By Jake Leamer ’20, Staff Writer
After graduating from LVC in May, a former La Vie staff writer and editor accepted exciting positions with “The Hockey Writers” and the Rockford Ice Hogs of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Travis Hall ’19 submitted an application in late May to “The Hockey Writers,” an online group of journalists who report on the happenings within the National Hockey League (NHL). After a few days of reviewing the writing samples Hall included with his application, “The Hockey Writers” contacted Hall to let him know that he would be accepted onto the writing team as an analyst pending three trial stories to evaluate his performance.
Hall was given three options as to what NHL team he would prefer to write analysis pieces for. These options included the Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, and Minnesota Wild. Being a Dallas, Texas native who grew up playing hockey and is a Stars fan himself, the decision was easy for Hall.
“Dallas was an obvious choice,” Hall said. “It was the team I grew up watching and they’re the reason I have such a strong passion for the game. The opportunity to spread word about the Stars to another generation of young hockey players was too good to pass up.”
Since his hiring at the end of May, Hall has produced a total of eight stories for “The Hockey Writers” that analyze a wide variety of topics within the Dallas Stars organization, from draft picks to the coaching staff. Hall’s most recent story was published on September 3, and is titled, “5 Must-See Stars Games in 2019-20.”
About one month after he was hired to work for “The Hockey Writers,” another job opportunity in the hockey world presented itself to Hall when he stumbled upon an application for a communications internship with the Rockford Ice Hogs of the American Hockey League. As soon as he saw the application, Hall knew it could be just what he was looking for.
“I caught the application as soon as it came out in June and it immediately shot to the top of my list,” Hall said.
About a week after formally interviewing for the position, Hall was hired. Among Hall’s current responsibilities with the Ice Hogs have included tasks such as writing player biographies. Once the season gets into full swing, he will be charged with writing stories for both the American Hockey League and Ice Hogs websites. Additionally, Hall will be lending a helping hand in running the Ice Hogs’ social media accounts. Being a former college hockey player himself, Hall appreciates all the working pieces that go into running a successful hockey program.
“There’s really nothing quite like a hockey locker room and this job allows me to be around the team on a daily basis,” Hall said. “I really lucked out because the people in the front office that I work with have been spectacular. Regardless of whether I spend the day in the room talking to the players or in the office around my coworkers, I’m having a great time.”
In addition to working as the Dallas Stars Analyst for “The Hockey Writers” and a communications intern with the Rockford Ice Hogs, Travis Hall has also been working as the Marketing and Public Relations Director for the book “It Takes 23 to Win.” He has been working very closely with author Jason Farris, whom Hall had previously worked with when Farris was acting Vice President of the Dallas Stars.
Photo provided by Travis Hall ’19