Greetings and Salutations

I might as well just rip the bandaid off and get right to it. Some of you may recognize me from my blog, The Hole in the Door. Recently Casey asked me if I was interested in coming on board full time, and I immediately jumped at the opportunity to write for a great blog like WIM. So allow this to serve as my "hey, how are you?" post.

I'm still fairly new to the blogging game, but one thing I'm very experienced at is loving the Red Wings. A brief bio: I was born and raised in Toronto, and while I was subjected to the Maple Leafs on a nightly basis, I never truly felt a connection to them. When I was in hockey school as a kid, everyone said that they were the Leaf player that corresponded with their jersey number. For me, that was Miroslav Frycer. I know what you're thinking, and I agree: he was a stud. Thankfully, a couple of years later, I discovered Steve Yzerman, and was immediately transfixed by how awesome he was. From there, it was only a matter of time before I was converted to a full-fledged Red Wing fan, and I have not regretted that decision for a moment since. I now live in the suburbs of Chicago, and let's just say that growing up in Toronto taught me what it is like to be a Wing fan in enemy territory.

I am not coming in to change the way things are done around here; Casey runs a good ship, and I'm happy to be on the crew. I'm what I like to call an optimistic pessimist: I believe that everything will go wrong, but I'll do so with a smile on my face. I love the Wings more than most people should, but I love the game of hockey just as much.

I have had people ask me for the story of my blog name. I briefly explained it in my "About" blurb, but I'd like to expand on it here. After Max Talbot scored his second goal in Game 7 in 2009, I wanted to unleash my normal stream of loud swear words. However, my 2 year old daughter was sitting next to me, and she was at the stage where she repeated everything I said. So, I got up to walk to my front door where I could say the things I wanted to but be far from her little ears. However, on the way to the front door, I just lost it and punched the door to my basement, putting a nice hole in it. That hole is still there, although I added a little spackle to make it seem less conspicuous. It's a story that I find particularly funny now, but my wife has informed me that not enough time has passed for her to think the same.

I'm looking forward to discussing the Red Wings and the NHL with all of you over the course of the year. I think this is going to be a very special year for the Wings, and we're going to witness some amazing things. As always, please feel free to shoot me any questions, comments, praise or threats of bodily harm. I want to thank Casey for this opportunity.