They teased their new project more than 80’s rock stars “teased” their big hair-dos!
The Saskatoon Blades finally let the world, especially their fan base, know about “The Blades Uncut Podcast” this past Tuesday evening.
“We wanted to make sure the timing was right,” explained Blades’ Director of Business Operations Tyler Wawryk about the elongated build-up before the podcast’s debut. “We didn’t want to rush into it, we wanted to ensure that we had all of our ducks in a row in terms of having it available on as many platforms as possible.”
Those platforms are “Apple Podcasts”, “Spotify”, “Soundcloud” as well as the website of CJWW radio…a sister station to that of 98-COOL FM, the rights-holder for Blades’ hockey broadcasts in Saskatoon.
The team’s Communications Director, Mitch Bach, enjoyed doing it so much and was so stoked by the positive response that Episode 2 was dropped on Thursday night!
“It’s been wonderful,” replied Bach to the question of what kind of response did he and the Western Hockey League team receive to the first episode. “We’ve got plenty of downloads and a lot of action on (the Blades’) social media channels.”
“We’re trying to give our fans a new, innovative way to connect with their favourite team,” explained Bach. “Right now, with today’s technology, just the multiple ways that people can connect through social media and through digital means, we thought a podcast would be a great idea.”
Bach is the host of the podcast and the brains behind what goes into each episode. Your humble correspondent is the co-host. According to the club’s website, “Blades Uncut is a podcast driven by the team and fueled by our fans, giving you an in-depth look into the world of Blades Hockey.” In other words, the podcast aims to bring fans the latest information on the WHL through the dog days of summer and closer to an eventual return to action…whenever that ends up being. The podcast will offer exclusive interviews with players, alumni, and Blades staff…plus tidbits on everything and anything else happening in the world of hockey and sport in general.
As for the podcasts’ name, Wawryk said the Blades, “wanted to get the name right.”
“It was Tanis Komada that commented on our Facebook page,” explained Wawryk. “We had a ‘ton’ of submissions and we narrowed it down to a shortlist. It was almost unanimous when we went through the shortlist that everyone loved ‘Blades Uncut’ and a huge thanks to Tanis for submitting that.”
While there are plenty of hockey podcasts for fans to choose from, not many are the property and brainchild of a team itself. The Blades joined the Vancouver Giants on a very short list of W.H.L. teams that produce their own podcast while the league itself is just starting one of their own.
“I’d like to think that we are paving the way for podcasts in the W.H.L.,” said Bach with a large hint of pride in his voice. “This is completely original on our end and I like to think that the ideas that we’re coming out with, in terms of gathering guests, interviewing prominent members of the team…trying to get a different take…we’re setting the precedent for what team podcasts could be like.”
The first two episodes featured just graduated Saskatoon and veteran W.H.L. defenceman Scott Walford, followed by M.V.P. and leading scorer from this past season, centre Tristen Robins.
Episode 3 is expected to be available next week.
Les Lazaruk,
Saskatoon Blades Play-by-Play
Sports Director, Saskatoon Media Group
