Hockey Hot Stove
HockeyHotStove.com is a new all-in-one platform for passionate NHL fans, founded by former NHL defenseman and broadcaster Chris Therien and supported by a team of seasoned hockey journalists and professionals, including veteran writer Bill Meltzer as COO and Michael Augello as CCO.
Featuring team-specific blogs, top NHL podcasts, fan forums, salary cap data, NHL Draft lottery tracking, betting lines, and more, the site aims to provide comprehensive, engaging, and fan-first coverage of all 32 NHL teams by the 2025–26 season, with contributions from Professional Hockey Writers’ Association members and other trusted voices.
THE CHALLENGE
As a new domain in a highly competitive vertical industry, Hockey Hot Stove needed a website that was both functional as well as highly interactive, and they are presently moving from Phase One to Phase Two of a three-step process.
THE APPROACH
We met with the COO and CCO to use their design vision to create a website that would be functional and interactive for the hockey community. The website needed to be able to allow bloggers, podcasters, and fans to comment on posts and forum articles related to the 32 NHL teams.
THE RESULTS
“We exceeded our site registration goals through the earliest phase of implementation. We will have challenges ahead in Phase 2 and beyond, but I have confidence in our development team. The team at FZP Digital, Fred Poritsky and Mike Noonan, have been a pleasure to work with: knowledgeable, communicative, focused on solutions, and unflappable through the unexpected issues that pop up along the way. They’ve also functioned well in developing the designs created by our site designer. I genuinely enjoy working with Fred and Mike on this project.”
Bill Meltzer, ~ Chief Operating Officer