David Singer at the Ice Block did a good job several weeks back complaining about the fact no NHL web sites have RSS feeds on them. I tried to give owners the benefit of the doubt because they wouldn’t have invested in their web presence during the lockout.

…And in some cases, teams haven’t done much investing in their web presence in the last couple of years.

Note Tampa Bay Lightning.com — which most every Lightning fan has ventured to at one point or another. While the current site is certainly an upgrade over the first iteration of TBL.com, it is showing it’s age greatly at this point. The current design, featuring slight variations of what was originally there, has been in use since the beginning of the 2001-02 season. In Internet design circles, that is a Gods age.

The site does not work properly in the Firefox web browser, there are javascript errors on the page from what others have told me. There are probably dozens of features out there that can be implemented on the site and they are not there or people are unaware of them (such as RSS or Atom feeds which are certainly lacking and growing intensive popularity - as Bloom’s article mentions).

Having a splash screen on the site might look cool but it’s known as a hindrance to web surfers (why the barrier between the web URL and the actual content?) and web-page indexing (meaning your web pages don’t get added so easily by Search Engine spiders). This hurts web traffic and thus might limit income… though in the case of a major sports team like the Lightning, where the URL is known automatically, it’s much less a deal — except when special content is involved (such as articles from the past, special site features, etc) .

I’d offer my own services to help manage the web site if I could — of course I am but a novice webmaster and blogger out there, yet I am devote to what I do: trying to provide content as well as making it accessible to all. That should be the case first and foremost with any web page - and unfortunately the Bolts aren’t even achieving that right now with their web offering.

Edit: The St. Petersburg Times reports (Sunday, August 21st) that SportsBusiness Daily ranks TBL.com #30 of the 30 NHL franchise (I can’t find a source URL on that however).

A few days ago I mentioned the St. Pete Times Forum sitting in silence.

What I didn’t mention was the change in status this week… The beautiful sight that I witnessed as it was created over the last few days… I can’t create a thumbnail but I can tell you what it is:

There be ICE there!

The Crest is down, the lines are down, “Thank you Fans!” is written at the bluelines…

Hockey is almost here!

Since around Christmas, I’ve been looking around at NHL and Lightning branded products on the World Wide Web and watched as their numbers dwindled.

Not that they offered much as was.

As of late I’ve been doing the same thing over again - browsing around various sports-apparel web sites that sell NHL branded merchandise, and what have I found? Not a lot.

This goes without saying that some of the merchandise offered by companies selling NHL branded products is poorly geared regionally. I mean, you can find the normal t-shirt and ball cap stuff branded with the Tampa Bay Lightning logo… But with such a warm climate for the majority of the year — why are there skully and wool caps offered and not sun visors? Why are there a plethora of jackets and sweats and not many tank tops or even flip-flops with the team crest on it? Oh sure, there are women’s tank tops, but what about the men?

Jersey’s remain overpriced (replicas and authentics)… You want people wearing their team’s sweaters - not wishing that they were more affordable. I’m wondering if the Reebok deal with the NHL will bring jersey prices down? Everything I have seen offered on the web was from CCM which formerly supplied jerseys to the NHL

I know the hockey base is in the north, I know that the majority of the hockey season is in the cool to cold time of year…. But the NHL is missing out by only marketing to that time of the year.

I’m certain that Montreal Canadien fans wouldn’t be proud to wear their colors during the summer, nor do I think Flames fans, or Bruin fans or fans of other northern teams stop being fans during Spring and Summer.

Merchandising for only part of the year — and poor offerings for the southern teams — is basically giving up without a fight when it comes to marketing the sport to the masses.

By the way — I’m also looking to affiliate with a company (hopefully local) that sells Lightning merchandise). If anyone can point me in the right direction, or if an interested party happens upon this…?

From Hockey Will Tear Us Apart:

Lightning fans, I feel your pain. We’re kindred spirits; born in the same year, and now stuck in the same situation, only yours hurts a little more right now. (Yes, I was insanely jealous earlier in the year, but we’re in this post-apocalypse salary cap together now. I’m also mad at Lecavalier for what he might be encouraging Hossa to do, if it helps.)

Hello Brethren Senator fans out there!

That’s twice the Lightning have sorta’ shot you guys in the foot with regards to contractual negotiations. Anyone recall Brad Richards re-signing and how Havlat wanted money on par with that? I’d link to an article which shows the heated criticism but on my web searching, I just can’t find it.

At any rate, you guys are in your own bind and it’s a bittersweet bind to be in. The Senators suffered and suffered greatly during their building years at the beginning of the teams existence. They burst onto the scene int he late 1990’s and wowed and shocked the league. They weren’t Nottawa anymore.

There’s so much promise and heartache with the Senators right now (and I still find it very much ridiculous that someone actually compared them to the Expos once) yet it’s not going to last. Even if the Sens (or the Bolts, or other currently hinder-by-the-cap teams) fall down and go boom in the short term, they’re a smarter organization than to let the Cap hinder things long term. They’ll adapt and cut loses where they may have to and come out better than immediate results show.