Seen and Heard in Edmonton

Meet Jeanshorts and Baggedmilk, two hockey fans who parlayed their passion for communicating about the game into paying jobs at OilersNation and the Nation Network.

First, I have to tell you they have real names and are real guys — I saw them with my own eyes at OilersNation headquarters in Riverdale. But they are also their personas, developed in their early blogging days and as commenters on OilersNation, where they first caught the eye of the man known as Wanye Gretz, aka the boss.

They joined a growing concern. The Nation Network now encompasses fan sites for six NHL teams, plus hockeyfights.com, nhlnumbers.com and dailyfaceoff.com, plus a new site for the Blue Jays. Altogether it brings in about 75 million page views a year.

Meanwhile, hockey podcasting is in the middle of a bit of a boom, and OilersNation has joined the fun with North by NorthGretz, hosted by Jeanshorts, Baggedmilk and Chris the Intern. Over the course of its first couple dozen episodes, it has evolved into a structured, entertaining show, part hockey talk and part good-natured ribbing.

You’ll hear more about the origin story, a little bit about what’s in the works, some thoughts on the consequences of allowing anonymous comments, and a lot of musing about how crazy this would all get if the Oilers were actually a good team. Enjoy:

You can also get it in iTunes, on SoundCloud or on Stitcher.

You can find the fellas on Twitter @jsbmjeanshorts and @jsbmbaggedmilk. OilersNation is on Facebook and Instagram, too.

They made the following recommendations, some local but most just hockey:

• Lowetide
• Rob Tychkowski
• Elliotte Friedman
• Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie
• Down Goes Brown
• Puck Daddy
• Deadspin

And, shoutout to Matt Henderson, my favourite OilersNation writer (besides Wanye).

This week’s Seen and Heard in Edmonton is brought to you by Alberta Beer Festivals, which is putting on the Edmonton Craft Beer Festival on June 3 and 4. In this episode, you’ll hear Dillon Stecyk describe all the fun you could have at the festival.

Get your tickets at albertabeerfestivals.com and use the promo code KIDS15 to save 15 per cent and send a cut to Kids Up Front.

Musical credits: Beethoven’s Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 2 No. 1, played by Daniel Veesey, from freemusicarchive.com.