Kaplan has become an important voice in the NHL, helping bring out the personalities of the younger generation of NHL athletes. She is helping break the mold and giving these young athletes a safe space to be who they are and express themselves in ways that are new to the National Hockey League.
"I talked about that culture of humility and it's why we love the sport but in some ways, it did hold the sport back because guys weren't putting themselves out there," Kaplan mentioned, "They have this tic where they don't use the pronoun "I", they say "we are". And while it's great in some settings, for these guys, and for the sport to elevate to that next level where we see it on SportsCenter every day, where we have that ecosystem where we're talking about Aaron Rodgers, next move and this and that and really that high-value entertainment level, we need these guys to open up and we need to see who they are. Because the truth is, they have fantastic personalities. They're hilarious. They're so funny, they're so humble, they're just real. But we need to see that."
Earlier this year, Kaplan visited Jack Hughes for a feature video on Hughes and his roommate Ty Smith. The interview and the experience is the perfect example of where the new NHL is headed.
"I was just so grateful that Jack agreed to it. Like we said, guys don't put themselves out there. And the fact that he kind of had faith of, we sold him this idea where we want to showcase who you really are, who you are authentically, and he bought in and he put a lot of faith in us because he invited us into his home, which he shares with Ty."
Kaplan shares some behind the scene stories from the feature shoot with Hughes and Smith, some of which didn' take it into the final cut of her video.
"I give Jack a lot of credit, because he's one of the first guys to really put himself out there," she continued, "But he has this group of peers, and you know, he's so close with Trevor Zegras and they're talking constantly. It's kind of his Brat Pack, the guys that grew up together, you know, at the same tournaments, a lot of them at the US National Team Development Program. And I really love what they're bringing to the sport because it just feels authentic."
Some other topics discussed on this week's Speak of the Devils Podcast with Emily Kaplan:
- What other executives are saying about the New Jersey Devils
- Growing up in New Jersey, and her love of bagels
- Being between NHL benches during ESPN NHL broadcasts and what she's learned from that perspective
- The unique relationship between female sports reporters
- Coming up through the ranks as one of the only females
- Inspiring the next generation of women in hockey
