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We’re trying something.
Over the past few days, we’ve been asking our readers on social networks to ask us questions. Whether it was about hockey news or a topic of your choice, you answered the call.
Obviously, it was impossible to answer everyone’s question, but several of the site’s columnists lent themselves to the game. Here’s what they came up with.
Do you think Prime will eventually present CH games in French too? – Marc-André Dallaire
Do you think Geoff Molson will open his famous Habs TV channel to show Habs games? – Guy Bertranelli
Charles-Alexis Brisebois’ answer : The two questions mix well together, since they conceal an important aspect for people. What everyone wants to know is whether it will be difficult to watch hockey in two years’ time, when the new TV contract comes into effect.
It’s hard to know whether that will be through Prime, Habs TV, Apple TV or any other platform. But right now, it’s clear that the NHL is looking at all the options on the table for the upcoming negotiations.
When you look at other sports leagues, they’ve taken the step towards broadcasting games on different, non-traditional platforms. And they’re more profitable than the National Hockey League.
I don’t know exactly what this will look like, but my prediction is that you’ll have to subscribe to something more than RDS or TVA Sports to watch the Canadiens’ 82 games in two years’ time.
Is it possible to ask Réjean Tremblay to leave Lance et compte? Last season in 2015, it seems to me that there’d be some stock in staging the hockey universe. Whether you’re a Habs fan or not, it’s always interesting to see behind-the-scenes footage of the Habs in the traditional media. It’s all very well to have Crave series on the rebuild or 24CH, but we know it’s ultra-controlled. Just with your 10 podcast episodes, we’ve got a season’s worth. – Charles-Olivier Landry
JB Gagné’s answer: It’s true that the documentaries produced by the teams are sanitized. It’s normal, it’s their image and they want to control it. Under the guise of a fiction series, Lance et compte allowed Réjean Tremblay to reveal several behind-the-scenes hockey stories, and it was very refreshing. We all loved it!
Unfortunately, Mr. Tremblay’s latest project, the series Le 7e, has been on ice for a few months. During an appearance on the La Puck podcast, he revealed that a number of things had put the brakes on the project, forcing him to make major concessions. Let’s just say, for example, that going from a plane crash to a death in a bathtub to save on production costs wasn’t to the author’s liking. To learn more about the reasons behind Réjean’s decision, we invite you to consult this article we wrote on the subject.
Last we heard, the Godfather had hired lawyers to try to regain the rights to his series, which currently belong to Québecor (TVA).
I’d love to know the technical background behind a sports blog like yours. How exactly is it monetized and on what scale? I’d heard Max Truman talk about average time spent per user on the site in your podcast. It’s something I’ve always been interested in, and I think explaining it would help reduce the number of whiners who criticize the relevance of the articles. By the way, do you have a quota of articles to put out in a day? In short, all sorts of information that I’m not sure you’re going to want to reveal, but a guy tries! Ahah – Alexandre Paul-Turcotte
Maxime Truman’s answer : 100% of the chances you don’t take result in failure. You were right to ask.
Basically, we consider ourselves a sports media, not a blog. The word blog, in my opinion, refers to someone giving their opinion on the Web in 2011. We do more than that. We scour the web, drop phone calls, send tons of emails, go out into the field, ask questions… and give our opinion too.
DLC’s revenue comes from ads installed on the site. Our ad network places codes that call for ads purchased by companies who want to post on DLC or companies who want to post at X price (example: $4 for 1,000 impressions on content for men aged 25-54 located in Quebeclet’s say).
Every day, the site receives over 100,000 visits… and often approaches or exceeds 200,000.
We’ve always tried to avoid clickbait. In the long term, we believe that people get tired of consuming a product that ultimately disappoints them. Yes, we need to attract people to our business (with good headlines), but we also need to make them want to come back (with accurate, precise headlines that reveal the news that comes with it).
We publish between 10 and 20 articles a day. It all depends on the news.
There are about fifteen of us working on DLC, many of whom have degrees in journalism or comm. Some are full-time, others freelance.
It looks like this…
In all sincerity, do you think Stéphane Robidas is the right man for the job? – Stéphane Lavoie
Why didn’t St-Louis promote a Rocket assistant coach to replace Burrows? – Maxime Chartier
Marc-Olivier Cook’s answer : I think it’s too early to comment on Stéphane Robidas’ work.
He’s only been behind the bench for two years, looking after the Habs’ defensemen. That said, over the past two years, there have been a lot of changes on the blue line due to injuries and the emergence of young players.
The defense is likely to be steadier this season, and that’s where I think Robidas’ work will be judged. The sample is too small for now.
As for Alex Burrows, I get the impression that management and Martin St-Louis want to see if he can fill the role of powerplay player. He’s had so much success in his playing career with the man advantage that the idea is interesting, and St-Louis will have the tools at hand to improve the club’s powerplay performance.
On the other hand, if it’s too much for St-Louis and there are no results on the ice by the end of the season, I expect the Habs to hire another coach for next season.
Stéphane Robidas talking to Lane Hutson on the bench. pic.twitter.com/0BZGH7CDlg
– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) September 27, 2024
What is the % of clicks for a soccer article compared to a hockey article? – Gavino de Falco
Maxime Truman’s answer: I don’t have the exact figures – and I don’t have the time to compile them, sorry – but it’s important to understand that a big soccer story and a big hockey story are equally hard-hitting. My scoop on the battle involving Matko Miljevic in Laval and my text on the rumours involving Tom Pearce and David Bugaj, they were a big hit on the site.
The difference is that a little news about the Habs hits hard. A little news about the Montreal CF? A lot less! A lot less!
But I still try to develop this niche with texts, Overtimes, Overtime points and tweets to stimulate interest. I love soccer and I love the club. We’ll see where this adventure takes me/us…
Should we make a trade to make room for a youngster before the season starts? – Robert Lefebvre
Charles-Alexis Brisebois’ answer: If the Habs really want to be #InTheMix as has been said so often since the golf tournament, I don’t think they should make a trade to bring out a veteran.
After all, there’s a risk in bringing out a veteran and running out of NHL players in the event of a wave of injuries. And every year, there are injuries.
But can he make a deal? It’s very possible. It could happen if management feels a youngster absolutely needs a spot, but it could also happen during the season if a prospect has a strong start to the season in Laval.
One thing’s for sure: if the Habs make a move, it’ll be for the good of the future. It could also be for the short term, but the club doesn’t want to move if it doesn’t help the development of its young players.
There is so little content (almost nowhere) for lifetime pools with payroll… it would be nice to have opinions on this. – Tommy Dawkins
Marc-Olivier Cook’s answer : It ‘s true that in Quebec, lifetime pools seem to be less popular than “normal” and fantasy pools.
The thing is, it takes time to run a club like that. There are many aspects to consider: the age of the players, their salary, their offensive production…
But obviously, there are logical players to target for pools like this, and there are a few that come to mind. McDavid, MacKinnon, Draisaitl… Of course, these are logical choices if you’re able to make room on your team for a player who makes a lot of money.
Otherwise, the idea of turning to young players is also interesting. For example, drafting Matvei Michkov or Ivan Demidov into a lifetime pool (with payroll) would provide an excellent youngster for the next few years, and the good thing is that they won’t cost much at first because of their NHL entry-level contract.
