FASTHockey Ices Deal with Orb to Broadcast Youth Hockey Games LIVE on the iPhone
iPhone Owners Worldwide Can Watch Thousands of Games LIVE
FASTHockey, the premier destination for LIVE and on-demand video streaming of amateur ice hockey, announced it has partnered with Orb Networks to broadcast on the iPhone the thousands of amateur hockey games currently seen online at FASTHockey.com. FASTHockey will use Orb’s proven Orb Live Events technology to broadcast games LIVE from the OneHockey International Tournament from June 24 to July 3, 2009. iPhone and iPod touch owners can simply download the FREE Live Events application from the Apple App Store, and watch LIVE action of their favorite youth hockey team, including teams from around the globe.
FASTHockey is the most comprehensive amateur hockey destination on the web and helps unite youth hockey around the world through community, connections, and content. FASTHockey streamed almost 4,000 games LIVE during the 2008/2009 season, making it the premier destination for players, parents, coaches and fans that love watching great hockey action online. The partnership with Orb extends this community – including LIVE broadcasts of thousands of games – to the iPhone.
“Hockey has a tremendous following worldwide, and the fans are super-passionate,” said Marc Ruskin, CEO of FASTHockey. “For the first time, hockey fans – and families and coaches – can watch games LIVE on the iPhone worldwide. We selected Orb and its Orb’s Live Events technology because it is proven and approved in the App Store, and because it was fast, easy and inexpensive to implement in a geographically distributed way. Next season we will have LIVE events being broadcast from hundreds of venues around the world.”
Orb was the first company to stream LIVE TV to the iPhone in May, 2008. The Live Events technology has been used to power live broadcasts of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend with Turner Sports and The Masters Golf Tournament on the iPhone.
“We are really at the tipping point for user-generated-content. Till now, the state of the art has been to upload static video clips to a website for all to see. While this is all well and good, the next frontier will be LIVE content, available on a worldwide basis, to anyone who has an internet connection,” said Joe Costello, CEO of Orb Networks. “FASTHockey is leading the pack in this regard. Using Orb Live Events, they are going to bring thousands of youth hockey games around the world to the iPhone.”
For more information on watching the more than 300 games on tap during the OneHockey International Tournament, please visit: http://www.fasthockey.com/information/events/fasthockey_and_orb_deliver_live_hockey_to_iPhone.php
LIVE coverage of the Tournament begins June 24.
Download the FREE Orb Live Events application now from the Apple App Store, and look for LIVE youth hockey games beginning June 24.
FASTHockey.com is the premier online network for ice hockey players, coaches and fans to organize their hockey lives while developing personal connections rooted in shared hockey interests. FASTHockey.com provides the online platform so that athletes and coaches can create player and team profiles, upload videos and photos, track and view statistics, check out opponents before games, and discover the best ice hockey players in the world.
Orb Networks is a leading provider of media access applications. Its OrbLive application was the first to stream LIVE TV to the iPhone and iPod touch, and the OrbLive application is available today in the Apple App Store for $9.99 (a Free Sampler version is also available). For more information about OrbLive on the iPhone or iPod touch, please visit: http://orb.com/en/orblive
Source: Orb Networks, Inc.
Easton Hockey Dominates NHL Postseason Scoring
Easton follows up record regular season with more postseason goals, points and game-winners than any other manufacturer
Easton Hockey, manufacturer of the No. 1 stick and glove in the NHL, contributed to more goals, points and game-winners than any other equipment manufacturer in the 2009 NHL postseason, including Bauer, Warrior and RBK for the fifth straight year.
A 2009 postseason-best 182 goals, 478 points and 38 game-winners were scored using Easton’s industry-leading composite stick technology. Seven of the top-15 goal scorers in the Stanley Cup playoffs used Easton hardware including the Red Wings top three scorers – Dan Cleary (9), Johan Franzen (12) and Henrik Zetterberg (11), plus Bill Guerin (7) of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
“We had a record 371 players using Easton composite sticks during the 2009 regular season,” said Geoff Sadowy, executive vice president of Easton Hockey. “But what this postseason really shows is that the guys using our sticks aren’t riding the pine – 478 points really speaks for itself.”
Easton’s SE16 was the stick of choice during the 2009 postseason.
Introduced in 2008, the SE16 combines the same proven construction of the renowned Synergy Elite line with Easton’s patented, industry-first Focus Weight Technology(TM) to create a next generation Synergy stick unmatched on the ice.
Easton’s Focus Weight Technology uses a concentrated weight strategically placed in the blade’s impact zone to keep the puck on the blade, and in the shaft to counter-balance the stick and give added control. For the ultimate in power, Easton’s impressive Synergy construction is combined with its compression molded process to yield one of the most powerful shots in the game.
Source: Easton Hockey
NHL Team would boost Southern Ontario and Hamilton economies new poll shows
Majority feel team would bring added excitement to the region
More than 90 per cent of residents of Hamilton and the rest of Southern Ontario think a seventh NHL franchise located in that city would be a boost to the region’s businesses and economy, a new survey shows.
The survey of residents of Hamilton and the Southern Ontario Region, including the GTA West, Peel and Halton, was commissioned by PSE Sports & Entertainment (PSE) and it found that a total of 94 per cent on average agree that an NHL franchise would be good for area businesses, and 96 per cent said the team would bring excitement to the region.
“This research of residents in Hamilton and Southern Ontario reflects a receptive, affluent, educated consumer marketplace that believes an NHL franchise will boost the region’s economy while making it a more exciting place to live,” said Bill Walker, spokesperson for Jim Balsillie’s PSE Sports and Entertainment, which has tabled a $212.5 million (US) bid to purchase the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes NHL franchise and move it to Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum.
Elsewhere, the poll also found:
- An average 83 per cent of the region’s residents believe the Coyotes franchise would be more successful in Hamilton than it is in Phoenix;
- A total of 77 per cent in Southern Ontario and 81 per cent of Hamilton residents support Balsillie purchasing the team and moving it to Hamilton. Most of these supporters say their reason for backing the bid is because it would be good for the local economy and good for the city and region.
- Three-quarters of respondents (74 per cent in Southern Ontario and 76 per cent in Hamilton) agree that the region is one of the best unserved hockey markets in the world.
The survey was conducted by leading public opinion research firm POLLARA Inc. The research was conducted among a nationally representative random sample by telephone between May 11-14, 2009. Results are accurate to within plus or minus 3.1%, nineteen times out of twenty.
BACKGROUNDER – POLLING QUESTIONS & RESPONSE BREAKDOWN
Southern Hamilton GTA West
Ontario City (Peel + Halton)
Q: Now, I am going to read you some arguments people may make about this proposed move. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the argument. “This move would be good for local businesses in Hamilton?”
Total Agree 94% 94% 95%
Strongly Agree 70% 76% 70%
Somewhat Agree 24% 19% 25%
Total Disagree 3% 4% 3%
Somewhat Disagree 2% 3% 2%
Strongly Disagree 1% 2% 1%
Don’t Know 2% 2% 2%
Q: If the Coyotes did move to Hamilton, do you think this would have a positive impact, a negative impact, or no impact at all on the local economy in Southern Ontario? Is that a major or a minor positive/negative impact?
Total Positive 88% 88% 91%
Major Positive Impact 52% 60% 52%
Minor Positive Impact 36% 28% 38%
No Impact At All 5% 4% 4%
Total Negative 2% 3% 2%
Minor Negative Impact 1% 2% 1%
Major Negative Impact 1% 1% 1%
Q: Now, I am going to read you some arguments people may make about this proposed move. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the argument. How about “An NHL team would bring a lot of excitement to Hamilton and Southern Ontario?”
Total Agree 94% 96% 95%
Strongly Agree 71% 78% 72%
Somewhat Agree 23% 18% 23%
Total Disagree 4% 2% 4%
Somewhat Disagree 3% 2% 3%
Strongly Disagree 1% (less than)1% 1%
Don’t Know 2% 2% 1%
Q: Now, I am going to read you some arguments people may make about this proposed move. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the argument. How about “This move would be good for the NHL and other NHL teams, since a team in Southern Ontario would be more successful than one in Phoenix?”
Total Agree 83% 85% 81%
Strongly Agree 54% 61% 53%
Somewhat Agree 28% 24% 28%
Total Disagree 8% 6% 9%
Somewhat Disagree 4% 4% 5%
Strongly Disagree 3% 2% 4%
Don’t Know 9% 9% 10%
Q: Now, I am going to read you some arguments people may make about this proposed move. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the argument. How about “Southern Ontario is one of the best unserved hockey markets in the world?”
Total Agree 74% 76% 74%
Strongly Agree 48% 56% 45%
Somewhat Agree 26% 20% 30%
Total Disagree 13% 10% 14%
Somewhat Disagree 12% 8% 12%
Strongly Disagree 2% 2% 2%
Don’t Know 13% 14% 12%
Refused (less than)1% (less than)1% (less than)1%
Q: Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie has made an offer to buy the Phoenix Coyotes, an NHL franchise facing bankruptcy. He has indicated he wants to move the team to Southern Ontario. Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose, Balsillie purchasing the Coyotes and moving them to Hamilton?
Total Support 77% 81% 76%
Strongly Support 55% 65% 54%
Somewhat Support 22% 16% 22%
Total Oppose 6% 5% 7%
Somewhat Oppose 3% 1% 4%
Strongly Oppose 3% 4% 3%
Don’t Care/No Opinion 16% 12% 15%
Q: What would you say is your main reason for supporting this move?
Canada Deserves Team 12% 9% 9%
Good For Local Economy 18% 23% 17%
Would Be Good For Hamilton/Area 20% 28% 17%
Hamilton/Southern Ontario
Deserves Team 10% 14% 12%
Canada Better Hockey Market Than US 7% 2% 7%
I’m A Hockey Fan 5% 7% 3%
Hamilton/SE Ont Better Hockey
Market Than Phoenix 5% 2% 7%
Q: Now, I am going to read you some arguments people may make about this proposed move. For each, please tell me if it you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the argument. How about “Jim Balsillie is a successful businessman and would be a good NHL owner?”
Total Agree 73% 78% 71%
Strongly Agree 46% 52% 46%
Somewhat Agree 27% 26% 25%
Total Disagree 4% 4% 3%
Somewhat Disagree 2% 1% 2%
Strongly Disagree 2% 2% 1%
Don’t Know 23% 19% 26%
Source: Jim Balsillie