We're Chris Nelson and Gemma Hooley, independent producers who create sound-rich storytelling on the radio and online. We seek out stories about everything from hockey players in North America to wildlife biologists in South Africa. All the content on our tumblr site is recorded, written, shot and owned by us, unless we indicate otherwise. Thanks for visiting.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
FROM THE ARCHIVES: “Once I scored … they were kinda like … wow, didn’t think he could do that” (laughs) — Matt Hendricks, after his shootout goal vs. Philadelphia Flyers, March 22, 2011
Wall of gloves, Washington Capitals equipment room, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Arlington VA, February 2012
Sneak preview of a new Hockey Diaries feature coming this week. As Capitals’ Head Equipment Manager, Brock Myles prides himself on being ready for anything, anywhere, anytime.
Fonts, lights, signage
A few pictures of some of the cool retro-ish details at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, site of this week’s Washington Capitals vs. Nashville Predators pre-season NHL game.
One of the things people often ask us about the Hockey Diaries project is how much the players “like” keeping the diaries. As you would guess, it varies from player to player!
If you’ve had a chance to listen, you’ll know that forward Matt Hendricks and goaltender Braden Holtby agreed to be the diary-keepers for the 2010-11 season. Matt will tell you straight up that he didn’t love talking into the diary recorder! It wasn’t for lack of enthusiasm, lack of trying, or lack of something to say. He kept it with him all season long. It was there every day on his nightstand, at home and on the road. It traveled many miles in his hockey bag. Matt’s roommate on the road was defenseman Tyler Sloan, our diary-keeper for the 2009-10 season. He gave Matt pointers and encouragement, and can actually be heard in the background of some diary entries, egging him on or helping Matt finish a crossword puzzle. Matt kept at it all season, and turned in a long list of great diary entries in the end… but he says it never really came easy to him.
When we sat down to give Braden his recorder at the beginning of the season, and talk through the project, we suggested he think about his diary entries as just leaving a voicemail message for a friend. Braden spent quite a bit of time on the road last year driving between Washington and Hershey, and then driving back home to Saskatchewan at the end of the season. He recorded a bunch of diaries while he was driving, many of them quite lengthy, rolling conversations! Listening back to those diary entries was like being on the journey with him. He, too, turned in a stellar diary performance.
When we make the documentaries, we might edit some diary entries down a bit to keep them focused. Others we have to leave out all together. But as the players were generous enough to record their thoughts so honestly, we thought we’d use this space to bring you the expanded versions of some of the audio diary recordings from the latest documentary. So if you have a few minutes, here are Matt Hendricks’ very first diary entries, when he was still getting used to the idea and the recorder. And a long diary entry from Braden Holtby, recorded later in the season in Hershey, when he was resting an injury, and spending time alone at home while his teammates were on the road.
At the end of the 2010-11 regular season, goaltender Braden Holtby sat down to talk about what it was like to work with goaltending coach Dave Prior. He talked about Prior’s coaching philosophies and approach, and what he’s learned from him in his career so far.
The interview was recorded as part of the independent multimedia series “Hockey Diaries”. The latest documentary, Change The Game, chronicles the Washington Capitals 2010-2011 season through the eyes of Holtby, forward Matt Hendricks, and head coach Bruce Boudreau. You can listen to (or download) the piece on the Washington Capitals website, and follow us for more material and project updates.
Goaltender Braden Holtby in the Washington Capitals home locker room, wearing the team hard hat after his first NHL game, Nov 5, 2010. Holtby kept an audio diary throughout the 2010-11 season. You can hear it now in the radio documentary Hockey Diaries: Change The Game
Hockey Diaries: Change the Game
You can now listen to our hour-long radio documentary “Hockey Diaries: Change The Game” on the Washington Capitals website. The piece is available for download (“Right Click and Save As” if you’re using a PC, or “Control Click and Save Link As” on a Mac) or as a stream (just click on the little play button).
Hockey Diaries is a multimedia documentary project that follows a team through the season, using first-person narratives from players and coaches, woven with interviews and rich stereo sound, to tell the story of what it takes to make it in professional hockey. For the 2010-11 season with the Capitals, we followed forward Matt Hendricks, goaltender Braden Holtby and coach Bruce Boudreau. Thanks for listening to their story, and please let us know what you think and help spread the word. We’ll be releasing audio and video outtakes, additional diary entries and pictures all week — follow us for details.
And we’re preparing for the 2011-12 season right now — more news on that as soon as we have anything to share.
Washington Capitals forward Matt Hendricks in the post-game media scrum, in the Caps’ home locker room at Verizon Center (2010-2011 season).
