NHL Trade Deadline Drives Up Web Traffic, Creates Buzz Online

Mark Recchi Part Of NESN's Comprehensive Trade Coverage

The NHL trade deadline consistently delivers major traffic numbers for the league, and Wednesday was no exception. NHL.com experienced a 300% increase in video starts and a 250% in visits to its wireless Web site, according to the league. On Twitter, the league had three times the mentions it did on the day of the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field this year. A league spokesperson said NHL player names and other trade-related information also were among the top-10 Google searches during the course of the day (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal). In Boston, Nancy Marrapese-Burrell writes NESN's coverage of Wednesday's trade deadline "was comprehensive," and the net is "taking advantage of the increased interest in the Bruins to build even more as the regular season winds down." NESN connected with the newest Bruins -- RW Mark Recchi and D Steve Montador -- in "short order after they were traded to Boston." And not only did the programming "focus on what the deals meant for the Bruins, ... the analysts pointed out the impact of other transactions on the local team" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/6).