It’s Time To Hang The Skates Up.

It’s been a long time coming and today I’ve come to the conclusion that I can no longer write about hockey anymore. With a growing family, a surging career and fleeting time at my disposal, I’ve decided to fill it up with other things than the Bruins. My passion for hockey has suddenly ceased. I’m not sure what caused this, really. I’m not sure if social media, which allows anyone with a voice – no matter how uninformed or hate filled it may be – to be heard. It is one of the deciding factors, one of the reasons I don’t really want to do this anymore.

My blogging journey started after the Bruins/Hurricanes series, when I was so devastated that I needed an outlet. I needed to express myself. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I never thought that the ramblings of a moron would turn into this, honestly. I started Something’s Bruin and ran it as a one man show. I wrote inane, asinine stories and previews that I thought was funny.

I got names wrong.
I got stats wrong.

But I had fun doing it. Out of the blue the good folks at Bloguin contacted me about putting Something’s Bruin on their blog roster because they were looking to expand their hockey blogs. They were cool with my content. They liked my content. As that year wore on, my family went through hardships – some I care not to share – which caused me to just give up. The people at Bloguin, with my permission, brought Sarah Connors and Ryan Durling on board and I knew Something’s Bruin was in fantastic hands.

I was ready to fade from the blogosphere.

Then I got in touch with the Days of Y’Orr guys. Yeah, Days of Y’Orr – some Bruins blog that was doing the same thing I was. While Something’s Bruin changed into a more well rounded, informational blog, Days of Y’Orr continued the craziness. Bad photoshops, bad video montages, bad jokes, bad puns and it was awesome. In January 2011 I started writing once a week for them in a “Grinding Gears” segment where I was able to just go nuts.

Then it became more than once a week and I started doing photoshops, previews, recaps, whatever I wanted. Jon, Justin and Robb took me into their group like we’ve known each other since elementary school. Over time the group became more than just three friends who have known each other since high school and some dude from the Internet. We became brothers. We attended each other’s wedding. I hold those three as family. I love them.

And that’s what will make this so hard. I’m leaving my brothers in the trenches.

I experienced a lot through my time at Days of Y’Orr. I discovered what it’s like to be hated on the Internet. I got to collaborate with some of the best hockey writers I’ve ever known. I got to be on the radio, on television and pissed off a country so much that they published a hate piece in their local newspaper. It was awesome and I’ll never forget any of it. Hell, that newspaper article still hangs on my fridge almost three years later.

What a ride man.

And before I go, I just want you to know one last thing:

April Fool’s, you turkeys. I’m not going anywhere.