For the sake of clarity, the first time I was exposed to the work of Isabelle Khurshudyan was on an episode of Greg Wyshynski and Emily Kaplan‘s podcast ESPN On Ice. The Washington Capitals were facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final, and Isabelle, a Washington Post writer who had by that point made the Capitals’ beat her mainstay, was in just about as great a position a hockey writer could be in.
When the Capitals took Game 5 in Vegas to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, it sparked a summer-long sequence of events that led to no shortage of interesting, and downright hilarious, stories to cover. Isabelle got the chance to travel through Europe and Russia following around Capitals players as they spent their day with the cup, and one piece on Niklas Backstrom’s time with Lord Stanley stood out to me as particularly unique. Surely Alex Ovechkin is the best known hockey player in Washington D.C., yet Backstrom has been with Ovi since pretty much the beginning of his career, feeding him the puck for a seemingly countless amount of goals.
Yet the personal life of one of the league’s most underrated passers has for years been just that, personal. Isabelle Khurshudyan changed that at least a little bit, traveling to Gävle, Sweden to construct an incredibly compelling piece on Backstrom, as he celebrated a momentous achievement surrounded by the friends and family that helped him forge the humble beginnings of his hockey career. Check out the article in it’s entirety here.
Isabelle Khurshudyan – Covering All Angels
While stories about Niklas Backstrom’s day with the Stanley Cup can be a great way to discover a side of a player that was never previously accessible to the public, bottom line is that the main focus of covering a hockey team, is in fact, the hockey. From topics such as goaltender equipment size to John Carlson’s now well-defined role on the Capitals’ power play, Isabelle Khurshudyan puts on display her ability to cover a team from a variety of directions.
In addition to her journalistic work, Isabelle also appears frequently on hockey talk shows and podcasts, as I alluded to above, I discovered her through a podcast appearance myself. She is also very active and engaged on twitter, answering questions from fans while live tweeting action from time to time. I have referenced in previous posts how I believe it is important for journalists not only to put out quality content, but to also engage with their readers as well, so I always welcome this type of activity on social media (so long as it stays positive).
Talking hockey can sometimes be more difficult than writing it, especially if you aren’t used to being put on the spot with quick questions. Yet everything I have heard from Isabelle shows me that she is certainly more than capable of sharing her Caps takes over the air waves.
A Must-Follow Writer
From full-length human interest pieces, to covering on-ice action and stories that mean the most to fans around the league, Isabelle Khurshudyan does it all. If I am looking at her work from the perspective of a Washington Capitals fan, there is no reason I wouldn’t want to stay up-to-date with her stuff. Her writing skills are sure to keep even the most distracted readers on point, and you are sure to learn at least one thing from every piece she puts out into the hockey world.
You can read all of Isabelle Khurshudyan’s work at the Washington Post here. You can follow her on twitter @ikhurshudyan.
