Shannon Skanes, better known as “The Hockey Guy,” is not what most people picture when they hear the term YouTuber. In most of his 13,000+ videos, the 50-something Skanes is standing in front of a whiteboard full of detailed handwritten notes, dressed in a jersey and cap from his vast collection of team gear, running through an evening’s worth of professional hockey games in a droll, Bob Newhart-style deadpan, while some of his cats play in the background. There’s no bombast, no contests, not even any highlight clips; just some plainspoken, matter-of-fact comments from the guy next door who happens to watch an awful lot of hockey.
What The Hockey Guy lacks in drama, he makes up for in insight. Since 2016, he’s been YouTube’s go-to source for news, analysis, discussion and community around all things hockey. And as more fans get swept up in the excitement of the fast-paced and physical sport, his audience has pushed over 333,000 subscribers worldwide, with his videos racking up nearly 250 million total views.
“I never thought it would go this far,” Skanes said in a video interview in mid-December. “Before all this, I did entry level work, meat packing, call centers: blue collar jobs, work that just needed to get done. Now, when the worst part of the day is that there are 12 games on and I have to keep up, compared to what else I could be doing, it’s not so bad.”
In the mid-2010s, when Skanes was in his 40s, he started vlogging on YouTube on various topics and realized his hockey videos were starting to catch on. He monetized his first video in 2016, and by 2018, he was doing well enough that he could quit his day job to become a full-time YouTuber.
“It was actually my wife who talked me into going full-time because I was terrified of just betting on myself like that,” he said. When the 2018 NHL playoffs generated above-average fan interest, the channel took off and he never looked back. While he hasn’t made NHL superstar money, Skanes says the income is enough for his family and menagerie of pets to live comfortably in Abbotsford, a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia, though he says he still needs to shop for bargains on high-priced team jerseys and accessories.
Skanes described attending a recent meetup of YouTubers in the Vancouver area, noting that he was a bit outside the usual demographics. “Some YouTubers have a hit channel at age 19 and maybe they haven’t had the usual 9-to-5 grind and how difficult that can be. I think my age gives me a bit of perspective. There’s a lot more planning for the future, and a lot less of ‘hey, I should get a sports car!’ I’m never going to be one of those guys who’s like, ‘check out my Porsche.’ It’s never gonna happen.”
The Hockey Guy succeeds by keeping it simple. He puts out multiple videos per day covering any news, game previews, recaps, and weekly power rankings, giving each of the NHL’s 32 teams its due without hype or favoritism. “Some NHL teams get a lot of coverage in the national media, and many don’t,” he said. “There are a lot of fanbases out there who want to hear their teams talked about in the larger conversation and so I try to be even-handed on the channel.”
Besides his own diligent efforts, a few other factors play into The Hockey Guy’s success. First is that the NHL has been on an upswing, at least relative to its winter-sports competition in North America. In the past eight years, the NHL has expanded to Las Vegas, Seattle and Salt Lake City, attracting new viewers and new demographics in new markets. Last year, the Edmonton Oilers, powered by superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, came within a game of ending Canada’s 31-year championship draught before losing to Florida in a thrilling seven game finals. As a result, the Stanley Cup Playoffs drew their best audience in 28 years, up 26% from the 2022-23 season. The NBA playoffs were down 12%, the lowest since at least 2010, and viewership trends this season are starting to worry sponsors.
Another factor is the rise of online betting, now a $45 billion industry in North America. As more fans have skin in the game, it increases the appetite for any insight or analysis that could give bettors an edge.
Skanes acknowledges this could be driving some of his viewership but he is not a fan of sports gambling culture. “I’ve had some experience in my life with problematic gamblers and I’ve seen what it can do when that addiction takes hold,” he said. While YouTube sometimes algorithmically serves gambling-related ads to viewers of the channel, The Hockey Guy never discusses odds, doesn’t take money from betting platforms for on-channel promotion, and has occasionally spoken out on the issues associated with professional sports leagues, including the NHL, incorporating things like betting lines into their on-air coverage.
“I don’t ever want to get an email saying my dad lost $500 because you did a bet prop on your channel,” he said. “A lot of people are into it and that’s fine, but I think it could be one of those epidemics where we look at it later and say, wow, there are billions of dollars that got lost, and people couldn’t afford to lose that money.”
Taking these kinds of principled stands, and refusing to indulge in hype or speculation, has helped keep The Hockey Guy ahead of newer channels piling into the space, including ones that make generous use of broadcast footage. That’s another shortcut that Skanes doesn’t take. “I had a copyright strike on the channel once and it was a huge pain to get it lifted,” he said. “I know there are ways around it with fair use, and other channels do it, but it’s not something I want to deal with.”
While the NHL has yet to officially acknowledge The Hockey Guy, Skanes says he has had some pickup on local broadcasts. “It is strange because for 40 plus years of my life, I was just a fan that talked and nobody necessarily cared. Now there are a lot of hockey players who know who I am, coaches and people in organizations. The league hasn’t reached out, but I’ve had individual teams that have and it’s been nice.”
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