Inaugural Post - The NHL's Social Media Policy

What a day to start a blog on Sports and Social Media! Today the NHL announced a new social media policy that promotes the use of social media, but also restricts players and operating personnel from using social media around game time.

From the NHL website, "As per the new policy, there is a total "blackout period" on the use of social media on game days, which for players begins two hours prior to opening face-off and is not lifted until players have finished their post-game media obligations. The suggested blackout period for hockey operations staff is even longer, beginning at 11 a.m. on game days."

The second part of this policy is that players and personel will be held responsible for their social media commentaries just as they are with any other communications.

This comes just a day after the Flyers management urged their players to not text to tweet during "business hours" (although it is important to note, no mention has been made on the team's official website).

While the Flyers take a hard stance on social media, it was interesting to see that the NHL came out with a policy soon after Flyers GM Paul Holmgren wished for his players to abstain from social media on game days.

Most leagues do have a social media policy, but they defer to the teams to watchdog the player and personnel accounts. In fact, extremely few professional teams even have an individual social media policy and educate their players on using discretion and common sense in their social media.

This has been a long time coming for the NHL. As always, the NHL finds itself last to the party, as the other big three sports have had similar policies for up to two years now.

Now that this policy is in place, let's countdown to see who is the first one to break it. Good money says it won't be Crosby any time soon...