I hope everybody’s Christmas has been good. I’m in Keene, N.H., where my folks live, where I lived as a young kid for a few years and where I later went to college (class of ‘88, BA Journalism). Prime rib and Yorkshire pudding are on the menu today, so it’s going to be a good food day here. I’m debating whether to go to the new Bob Dylan biopic movie tonight, but we’ll see.
We have a lot to be thankful right now as Avs followers, with the team 8-3-0 in the last 11 games. Since Scott Wedgewood and MacKenzie Blackwood came aboard, the team has the best save percentage (.935) of any team in the league. Santa, in other words, was good to us in giving us two good goalies.
That’s the biggest reason for optimism moving into the second half of the season. You can absolutely see the difference in confidence the team seems to have now on the ice with two competent goalies. No more hanging the heads in shock after a stoppable shot goes in. No more half-hearted endorsements in the room about the goaltending, where you know the players don’t really mean it.
The Avs have the league’s leading scorer (Nathan MacKinnon), with Mikko Rantanen also in the top 5. The Avs have the game’s best defenseman (Cale Makar) and a good group of supporting castmates. Things seem stable again, most especially because of the new goalies.
SO, about our little site here: I know renewals are coming up soon. I also know I’ve said this is my last year writing on this hockey team.
I sort of forgot to realize, though, that when people sign up for a subscription, it’s supposed to be for 12 months of content. A lot of people signed up well after the original Dec. 29, 2022, launch date here on Substack, but a great majority of you signed up in that first week of the launch.
I can’t, in good conscience, charge you for a full year and then bail in six months. So, I’ve decided to continue creating “content” here until next Christmas. When that date comes, we’ll reassess things. I might still hang up the quill pen at that time. Or, maybe I’ll get a second wind and keep going. We’ll see.
So, that means we’ll all go into the 2025-26 season together. We’ll do live chats as always, and I plan to start writing a few more feature stories, with interviews of people. They’ll probably mostly be former players, as I don’t cover the team on a daily basis on the road anymore. I don’t want the site to be overly looking at the past, as I’ve always wanted to stay in the present and discuss what’s going on with the team now.
But, hey, with nearly 30 years under my belt writing on the team, not writing some about the old, glory days (and the not-so-glory days) would be a poor use of the tools in my toolbox.
To those of you who renew: thank you. It is deeply appreciated. I never take any of you for granted. I’ve been a very lucky man to do what I’ve been able to do for so long.
So, I hope the Christmas break continues to be good. I’ll see you again Friday for the first game back. - AD
Merry Christmas Adrian!
Great news! Merry Christmas AD!