Which NHLers were best at using social media in 2013? The list includes Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo – or at least, the Luongo behind the Canucks goalie's unofficial Twitter account.
Luongo leads THN's top 10 list of the NHL's best tweeters in 2013The hockey world’s connection to social media has never been as strong as it was in 2013. Just about every NHLer has his own Twitter account now – and, just as there’s a pecking order among players on the ice, there’s also some NHLers who can use social media better than others. Here are THN’s top 10 NHL tweeters of the year:
10. T.J. Oshie, Blues. Sometimes you deserve to be on a list like this because of a larger body of work in the tweeting business. Other times, you get on the list because of one amazing tweet. T.J. Oshie’s account falls into the latter category.
9. Hal Gill, Flyers. The veteran blueliner has become renowned in league circles for his sense of humor. His twitter feed is a mix of hockey, family and football, but his penchant for funniness is almost always on display.
8. Sam Gagner, Oilers. Gagner has a wide variety of interests, but his twitter account gained prominence this year for one tweet. One tweet of his gruesome jaw injury. One tweet he said led to people calling him Quagmire from Family Guy. This is that tweet:
7. Andrew Ference, Oilers. Gagner’s teammate and Edmonton’s first-year captain is one of the game’s more cerebral players and that’s reflected in his timeline. He’s also adept at the video side of Twitter.
6. Scott Hartnell, Flyers. For someone who irks his opponents to no end, Hartnell comes across as completely likeable on his Twitter account. He’ll trade good-natured jabs with players on other teams – and just as often, he’ll make himself the target of his humor. This was what he tweeted after cutting his famous curly red hair:
5. Evander Kane, Jets. The Jets star weighs in on a number of topics with great humor, but he’s also compelling because he occasionally goes off on serious topics in his feed. For instance, missing the playoffs did not sit well with him this year.
4. Alex Ovechkin, Capitals. It’s been a banner year for the Caps icon and Master of the Superfluous Right Parentheses in a Smiley Emoticon. He chronicled his trip to Greece carrying the Olympic torch, shared some great moments with girlfriend Maria Kirilenko and, as always, was sure to make himself the subject of a joke or two.
3. Paul Bissonnette, Coyotes. The Grand Pooh-bah of NHL tweeters is still going strong. He’ll poke fun at himself, go hard after Twitter trolls and even give teammates the gears. No one is safe from Biz Nasty’s sharp sense of humor.
2 Dustin Penner, Ducks. Judging by his must-follow account, Penner loves three things: hockey, laughs, and electronic dance music. Sometimes he combines all three in one tweet.
1. Roberto Luongo, Canucks. Pretty much anything “Luongo” “does” at his still-unofficial account is incredibly funny. And not just “regular funny” - we’re talking wryness on a grand scale. Sometimes over the past year, he’s let teammates have it:
Other times, he’s disarmed a media tempest-in-a-teapot with a smart statement:
And other times, he’s given some tongue-in-cheek contractual advice to his fellow goalies:
When it comes to Twitter, nobody does it better. Happy holidays from everyone at THN – and we’re sure, from Luongo, too: