from Earl Sleek of Battle of California,

Thanks to Sacamano, Fenwick, and Grabia for introducing the hockey internet to the"Battle of..." blog concept, and demonstrating why it is the best damn format imaginable. Who wants to write to just one team's fans about one team's storyline all the damn time? The real heart of being a hockey fan is in its rivalries, and those guys showed why "Battle of..." was the best way to go.

Thanks to Benjamin, Dellow, Lowetide, Covered in Oil, Irreverent Oil Fans, Black Dog Hates Skunks, Jes Gőlbez, Kukla's Korner, and James Mirtle for also introducing me to the hockey blogosphere concept. Back when I was a young slacker at a day job, these were basically all the blogs that I knew existed, but I read and enjoyed them quite thoroughly. They showed that the strength of a blogosphere is in its diversity -- some were numbers guys, some were story tellers, some were news breakers, and some were just silly -- but it worked well when everyone did what they did best.

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