Newspaper Grounds 'Canes Beat Writer

With the economy in the tank and newspapers taking the hit hard, perhaps it's not surprising that it's come to this, but the news still is jarring to have one NHL club without a traveling beat writer for the remainder of the season - and perhaps even the playoffs.

According to Canes Country, the Raleigh News & Observer has stopped sending its beat writer Chip Alexander on the road with the Hurricanes. Due to severe budget constraints thanks to a plummeting stock price of parent company McClatchy Newspapers and a big round of layoffs at the paper itself, assistant sports editor Steve Ruinsky told the blog it might not even be sending him to away games even if Carolina qualifies for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

With budgets tightening and layoffs around the business, it's not uncommon for papers to not send writers on the road for particularly pricey trips, as has been documented before as the Los Angeles Times has relied on AP copy rather than its own writers on certain swings, but still covers selected Kings and Ducks road games. The Palm Beach Post also stopped covering the Florida Panthers on the road this season, but the Miami Herald and Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel still sends its beat writer on the road with the team.

It's also not uncommon down the stretch of teams that are out of contention, with editors content to have wire copy close out losing seasons to save money on games of little interest except to a team's die-hards.

But the Hurricanes' situation is a bit different. After all, while college hoops is king of the Triangle, it still is the region's only professional sports franchise, and one coming off a Stanley Cup championship just three years ago, and the News & Observer is the major newspaper of the region and the only to cover the team away from home. In addition, Carolina enters Thursday's play just one point out of a playoff berth, and at just the point where the chase is heating up to maximize interest in the sport.

The paper does plan to send writers to Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State hoops games on the road, but of course, that just requires staying in the region, plus a trip to the ACC tournament in Atlanta and the NCAA tournament sites.

While the newspaper officially hasn't said it has abandoned road coverage, Mike Sundheim, Hurricanes director of media relations, sent Canes Country an e-mail about the change in coverage.

"It is not our place to comment on a business decision that the News & Observer has made. The News & Observer's hockey coverage has always been quite strong, especially in comparison with other American markets. We are doing everything in our power to help the News & Observer and all of our local media cover Hurricanes road games, whether or not they are physically on the road with the team."

To help, the team is e-mailing out audio clips for writers to use following games, but it's difficult to do that kind of work from your couch rather than from the press box, particularly with dicey information about injuries or controversial aspects of the game that might not quite get asked afterwards. It's a loss for the fans who follow the 'Canes not to have someone in the locker room asking the questions, as it certainly will hurt the quality of coverage in a growing hockey market.