State of the Blog

With J.D. Burke stepping down as managing editor of Canucks Army, I am honoured to take on the title.

J.D. did tireless work that made every one of the writers lives easier and I hope to provide the same level of support and work ethic that he showed every day.

With the holiday weekend in the rear-view mirror, figured it was a chance to have a post about where we stand as a blog and what you might be able to expect going forward.

Really excited to have the writers that we have. Cory Hergott (aka Comets Cory) has been killing it with his coverage of the Utica Comets. Harman Dayal has been doing really extensive and through work at a variety of angles. Jeremy Davis provides countless hours of work behind the scene that makes every one of us look better.  Janik Beichler provides some really interesting video analysis pieces that take hours to complete. Jason Hamilton did a fantastic job on the post-game reports to close out the year and Cat Silverman is a huge help in pinch-hitting when we are stuck. Lastly, Petbugs will continue to do his thing.

Jackson McDonald will continue to be doing the Monday Mailbag, WWYDW, and other features – along with adding the analysis work that he has been doing. Jackson will be assuming the role of associate editor for Canucks Army and will be expanding his footprint in assisting me.

It was not announced here but Vanessa Jang did mention on twitter that July 2018 was her last month with Canucks Army. She is a huge loss in terms of content and social media. Really excited to see what the future holds for her.

My goal with all of the above writers is to help them take steps forward and allow them to spread their wings. They form a fantastic base of content with a variety of angles.

Since taking over, I’ve already received a few inquiries about joining Canucks Army.

There has obviously been some criticism about missed content over the last year. Our goal is to cover everything but it is important to remember that this is a hobby for many of us. Some of us have young families, some have school, and others are just hobby writers for fun. Please keep that in mind going forward when asking for content and be aware that our goal is to provide in depth analysis that isn’t available anywhere else in the Canucks blogosphere.

We will continue to look to add voices to fill in the gaps in coverage. Someone who can do post-game reports and analytical based posts will be the main targets.

If you are at all interested in being a contributor to CanucksArmy, you can reach out to me at ryanbiech@hotmail.com

When I first started blogging, Canucks Army was the premiere blog to write in Vancouver.

I originally applied to write here, with zero background, and was ‘cut from camp’. It was disheartening at the time, but Thomas Drance told me to get writing, improve it, and one day there should be a chance. Less than 18 months later, he reached out to me and added me. Never would’ve thought that I would be in charge of the site in the future. Given some of the names that have run the blog, there are huge shoes to fill.

Many of you know that writing isn’t the strongest part to my analysis – I struggle with the grammar side of it. So although there will be some editing required for this role, there will be others that will be assisting me in this aspect and working hard to improve it on my own.

Think of me as the manager of the site. Directing the ship towards being the premiere analytical blog that Canucks Army is known for.

As for content from me, my goal has been to take the step into the hockey side of the business (instead of the media side) – so expect a lot of articles from me with that endgame in mind. More long-form pieces with a variety of angles that may not be specific to the Canucks and that includes scouting reports of the various 2019 Draft eligible prospects.

I will work tirelessly every day to listen to every concern and try my best to fix them. Some are not possible, some I will disagree with, but I will make sure to listen to all feedback. If you have a concern, my email is provided above.

The Canucks season is just over a month away and it should be an interesting season.

I will be taking this time before the season kicks off to talk with the current writers, find new ones to add, and to work out the best possible plan for next season.