Media Matters – SFU Business in the News – July 3

How SFU Business fared in the news for the week ending July 3, 2009.

Sports

• Business prof Peter Tingling’s study of how NHL draft picks have fared after the draft was well used by media. An SFU release noted: “Nearly 60 per cent of draft picks never play an NHL game, and of the 40 per cent who do play, one in five play less than 10 games. . . . Tingling, an assistant professor who specializes in decision-making strategy, tracked 30 years of NHL drafts for a study on scouting success.” On the World Report on CBC Radio, Tingling said: “If the idea is to become the next Sydney Crosby and live the dream of hoisting the Cup and making millions of dollars a year, the odds are not good.” On CBC-TV’s national news, Tingling added: “You’ve got to keep in mind that these players, they may go on to careers in other leagues. So, you know, it’s not that they’re not going to ever play hockey again, but if you define success as playing in the NHL, then the numbers are not good.” FaceOff.com wrote: “The more interesting finding is that a player chosen in the seventh round is as likely to play in the NHL as a player drafted in the third, and that there is a staggering discrepancy between the best- and worst-drafting teams.” It went on to quote Tingling: “The teams that are really good are 2 1/2 times better at [getting draft picks to the NHL] than the ones that aren’t. That’s huge. You rarely have that level of variance in business.” Tingling also appeared on Global TV, CFAX Radio in Victoria, and in The Vancouver Sun and The Province. We also saw stories in the Calgary Herald, Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Windsor Star. Tingling was also pursued by Canadian Business magazine and 24Hours. The Hockey News will look to him for a story for its draft preview for next season. (SFU’s release also included this: “The San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres came up tops in the study’s ranking of teams’ scouting success, which measured the extent to which draftees actually played in the NHL. They are cited as being 2.5 times more effective than the worst two teams, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Vancouver Canucks placed 14th—earning a “B” ranking”—ahead of the Stanley Cup finalist Detroit Red Wings but behind the Florida Panthers.”)

Police Beat

• Marketing prof Lindsay Meredith was on CBC Radio in a story about the RCMP use of videographers to shoot video of gang arrests and police activity, and to make it available to news media. Meredith nailed it as a blatant PR ploy to repair damage to the RCMP’s reputation following the Tasering and death of Robert Dziekanski in 2007.