from David Staples of The Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal,

TSN’s Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger are the Gretzky and Kurri of Twitter when it comes to mainstream hockey writers and broadcasters. They’re not just ahead of the competition, they’re utterly crushing it, and leading a contingent of TSN broadcasters at the top of the list.

As of Sept. 1, McKenzie has 412,200 followers on Twitter, followed by Dreger at 326,128. Next best is Pierre LeBrun of ESPN at 163,265 followers, not even half of McKenzie’s total. TSN, which is closely linked to the NHL as it’s a major rights holder for the league, dominates the rankings, with five of the top ten.

Of course, Twitter followers is a measure of popularity, not necessarily the quality of any individual’s work. That said, to give credit where it’s due, there’s no denying that when it comes to the crack cocaine of Internet hockey writing — the reporting of trades and trade rumours — McKenzie and Dreger are in a class of their own.

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