Two hockey pros from different fields who can analyze today's game as well as drop in meaningful history.

Neil Smith and Vic Morren worked for over four decades each in their respective fields. Neil began his career in the early 1980's as a scout for the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings before being hired as general manager of the N.Y. Rangers in 1989. It was there he constructed the only Rangers Stanley Cup winning team since 1940, ending a drought that lasted 54 years.

Vic's career had its roots in research, co-authoring two NHL statistical books with noted author Stan Fischler in the mid-1980's and was part of all three ESPN/NHL contracts as a researcher, associate producer and senior production manager.

Our podcast objective is to be where listeners can get contemporary views on current NHL news and also get the expertise and insight from a special guest every week. In addition, we drop in some history, personal stories and other anecdotes. In short, listeners to our show get a diverse menu which we'd put up with the top-rated NHL podcasts.
 

After Vic's run with ESPN ended in the spring of 2023, Neil called him and suggested they do a production project together. Vic suggested a podcast without actually knowing what went into such a venture. While neither of us are big podcast listeners, we did listen to a few hockey-based podcasts and were quickly able to ascertain what we DIDN'T want to be. We knew where our respective strengths were and each had some exposure to the working environment of the other.

Planning began in the summer and fall of 2023 and the first episode - with Wayne Gretzky as our guest - dropped on Jan. 30, 2024. The philosophy is laid out in our overview:

• Breadth and depth.
• Contemporary and historical.
• Straight-forward and experienced.

The NHL Wraparound podcast features Neil Smith, President-General Manager of the 1994 Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers and longtime ESPN/NHL veteran Vic Morren sharing no-nonsense opinions on news and issues around the National Hockey League.

69 pieces of original content will have dropped during the 2024 calendar year including NHL Wraparound and our second franchise, Short Shifts. We have remained on point to that overview throughout though, as we have become more comfortable as co-hosts, we've added appropriate humor and barbs as they are part of our personalities.
 

The NHL Wraparound franchise began releasing weekly in January of 2024 with several special shows added such as playoff previews, the NHL Draft/Free Agency special and the New York Rangers 30th anniversary five-part series. In October, Short Shifts were added twice weekly to provide more immediate league coverage in between NHL Wraparound shows. In January of 2025, NY Centric will drop on 15-consecutive Mondays through to the end of the regular season with specific attention to the Rangers, Islanders and New Jersey Devils.

NHL Wraparound typically takes 5-6 hours to produce as this is a fully-edited show for both audio and video. Some graphics are added as well as the intro, outro, transitions and sponsorship full screens. Short Shifts (and soon NY Centric) are audio only and are released about 90 minutes after the record and once the show has been screened and edited if needed.

Since both hosts have completed their primary career work, this has become our project, which we look to make profitable in 2025. We hired a production company to get us off the ground and fronted all of the costs to get going. After about six months, we dropped the production group when we determined we had the resources to do the exact work without the pricey overhead. In its place, we have brought on a couple of folks to assist with the social media/marketing component.
 

NHL Wraparound is always looking for new partnerships in the sponsorship arena. We generated a bit over $19k in sponsorship in 2024 with all of that helping to offset the costs of the launch. While there was some solicitation that garnered one of our early sponsors, others were through contacts we had to help get us out of the gate.

In our first month (January 2024), we had 1345 downloads followed by 1515 in February. We eclipsed those numbers in October and November, with an all-time high of 2125 in November. We'll come a bit below that in December as we did fewer shows during the holiday season with the NHL taking a break in their schedule as well. Still, we are pleased that we can see the brand has a steady following which we continue to look to increase. We are using contacts to help secure additional sponsorship and may turn to an agency at some point. One sponsor is secure but adding on is clearly a priority in 2025. We have several attractive placements for sponsors and we know we have a good product. Hopefully, simply a matter of time.

When we got into podcasting, we weren't certain exactly what this might become. However, our guest list has been remarkably strong and both hosts - motivated to begin with - see the podcast as a legitimate opportunity to not only stay relevant in NHL circles, but be a trusted source for current and past information and stories.
 

We don't just wing it on any of our podcasts. A rundown of league, team and player items is put together for each show, be it NHL Wraparound, Short Shifts or the forthcoming NY Centric.

For NHL Wraparound, we secure a guest from either an NHL team or the media. Given the deep history in our respective fields, we have an extensive pool of individuals from which to contact. More encouraging is that the reputation of the show has given us the ability to contact individuals we don't personally know, yet are more than happy to appear on NHL Wraparound when asked. We have had approximately 50 unique guests in our first year.

For all podcasts, we used a recording studio called Riverside. For NHL Wraparound, a producer is in the background monitoring the show and then edits it following the conclusion. Sometimes the show is recorded sequentially, other times it's assembled depending on when the guest interview is conducted.

Riverside is an all-in-one platform with outstanding functionality. Vic has learned to do the recording and editing of Short Shifts on Riverside and the publishing of all shows to the RSS feed and YouTube through Captivate.fm.
 

NHL Wraparound is available on all major audio platforms as well as YouTube. Some of our shorter clips are on X @NHLWraparound.

We do have an actual breakdown of our listeners and other metrics on Captivate.fm. There is a summary page which shows the number of listeners and downloads on a daily basis, plus trends over the last seven, 28 and 90 days plus the all-time numbers. There's a "Listener Behaviour" tab which tells us which platform, device and operating system is being used to listen, plus a breakdown of which states and countries are downloading the show. Captivate also has performance comparison and episode overview options.

We direct listeners to our website, NHLWraparound.com, and make verbal mentions of where to find us during each podcast. We have a mailing list to advise subscribers when a new show drops and we're also using X with greater frequency to draw people towards the podcast itself.
 

We've learned that you don't need to spend a lot of money to be able to record and publish a podcast. Once we better-learned the point-to-point landscape of how to effectively do this, we were able to cut costs by compromising any aspect of the production.

They say, 90% of all podcasts don't make it beyond episode three and, of those other 10%, ninety percent of those don't make it beyond episode 20. As noted earlier, we will have published 69 original shows by the end of 2024. Our biggest keys: First, we never run out of guest options. Second, the games and news around the NHL on a daily basis generates many talking points. Third, we are historians and can draw on that knowledge to add perspectives few other podcasts can match. Thus, The NHL Wraparound brand can deliver a unique and enriching experience that any listener - regardless of how long they've been following the league - can appreciate.

What folks starting out should ask themselves: While I may have a great idea for a show, do I truly have enough content to sustain over time or will the well run dry after a few episodes? If you can answer "yes" to having enough content, go for it!
 

As noted, The NHL Wraparound Podcast, Short Shifts and NY Centric can be found on literally all podcast platforms plus YouTube. Some of our shorter clips are available on X @NHLWraparound.

Potential sponsors or those simply with a question or comment can reach us through our website at NHLWraparound.com or via email at nhlwraparound@gmail.com or vicmorren@gmail.com. In addition to receiving mentions during our podcasts, all sponsors also placed on our website for the duration of the agreement. Those clicking on the sponsor are redirected to that sponsors' own website.