.

After all, if you're going to engage in some of the online conversation, it helps to have the latest & greatest info at hand!

Be sure to "Like" our site on Facebook (now at www.facebook.com/OnTheForecheck)! To keep up with all of our coverage of the Nashville Predators, you can follow us on Twitter (@Forechecker, @predatweeter, @SLakePreds & @AdsRoundtable) and if you have any questions, feel free to email me at the.forechecker@gmail.com.