First off, I truly hope and pray that everyone out there is safe, healthy and with those you love. This is a scary time for sure and more than ever kindness and compassion are needed on this planet. This virus doesn't know boundaries, race, denomination, sexual preference, or anything else. We are all part of the human race and we are ALL vulnerable right now. We need each other and we need to bond together to get through this and find a way to give each other strength. If there is one thing that I love about the NHL world specifically it is the kindness and humility that exist with the people you meet in this world.
And my readers...Every writer will tell you their own readers are the best, but few can back it up with facts the way I can. Why? Well to start with, many any of you die-hards on the site have been around for so long...but that's just part of it.
Many of you started with me in a time where hockey was taken away from us. As you probably know, I got my real start in this business blogging during a time when there was no hockey at all..the horrible year the NHL and NHLPA couldn't get it together and the season was completely lost...I have always felt that ANY success we have seen at Hockeybuzz comes from the fact that my core group of readers were the people who LOVED and NEEDED hockey so much they found me writing about a sport that didn't exist the first time they read my stuff.
During that season lost I wrote a ton about how much both the NHL and NHLPA sucked for taking away our passion...for keeping from us the escape that we need. The expression, "It's only hockey" has taken on many meanings to me over the years, but at its core I have taken that to mean, "Don't take ANY of this too seriously...remember life is hard, so hockey needs to be fun."
So here we go again. The circumstances are very different than the lockout and life around us feels much more dire....never before have we needed an escape than we do now. You all have come to Hockeybuzz in the millions over the years allowing me to make this my living, and I owe it to you to make sure that hockey remains your escape during this time.
So let's have some fun. I will do my best to make Hockeybuzz a place you can visit whenever the news has beaten you down and you are looking for something that isn't so serious.
So here is what I am going to do...
#1. We are going to jump right to the off-season and free agency and what teams need to be looking at this summer... my guess is the playoffs will end up going deep into the summer, so the off-season talk must start now...our team beats will be joining in. I always joke that after the end of the NHL season we only get a few weeks before the Draft and July 1 to deal with a TON of changes and all that could go down. Now we have plenty of time to deep dive...
That may be enough for many of you, but personally I want to watch some hockey too.
If you feel the same way...
#2. Earlier this year I test-launched a concept I had ALWAYS wanted to see. I wanted to know what the best team a franchise could put together from all their years of existence. How cool would that be to see? What would it look like to see modern stars on lines with legends? So together, we will not only picking the players who deserve to skate on their city's all-time team, but actually creating those teams and watching them play each other...With the EA Sports NHL game I can make this happen...So I am going full-tilt by creating the best teams ever and then broadcasting the teams against each other in a tournament online for all to see. We WILL find out what the best players all-time playing each other will look like and who is really the best...I will simulate and broadcast it all.
And if you want to get involved and apply to be the coach of your all-time team either email me at [email protected] or tell me your interest in the comment thread. As a coach, it will be your job to make the lines for the games and THAT alone will be a blast. I will be broadcasting a few exhibition games this afternoon before launching into a double-elimination tournament over the weekend...
So let's do this...
It feels like a double kick to the groin to be living through such a tough time WITHOUT sports, and I know there is nothing I can do to replace the games we would be watching...But we have been here before. And I take the fact that Hockeybuzz is an escape VERY seriously.
Let me know your thoughts and let me know what you are thinking...and most of all...please stay safe and let's be as positive towards each other as we can be. We need to stick together now more than ever.
Join the Discussion:
»