CapGeek

CapGeek
Type of business Private
Available in English
Founded 2009
Dissolved January 3, 2015 (2015-01-03)
Founder(s) Matthew Wuest
Alexa rank ≈60,000 (January 2015)[1]
Current status Defunct

CapGeek was the name of a Canadian hockey website, specializing on the business aspect of the NHL. The site featured explanations of the salary cap, the status of a players' contract, statistics, etc. Called revolutionary by hockey experts, CapGeek was launched in 2009 by Metro Halifax sports journalist Mathew Wuest. The site garnered commercial and critical success, became a top source for information on players' salaries and landed Wuest on The Hockey News' list of Top 100 Most Influential People in Hockey.[2][3]

CapGeek was disbanded on January 3, 2015, due to the owner's terminal illness and his unwillingness to turn the site over to another operator.[4] Despite being un–accessible for the prior few months, CapGeek still received an estimated 10,360 hits in May, 2015.[5]

The site

CapGeek.com was founded in 2009 by Mathew Wuest. Originally called SalaryCapCalculator.com, Wuest was persuaded by his wife to change the name to CapGeek, as it was more marketable.[6] Wuest slowly built his site until it suddenly "exploded" in popularity, to the point that NHL teams themselves were using it as a reliable source.[6] The site ran until January, 2015, when Wuest shocked the hockey community in closing the site. Upon entering the website, a statement was displayed, which included "This sudden decision is made with a heavy heart and is due to the personal health of CapGeek.com founder and director Matthew Wuest".[7] By its closure, CapGeek had become so well known within the hockey world that the NHL itself reported the closure of the site with a featured article on their main webpage.

Despite Wuest stating that he had no intentions of selling, offers were made, as high as "six figures" in some cases. Wuest declined all purchase inquires.[4][7]

Matthew Wuest

Matthew Wuest
Born (1979-05-11)May 11, 1979
Stanley, NB, CAN
Died March 19, 2015(2015-03-19) (aged 35)
Halifax, NS, CAN
Cause of death Colorectal cancer
Nationality Canadian
Occupation Sports reporter
Internet entrepreneur
Spouse(s) Melanie Patten (m. ?–2015)

Matthew Wuest (1979-2015) was a Canadian sports reporter and Internet entrepreneur. Born in the small community of Stanley, New Brunswick, Wuest worked for Metro Halifax, covering a range of sports for their paper and website, but specialized in the game of hockey. Before working with Metro, Wuest earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of New Brunswick in 2001, following that up with a bachelor of journalism at the University of King's College in 2004.[8] On the side, Wuest ran a site that updated the progress of Detroit Red Wings prospects, which was called RedWingsCentral.com.[9][10] Mathew created CapGeek in 2009 while still working for Metro. Wuest was described as a very humble man[11] who was passionate of his work, but never wanted attention. He rarely talked about his site in person, with one colleague revealing that he hadn't known Wuest owned CapGeek until 3 years into its existence, when a mutual friend informed him.

Wuest died in the early hours of March 19, 2015, at the age of 35, due to colon cancer.[12] Many websites and reporters paid their respects, with TSN, The Hockey News, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The National Post, Sportsnet and Wuest's former employers Metro International being the notable publications. These authors and more wrote articles covering the life and career of Wuest, with some offering homepage coverage.

On May 15, 2015, the Red Wings organization announced that they would be renaming the championship trophy of their NHL prospect tournament to the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup.[13]

Similar sites

Many ice hockey sites have since emerged with the intention of imitating CapGeek's business approach to the NHL. Examples include HockeysCap.com, NHLnumbers.com, GeneralFanager.com, CapFriendly and HockeyBuzz.com.

On May 13, 2015, HockeysCap.com was launched by Jamie, Ryan, and Chris Davis, as a tool for fans to view salary cap compliance information. The site was launched with a tool called "Armchair-GM" which allows fans to create custom rosters by trading, signing, and creating players, to determine the salary cap compliance of such team. The Davis brothers state they have the utmost respect for late CapGeek found Matthew Wuest, and that the HockeysCap.com was inspired by CapGeek.[14]

In early May, 2015, GeneralFanager.com was launched by Toronto Maple Leafs' fan Tom Poraszka, as a tool for fans to view salary and draft information. Poraszka was inspired by CapGeek and states that he "has a lot of respect for [Wuest]". Most of GeneralFanager's statistics were initially taken from CapGeek's archive;[15] Poraszka has since developed insider connections to maintain up-to-date details for the latest contracts.[16] On October 17, 2016, General Fanager was closed, as the founder, Tom Poraszka, was hired by the soon to be named Las Vegas NHL franchise.

On February 3, 2016, it was announced that CapFriendly.com and HockeysCap.com would be merged into a single website.[17] The merged site incorporated aspects of both websites, including the "Armchair-GM" tool. The new site has retained the CapFriendly name and URL.

References

  1. ↑ "CapGeek.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2015-08-22.
  2. ↑ "CapGeek founder Matthew Wuest made unforgettable impact on hockey". The Globe and Mail. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  3. ↑ "One-on-One With CapGeek.com Founder Matthew Wuest". The Hockey Writers. 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  4. 1 2 "CapGeek.com ceases operations due to owner's health crisis". Yahoo Sports. 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  5. ↑ "CapGeek.com Website and Traffic Information". Traffic Estimate. Retrieved 2015-08-22.
  6. 1 2 "Matthew Wuest remembered as a hockey pioneer". Sportsnet. 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  7. 1 2 "CapGeek.com ceases operations due to founder's health". The Sports Network. 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  8. ↑ "Obituary For: Matthew Wuest". Dartmouth Funeral Home. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  9. ↑ "Remembering Matthew Wuest: humble and passionate". The Hockey News. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  10. ↑ "Matthew Wuest: The man behind CapGeek.com". HockeyJournal.com. 2010-12-26. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  11. ↑ "A Humble Soul". Metro Halifax Twitter Feed. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Matthew Wuest, Cap Geek founder, dies of cancer". CBC Sports. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  13. ↑ "Red Wings pay tribute to late CapGeek founder with prospect tournament trophy name". The Hockey News. 2015-05-15. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  14. ↑ "Hockey's Band of Brothers: Tracking the NHL, one salary at a time". Ottawa Citizen. 2015-06-23. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  15. ↑ "Q&A with new NHL salary site General Fanager". Sportsnet. 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  16. ↑ "Meet Tom Poraszka, founder of General Fanager and hockey's unanticipated insider". Toronto Sun. Sun Media. February 28, 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  17. ↑ "CapFriendly Twitter.com post". 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
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