In an effort to get more people in the US talking about hockey, the NHL has got celebrity bloggers on their site who talk about whatever they want, as long as it’s hockey-related.

I like this idea because it gets us a look at the “real life” of the celebrity, because they are, after all, just real people too. But it’s fun to hear them talk about their favourite team, or the game they just watched. Lots of fun. Without further ado, I give you a list of some of them for this season:

1. Tom Cavanaugh: You know him as the loveable dude Ed from the show of the same name, but we Canadians will remember him from those Labatt beer ads from many, many years ago. I love it that he still cheers for his hometown Habs, and also because he’s a cutie. But I digress for a moment. Tom is a Habs fan, how cool is that? And he talks about having a Richard jersey, and even the wonderful poem by Roch Carrier that we all had to read about, The Hockey Sweater.
2. Jay Baruchel: That cutie loveable geek from Knocked Up and Freeks & Geeks, Jay is also a Habs fan. Who knew there were so many down in La-La land?
3. Eddie Cahill: Currently on CSI: NY, I remember Eddie from his time on Friends, and as Carrie’s bi-sexual boyfriend on Sex & the City. But he’s also a hockey fan, which is awesome! His team is the Rangers, which I’ll forgive him for, since he’s from NYC.
4. Thorsten Kaye: Thorsten first caught my eye on One Life to Live, playing the dreamy Irish dude whose name I completely forget. Thorsten was born in Germany, but raised in the US, and ever since he moved there, he got hooked on hockey. He was hooked on the Wings in the 90′s when he lived there during grad school. So he’s got the bug and even tries to sneak in the Red Wings logo into his scenes on All My Children! Talk about funny. Kind of like Matthew Perry sneaking in a Toronto Blue Jays cap into scenes while he was on Friends.

There are a few other celebrities blogging this year too, but I haven’t listed them all since I figure you could go there and find them yourself. But I like the fact that the NHL is trying to be progressive and trying to get Americans to get excited about hockey. Here in Canada it’s not a problem to get ratings, to get people to buy jerseys, and show their support for their team. But in the US, it’s a bigger challenge. For a professional sports league that isn’t on the radar of most sports fans, that’s a big issue.