It’s been an exciting year of growth on PDL. The 2014 calendar year saw some big stories, a ton of analysis and even more videos and GIFs. As we prepare our content calendar for the new year ahead, we take a moment to look back and reflect on the year that was. Which stories were our most popular? Which articles or videos had our readers buzzing?
Below are our top-10 most visited stories from 2014.
10. Rich Peverley Collapses – March 10th, 2014
This horrifying moment during the Dallas-Columbus game back in March reminded hockey players and fans just how fragile life can be. It also led to a rather unique situation in which the game was postponed and later rescheduled with the Blue Jackets leading 1-0.
9. Senators and Canadiens Fans Exchange Punches -January 17th, 2014
PDL’s growth has been centered around our Hockey Fights of the Week, so it’s fitting that a video of fans throwing punches received so much love.
8. Henrik Lundqvist Soaks Sidney Crosby – May 11, 2014
We could easily label 2014 as the year of the water bottle. This was just the first of a few instances in which players used their water bottle to drench the opponent. Lundqvist deserves extra points here for his sneakiness.
7. Seven Rules the NHL Needs to Change – July 26th, 2014
Who doesn’t enjoy a rant about what’s wrong with the NHL? In this one, seven rule changes were presented which would hopefully improve the game. The NHL actually followed through with one of these (punishments for diving), but the league still has a long ways to go and needs to address the trapezoid, delay of game and others.
6. Pierre McGuire Goes 20 for 20 – May 7th, 2014
We give Pierre a lot of crap around here, but what he accomplished to start the 2013-14 playoffs was remarkable. Pierre covered 20 games in 20 days and traveled nearly 9,000 miles. That’s a feat few analysts or broadcasters would be able to duplicate.
5. Pierre McGuire Rumored for Penguins GM Job – June 1st, 2014
Remember when Pierre McGuire was rumored to be the leader for the open Penguins GM job? Nothing here came to fruition, but it certainly made for an interesting few days as fans wondered what McGuire would do in a position of power.
Amazingly, this story and McGuire’s 20 for 20 made this list, but a compilation of his most awkward moments fell short. Maybe there really is more love than hate for Pierre?
4. Red Wings Score Identical Goals 11 Years Apart – December 14th, 2014
Our most recent post on this list may also be the most incredible. The goal itself and the movements from Roberto Luongo are eerily similar, but once you notice that the ads on the boards are the same though slightly updated, this whole thing becomes freaky.
3. The 15 Best Hockey Fights from 2013-14 – April 21st, 2014
As we mentioned above, PDL’s growth has been boosted by the love of hockey fights. Our weekly column Hockey Fights of the Week is routinely our most visited post each week and it’s usually our most shared as well. Several editions of Hockey Fights of the Week would have made our top-10 list, but we removed them and instead opted to only post the most visited which was this compilation of the top-15 scraps from 2013-14.
2. Alexei Yashin Nightmare Finally Ends for the Isles – June 17th, 2014
None of us could have ever guessed that a story about Alexei Yashin, a guy who last skated in the NHL back in 2006-07, would be one of our top posts in 2014. Yashin’s name finally comes off the books for the Islanders, closing the door on what was a nightmare and one of the worst contracts given out in NHL history.
1. Winter Olympics Schedule for Men’s/Women’s Hockey – January 10th, 2014
We didn’t forget about Olympic hockey. Several stories from the Olympics would’ve made this cut, but we elected to only recognize the top story which was a full schedule for both the men’s and women’s tournament. Not only did this post serve as a resource for the serious fans, but it exploded as casual viewers tried their best to watch as much hockey as possible.
If there’s any question about how popular hockey is at the Winter games, the fact a simple schedule was our best post of 2014 should be a solid answer.
