*(Not affiliated with the Boston Bruins or the New England Hockey Journal)

Monday, August 15, 2011

ANNOUNCEMENT: Off to Red Line Report

It has been great devoting two full seasons of draft coverage on the blog here to you, loyal readers and hockey draftniks.

I am excited to announce that I have taken a position with Red Line Report as a scout and writer, so I can no longer continue the draft watch.

I've had a ton of fun, but it is time to move on to the next opportunity and I am grateful to Kyle Woodlief for giving me a shot to do something I have always desired. That has opened the door for me to do some other things in scouting as well, but it also means that I cannot maintain this blog to the standard I require without a conflict of interest, so I must shut it down.

I will still maintain my position with the New England Hockey Journal, so there will be draft coverage at the Kirk's Call section there of the website- it just won't be as comprehensive as this blog or singularly dedicated to the NHL draft. However, there will still be lots of interesting insights on some of the key players, especially those playing in the New England region.

Although I won't be actively blogging the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, there are still plenty of outstanding resources out there, and we'd love for you to sign on with Red Line if you can.

Thanks to the many folks out there who linked the work here and really turned this blog into something much more than I ever envisioned. It has been a real blast interacting with you all and seeing the kind of reach

I'm keeping the naming rights to NHL Draft Watch, so who knows? Perhaps one day, the blog could make a comeback in some kind of form or fashion, but for now, the energies and effort are going to be devoted to RLR.

UPDATE: 19 August 2011

If interested in more NHL draft insights and views on all hockey prospects- not just Bruins players, please follow my Twitter feed: @kluedeke29

Thanks for all the support!

10 comments:

  1. I'm simultaneously sorry to see you go and really happy for you, Kirk! Thanks for creating such a wonderful resource these past two years. Good luck and best wishes - RLR is a lucky organization to have you!

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  2. Wow. Mixed emotions for me here. You and this blog are hands down the best resource out there for people with questions about the draft and prospects. I've been reading your stuff religiously for over 2 years now, so I know the quality that you produce. This was bound to happen.

    Congratulations on the new gig and I'm very happy for you. Next stop will likely be an NHL team for you Kirk. Keep up the great work and maybe I'll see you in Pittsburgh in 2012.

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  3. Great news, thanks for all the time and energy you put into this blog.

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  4. Congratulations - it's great to see that all of your hard work over the past decade or more has paid off with the RLR opportunity!

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  5. No mixed emotions for me here. As a friend I would have been pretty upset if you didn't take on the opportunity. There are very few that can do the job with the dedication and the honesty that you put into it Kirk. And to get the opportunity that you've wanted makes me extremely happy for you.

    I hope that we stay in touch and that if you get up to an OHL game, you send me a text, email phone call or what ever it takes and I'll be there.

    Well deserved opportunity for one of the best. I wont wish you luck but will say just keep doing what you are doing and you will be more than successful.

    Now go get em tiger !

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  6. As an avid reader from the first day that this blog began and a consistent reader of the NEHJ i am proud and impressed by your dedication, analytic abilities, and pure passion for the game. You will be sorely missed on this blog but this move to Red Line is beyond a perfect fit. I hope that this works out well. Congratulations

    PS i may now have to suscribe to Red Line

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  7. Thanks for all the kind (and heartfelt) congratulations, folks.

    I greatly appreciate them!

    Also- I will be doing one more post on this blog- there is one more item of housekeeping that I will be doing in September, so once it is up, I will tweet the link. It has to do with the critical turning point for the Boston Bruins and their 2011 Stanley Cup win as I see it.

    So, stay tuned- that will officially be it.

    As for Red Line, already started in with a feature on Sioux City D Jordan Schmaltz and will begin scouting trips next month. Looking forward to the change...thanks again for the words of support.

    You can follow me on Twitter: @kluedeke29

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  8. Wow, what better way to end the Bruins Draft Watch is there than Bruins winning the Cup for the first time in 39 years. A BIG thank you for all the work you've put in to this extremely well-written blog, making it the best NHL draft source there is. As a huge fan of your blog I got to say that I'm very dissapointed that this phenomenal blog has come to an end - but don't get me wrong. Nobody deserved this opportunity better than you, based on all the accurate articles, player profiles, scouting reports and personal thoughts I've read on this site for the past couple of seasons.

    It has been a real pleasure checking in on the site every now and then and I got to say - Is there one draft writer's/scout's opinion that I really value - it's yours.

    Congratulations and a very big Good luck for what's coming next!

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  9. Congratulation and I hope that you can do a great job. Host Pay Per Head community have been following your blog and I think that you will do great

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