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It wasn’t until late yesterday that I realized it was December 3rd, so suffice it to say it was a long day. But when I actually realized what day it was, I had one of those “oh crap” moments. It was a good “oh crap” moment, because I realized that the blog turned five years old yesterday. It’s amazing how fast time flies.

It was five years ago yesterday when my good friend Becky told me that I should start a blog. There weren’t many readable blogs at that point (maybe a handful), mostly because hockey wasn’t as popular as the other sports, so I decided to go for it. I reached out to friend of the blog Mike Axisa (of River Ave Blues) for advice on how to get things rolling. He was even kind enough to promote BSB on RAB (hooray three letter acronyms) a few times to get the word out, and to help write here to get the blog moving along.

In those times, I was happy to cross 100 hits per day. If I got a comment on a post I almost wet myself. I remember the first time I crossed 500 hits, and it was when Mike posted the first link to BSB in an RAB open thread. I had a celebratory beverage.

At first it was just me running things, posting at a whim, no goal breakdowns, no real thought out analysis, and way too much love for Petr Prucha. That lasted about two months, and then I started switching to a more formal schedule. Google searches told me that consistency was the key to building a following, so I obliged. Mike told me that posting relevant and well thought out content often was also a necessity, so my approach changed. Less emotions, more objective analysis. Less at-a-whim posting, more concrete scheduling. Two posts per day in the season.

It wasn’t until the 2009-2010 season where I realized I needed help. I brought on Jeremy to help (Jeremy moved in 2011, which made it difficult to watch games, so he voluntarily moved on from BSB). That February, I was taking a ten-day vacation with friends, and needed someone to help fill the void while I was gone. After all, this was a lot of work for Jeremy, and Mike had his RAB responsibilities. Asking them to cover my burden wasn’t fair. It was a snarky Welshman who volunteered, you know him better as Chris.

The three of us continued writing until Jeremy left in February 2011, but luckily Suit reached out to us that April. We were more than happy to bring him on board, and his systems posts have been an invaluable resource for all. Seven months later, after reaching out to Justin a few times to do some post game analysis, we decided to bring him on board full time. I think this one was Suit’s idea, although my memory is hazy. Feel free to take credit for that one Suit.

In 2012, Kevin Baumer reached out to us to contribute on a weekly basis. We were very quick to say yes, all of us being a fan of his work with Blueshirt Bulletin. Just last week, we added Becky. So in five years, we’ve managed to put together a team of six solid writers, seven if you include Jeremy.

Remember those times when we were happy to hit 100 views a day? I remember the first time we hit 1,000, then 5,000, then 10,000. The traffic here has grown by at least 100% each and every year, to the point where we now average roughly 8,000 hits a day, and anything below that is considered a bad day, a weekend, or a holiday. We’ve had a few of those recently, but more wins mean more traffic, so I blame the .500 on-ice product.

You hear that Rangers? Play better so we can have more traffic. Thanks!

It’s been a hell of a five years. From all of us to you, thank you for your continued support. Here’s to another five years.

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