So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish

This is going to be my last post at CanucksArmy. As of August 1st, I am stepping down as the website’s managing editor. Before we get into that, and what it means for the website going forward, I want to tell my story, and send thanks to everyone who helped make my time here so meaningful.

I still remember getting the email from Thomas Drance to join CanucksArmy like it was yesterday. There I was, doing something resembling an apprenticeship for wallpapering, dirt poor and mostly out of writing, and then this opportunity jumped out from my beat-up iPhone’s screen.

Hope springs eternal indeed; I was ecstatic.

From there, it was a slow burn. Sportsnet writer and host of the excellent Hockey PDOcast, Dimitri Filipovic, was halfway through his tenure as the Managing Editor, and he eased me into the website, first with social content, then gamers and finally editorial content. It turned out to work perfectly, and that approach afforded me countless opportunities to just learn from the veteran writers who made this a go-to destination while carving out my own niche therein.

As Filipovic moved on, I was fortunate enough to have Rhys Jessop take over, and my role expanded greatly. By the end of Jessop’s time at CanucksArmy, I’d become one of its most frequent contributors, and again, was fortunate enough to learn invaluable information along the way.

Then it was Jeff Veillette’s turn at the wheel, and I got the chance to be his right-hand man. In that time, Veillette taught me so, so much about what it would take to be a successful managing editor in this space, and I think that the success that followed can be traced directly to his footsteps.

Each of these people played a pivotal role in setting me up to succeed as CanucksArmy’s Managing Editor, and as a writer more broadly, and even as a person I’d like to think. Words cannot even begin to describe my gratitude for that.

I can say the same for everyone who has written at CanucksArmy during my time as editor. In Ryan Biech (more on him later) and Jeremy Davis, I had the best righthand men imaginable; in Vanessa Jang, Matthew Henderson and Grainne Downey, the best social team in the entire network; in Jackson McDonald and Petbugs, some of the most aggressively controversial, but thorough and insightful, writers on the entire Smylosphere; in Harman Dayal and Cory Hergott, some of the best up-and-comers around. And it goes on, and on.

In my time at CanucksArmy, we’ve broken page views numbers time and again, and I know it wouldn’t have been possible if not for everyone I’ve already mentioned.

Another component, though, is the audience, and for that, you all have my unending gratitude — yes, even the people who hurl obscenities and insults at me in the comments section. CanucksArmy would be nothing if not for the readers.

It’s clear, though, that I need to move on from CanucksArmy. As the George Harrison song suggests, all things must pass, and my time at CanucksArmy is no exception to the rule.

In my stead steps Ryan Biech, who will be the interim Managing Editor of CanucksArmy. I have full confidence in Biech’s ability to not only keep the site afloat but take it to new heights. It’s good to know that this space is in good hands.

Before I part ways, I want to send one last word of thanks to Mike Gagnon from Nation Network HQ for making my job as easy as possible, and offering support where necessary.

With that, so long, and thanks for all the fish. It’s been a slice.