It has been an amazing five years for this website and brand. I never imagined that we’d achieve what we have to this point. Today, the Expected Buffalo flag gets a little bigger. We’re adding the Die By The Blade brand to our portfolio.

The plan is to utilize that site and space to create a fan hub for Buffalo Sabres faithful. Much of what you see on the site will remain the same, but we’ll be adding some new twists. For example, there will be a page that lists independent podcasts that cover the Sabres. The talent pool of content creators in this market is not common, especially in hockey. We want to help bring that content to the forefront for people to consume.

We’ll also use the Die By The Blade site as a path to develop new writers and give opportunities to those people looking to break into the space.

Die By The Blade is where I made a name for myself covering this hockey team. I’m excited to have the opportunity to keep that site going and bring it under the xB umbrella.

Melissa has done a great job taking over running that website. There have been challenges with SB Nation dropping its hockey coverage, and she kept it going through that as an independent brand. She has been covering the Sabres just as long as I have, and will be missed in the community. I wish her nothing but the best moving forward. I know she’ll crush whatever she sets her eyes on next.

As a point of clarity, nothing will change on this site. It’ll be status quo with the entire team continuing to produce content here. This is a move to grow our audience and add digital realty to what we’ve built.

I’m excited to get involved with the awesome community at Die By The Blade. They deserve to have that site remain as a critical piece of the fan experience. Also, thank you to all of you for supporting this site. We wouldn’t be able to have an exciting day like today without that support.