Jason Reitman, Kevin Smith, other celebs blog for NHL.com :: Culture News :: Articles

In an apparent attempt to gather up new hockey fans, the NHL has recruited celebrities such as Jason Reitman, Lauren Conrad, Dierks Bentley and Kevin Smith to help out in this mission. During this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, they will be part of a strategy started last year: celebrities blogging about hockey.

“As NHL.com bloggers, they can be irreverent and candid about their love for the NHL,” said NHL spokeswoman Bernadette Mansur. The participating celebrities will follow their favorite teams through the playoffs, contributing video and written commentary as the games progress.

For the Eastern Conference, bloggers include artists such as Les Say Fav bassist Syd Butler, C.S.I.’s A.J. Buckley and the aforementioned Smith, whose blogger bio says it best: “I’m married. I have a kid. I’ve made some movies. I’m very fat. I love the Devils.” The Western Conference group includes Lauren “L.C.” Conrad, who describes herself in a statement as a “casual hockey fan,” and Juno director Jason Reitman.

A brief perusal of the blog cache thus far proves Reitman’s blog to be unique in its direction. He writes, “If you are looking for my thoughts on teams in the 2008 NHL hockey playoffs, you have sadly come to the wrong place. You see my two teams, the Canucks and the Kings, are not in the hunt.”

Reitman has therefore turned his blog-sights onto happenings off the ice, documenting all the action outside the game surrounding the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks. Week one yields the following nugget: “Kings forward Dustin Brown is halfway through Guitar Hero 3 on expert. He’s optimistic, but hasn’t found a solution for the Weezer solo.”

A native Canadian, Reitman has been a hockey fan for seven years and holds the NHL cause close to heart. Since earning an Oscar nomination for directing Juno, he's directed commercials for the NHL and served on its entertainment advisory board. “I’d come to really love the game and I was just a little upset because I felt there was more of an opportunity for particularly Americans to know about the game and follow the game,” he told the Associated Press.

Maybe this strategy could work for curling?

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