I’d be lying if I said I had some type of perfect formula for evaluating quality hockey journalists. More often than not you just get a sense of who knows their stuff and who doesn’t. There are certain things I have begun to look for when determining if a writer would be a good fit for a review, and I check those boxes as I go. When it comes to the Dallas Stars, Sean Shapiro has made a name for himself in only a few years of covering the team. Here is why he is worth checking out.
Sean Shapiro – A Bit of Everything
One thing that I love to see from hockey journalists is their ability to use social media to promote their “brand”. This may sound like a negative to those who aren’t necessarily as inclined to use platforms like Twitter and Facebook, but if used right social media can be a fun way for writers to connect to their reader base.
A great way to go about using social media as a sports journalist is to be engaging and informative, while also having a moderate sense of humor. I say “moderate” because sometimes people go too far with their online comedy to the point where it actually starts to negatively affect their reputation. Personally I like to use humor unrelated to the hockey world, from TV shows or other pop culture references, to relate to fans in a way that shows “yes, I do like things other than hockey as well”. It is encouraging to see that I am not the only person out there that incorporates this method into their approach to social media, whether it be entirely intentional or not.
The 2018-19 Dallas Stars presented by Jim pic.twitter.com/yQFIcdpwZB
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) May 3, 2018
Along with use of social media, “a bit of everything” can also apply to the types of articles a journalist writes. Sean Shapiro, like many quality journalists, provides not only strong in-depth coverage of on-ice events as they happen, but also touches on unique stories that would otherwise go untold in the hockey world.
The Dallas Stars held training camp this season in Boise, Idaho, home to their ECHL affiliate, the Idaho Steelheads. While in Boise covering the team Shapiro wrote a unique article profiling long-time Steelheads equipment manager Khris Bestel. A few years back Bestel came to the realization that player’s didn’t have a sanitary place to store their mouth guards and, upon further research, realized that a quality product didn’t even exist. So he decided to create one himself. You can read the entire piece on The Athletic here.
This article is a great example of content that branches away from the specific NHL club into the hockey world as a whole to tell the story of a man who wanted to do right by his players, and in the process created a product that has the potential to help all types of athletes, not just hockey players.
Comments like this one on Shapiro’s Khris Bestel post make any writers day and show that fans really are interested in hockey material that doesn’t directly pertain to their NHL club but rather highlights content relevant to the sport as a hole. To me this shows that fans are in fact multi-denominational and care about the game in general, not simply their own team.
Final Thoughts
While Sean Shapiro might not be a name that everyone in the hockey world is familiar with, he is certainly making his rounds in Dallas Stars circles. I wasn’t personally that familiar with Sean until I began researching his stuff for this post, but everything I have seen from him across various platforms tells me that he is dedicated to his job and puts in the time and effort required to do it the right way.
If you are from the Texas (likely Dallas) area and just recently became interested in hockey, or if you are a Stars fan and simply haven’t familiarized yourself yet with Shapiro’s work, I highly recommend giving it a read. He provides robust, well-rounded Dallas Stars coverage worthy of recognition.
You can find all of Sean Shapiro’s work at The Athletic by clicking here. You can follow him on twitter @seanshapiro.
