Dear Readers of the Boston Hockey Blog,
The lull of the college hockey offseason is upon us, and as I close out my third semester as the director and head writer of the Boston Hockey Blog, I wanted to write to you one last time on this site. With the 2020-21 season on the horizon, I am leaving the BHB to pursue new opportunities as I become a junior at Boston University next fall.
First and foremost, I want to say thank you for a great year and a half writing for this publication. After all, the Boston Hockey Blog would not be what it is without the network of readers that follow this site and its content. We are very fortunate to have such a consistent, dedicated, and passionate reader base. Thank you for being that for us.
Of course, there were some growing pains that came with running this long-standing site as a freshman and a sophomore, and I appreciated your support and understanding through all of it. That said, when I look back at my time leading the BHB, those won’t be the first memories that come to mind. Instead, I’ll think about the great games I covered, the great journalists I got to work with, and the great people I met.
As I advance to new endeavors, I do not plan on leaving these relationships behind. I’ll still be involved in the BU hockey scene, and I’ll still bump into the friends I’ve made on this blog around the Agganis Arena concourse. I look forward to keeping in touch with you and meeting more of you on game days, and being around the arena will also enable me to do my part to ensure that this site continues to thrive.
Lastly, I would like to recognize the student journalists I have had the privilege of working with over the last 18 months. Patrick Donnelly, Paige Mautner, Cara Mooney, and Liam O’Brien are all versatile, knowledgable, and incredibly talented young journalists, and I encourage you to follow their work as they continue to master their craft. Behind the camera, Emily Hunter and Jenna VanSickle excelled in the often thankless job of being a hockey photographer, and their work was critical to our coverage. I am also very appreciative of the Daily Free Press staffers who provided the platform and administration system for our efforts, as well as the alumni who lent a hand along the way.
I’m not quite sure where I’ll land in the future, but I do know that my path will stay somewhere around BU hockey. If you’re interested in keeping up with my view of the team going forward, you can find me on Twitter, @BradyDGardner. My email is always open as well: [email protected].
Once again, thank you all. This has truly been a transformational experience for me, and I will never forget the impact this role and these people have had on my time at BU and my development as an aspiring professional. The Boston Hockey Blog will always be special to me.
As my good friend and longtime BU broadcaster Bernie Corbett says after every college hockey podcast, “see you around the rinks.”
Brady Gardner
BU COM ’22