The calendar says it’s July 1st. My kids are decked out in red and white and I’m seriously considering having a beer before noon.
It’s Canada Day, alright. But it just doesn’t feel the same this year.
In years past, July 1st has always been one of the busiest days on the SensChirp calendar. Next to the Trade Deadline, no other day comes close actually. Traffic and comment section activity usually reach absurd levels and the server is often pushed to the limit.
Not this year though. Sure, there’s been some news today.
Edmonton and Toronto are the likely hub cities for the NHL’s return to play. Vegas seemed destined to fail from the beginning.
The NHL and the NHLPA are making progress towards a renewal of their Collective Bargaining Agreement. And as part of that renewal, the NHL will likely return to the Olympic Games in 2022 and 2026. It’s about damn time.
Oh and as part of that CBA renewal and modification, there’s a flattening of of the salary cap coming. Bad news for teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs. Great news if you’re a young team with cap flexibility.
No Free Agent frenzy to look forward to this year though.
No long term deal for Jeff Finger. We don’t get to watch James Duthie struggling to fill dead air for hours on end. We won’t celebrate Cody Ceci to the Leafs (Happy Anniversary though!) and we can’t cringe at a press conference for Eric O’Dell.
This year just isn’t the same.
But it still has me reflecting on what has been another great year here on SensChirp.
There have been times in the last year where it felt like SensChirp might be fading away a little bit but the community here keeps this place humming along.
The last four days in particular have shown what this place is all about and why it’s unlike any other online hockey community.
Draft Lottery day was as busy as any in SensChirp history. An unheard of and record setting 6051 comments. Not all happy ones of course but a great example of just how many Sens fans continue to make SensChirp a part of their Sens routine.
And then with the Draft more than 100 days away, you might think we’d all go our separate ways for a bit and agree to meet again in a couple months.
Uhh nope. Nearly 2000 more comments on the next post and another 2800 on the next one.
More than 10,000 comments. In a week. In July. When hockey has been gone for more than three months.
Incredible.
I don’t say this nearly often enough but…thanks.
Thanks to each and every one of you that have followed along with SensChirp over the last 12 years and thanks for helping to make this place what it is today.
Happy Canada Day everyone!
Now…where’s that beer?
