A Goalie on the Social Web

Growing up in Toronto, hockey was of course the thing. Our biggest worry as kids was finding a goalie for ball hockey or if we had rented the ice late night for a pick-up game, finding TWO goalies.

Only a special type of nutcase wants to be a goalie. I was an odd kid, but not goalie odd.

I was fortunate to have season tickets to Leaf games from as far back as I can remember as a kid.

I watched most of the greats up close…Key Dryden, Tony Esposito, Bernie Parent, Grant Fuhr, and Billy Smith. They all had their own style. But my favorite was a lesser known Toronto goalie Mike Palmateer . He was a flopper, a risk taker. He skated to center ice with the puck. He invented the idea of goalie as playmaker. He had 8 assists in one season, a record for goalies…in 1980.

I was frightened of speeding pucks so I could never play goalie. I skate with my ankles, so I was never much of a hockey player either.

But it’s in my blood. If I could have played a position now looking back, it would have been goalie.

When it comes to the social web, I think people respond to my style of publishing and interaction because I treat the stream like a goalie would. In particular, my favorite goalie Mike Palmateer.

I love standing in the middle of a stream, deflecting comments and conversations, dishing it out, sharing, mixing it up, flopping, testing angles, being unpredictable, trying to entertain, having days where I can’t do anything properly, getting booed, the social cheers. Most important I am unapologetic. The streams of the social web move fast. It’s your save percentage as a goalie that matters and the same applies to the social web.

I am so glad I found my hockey rink and stopped just being a fan.