One quick Google search of “Sammi Silber” will reveal the vast array of projects the sophomore multiplatform journalism major has dipped her hands in.
Her latest accomplishment: a credit on a documentary, “California Golden Seals Story,” resulting in an IMDB page.
But where did it all begin for the Potomac native?
“My mom dated a hockey player and he was really cool – like the coolest guy I ever met,” Silber says. “My mom ended up getting tickets to a Caps game and she took me and my sister and I just fell in love with it.”
That was long before Silber realized she could combine her passion for writing with her love of hockey.
During high school, Silber was the editor for her school newspaper, “The Churchill Observer.” After she graduated she began writing for a website called Stars and Sticks on the Fansided network. Wanting to do more for the site, Silber sent an email with hopes of becoming an editor.
Photo courtesy of Sammi Silber
“I basically emailed Fansided after I stopped working for ‘Stars and Sticks’ and I said, you know, ‘I think I have potential to do more for you,’” Silber says. “I guess he thought I was Canadian because he gave me the job for the Edmonton Oilers website on Fansided.”
As the “site expert” for Oil on Whyte, Silber contributes 40 of the 50 posts per month in order for her to be compensated.
“I hit that number a lot but sometimes it’s hard,” Silber says.
After all, each post has a 300-word minimum requirement.
“I’ve always loved the Oilers,” Silber says. “Their history and their work with the community, but after I got the job I fell in love with the team and what they’re all about and it’s a good group of people. They have great players, they have good team dynamic.”
Silber’s involvement with “Oil on Whyte” lead to a guest writing spot on Yahoo Sports and a promotion to contributor for Fansided, where she continues to cover the National Hockey League.
“I got promoted to Fansided, which is like right underneath Sports Illustrated,” Silber says. “My work is published on Fox Sports too. Every time I write an article I get a byline on Fox Sports.”
Silber also mentioned that she’s able to request credentials for the Washington Capitals practices for another independent online publication, The Hockey Writers.
“It’s very different because all my other work is based up in Canada, while I’m here,” Silber says. “But I get locker room access for practice, I get to go to the practices, I’m a member of the media, I get to go to the locker room and talk to the players, which is really cool because a lot of ours players I’ve watched growing up.”
Photo courtesy of Sammi Silber
As a life-long resident of Potomac, Maryland, Silber grew up a Capitals fan. While she has been to the Verizon Center to watch the Capitals play, she admits she has never seen an Oilers game.
“I’ve never even been to Canada,” Silber says. “But I love Canadian sports and I pretend I’m Canadian,” she adds with a laugh.
When she’s not writing about the NHL, Silber is the team photographer for the Maryland Club Hockey team. She posts her sports photos on her Instagram account. Additionally, her work outside of the Hockey realm has been featured on The Huffington Post and USA Today College. You can also find her four self-published books on Amazon.