Couple nights ago in Chicago, I'd asked Rickard Rakell in the Penguins' locker room if Marcus Pettersson's offense might be under-appreciated.
"Oh, that's Karl," he'd begin.
No, not Erik Karlsson, I'd quickly clarify, as we were now three deep into discussing Swedes. I wanted to know about Pettersson after he'd patiently surveyed the scene from the left point in the Blackhawks' zone, only to bank a half-shot off the end boards for Rakell, who'd whirl and pass across for a Sidney Crosby goal:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) February 16, 2024
Pretty nice. But not Karlsson.
"That was Karl," Rakell persisted. "He's the one who's been telling Petey, going way back to training camp, to keep his head up, to always keep looking for offense."
Moments later, as Karlsson passed through the room, I confirmed this, but only to hear, "Give all the credit to Petey. Great play."
Man, I love this stuff. I missed doing this stuff on a day-to-day basis. And I'm not about to miss any more.
____________________
Some of you might've already noticed, but I've had a column atop our app/site for seven straight days. I've been at every game, plus other events, as well. I've shared thoughts on subjects galore, both in print and in podcasts.
I haven't said anything about it until now, but here's why: This was the original plan going way back to July 23, 2014, when this venture was launched. Dali and I would always have to do more than our standard roles because of the nature of being a small business, and I knew that, but my goal was to cover as much as possible, report as much as possible, write as much as possible.
But over the past near-decade, that morphed into a lot of other stuff that ... to be blunt, buried me. All over again. Organizing. Editing. Filling in where needed. And I'd wind up feeling little different than back when I was still with the newspapers, as if I was the one setting the stage for the process rather than standing right out there.
So, for a couple months now behind the scenes, we've done some reconfiguring toward a setup that'd allow me to get back from out of the cold. That's not complete, but we're feeling good about it to the extent that we're not waiting. I've already started.
And I've loved it.
I'm exhausted already, but I've loved it. I've smiled throughout. I've felt energized. I've been heartened by the response.
As long as I'm leveling with you today, I'd allowed this to slip so far into the other direction that our company began to get judged, for better or worse, by the staff we've had at any given time, or even a single reporter here or there. And that was never, ever the original intent. The brand was built on the initials in the company title, and that's a burden I never should've let go. If people liked us, it should've been about my columns. If they thought we sucked, it should've been because I wrote a sucky column. Instead, it became, seemingly, about everything and everyone else, and that often wasn't fair to them or us.
A few days ago, one of our longest-tenured and most treasured readers asked when I was going to get around to hiring an additional hockey writer. As if I hadn't already written countless columns from a ton of games even while also being engrossed in the Steelers' season to its conclusion. As if I wasn't even here.
That was the wakeup call.
Even though that was just a perception and not reality, that was the wakeup call.
Because the greatest value I can add to this operation is to head out to the fields, rinks and diamonds and do what I've always done best. And the greatest value we can get from the operation is to ensure it's facilitating exactly that. Meaning taking up tasks I'd been doing myself. Meaning covering events that might not be the most compelling for a full-blown column (practices, blah, blah). Meaning managing a mess of other items, as well.
I sure won't be easy to overlook now.
____________________
Plain and simple, my ambition here is to take you with me. Everywhere I go. Whether that's on this side of the river or that, whether it's on the wrong side of the commonwealth or continent, I'll offer a connection through our app, our site and, above all, our new Feeds, to everything I'm seeing and hearing.
Most commonly, that'll come in column form. It'll be a single-subject Grind if I'm at a game or other event. It'll be a bunch of bullets if I'm not. On Fridays, unless there's a game/event, it'll be an Insider. On Saturdays, like this, it'll be a Site Stuff. And on Sundays, beginning next weekend, it'll be an expanded version of my Live Qs.
Staff artist Rob Ullman's crafted a tablet full of new illustrations, Dali's worked with him to craft new logos as accompaniment, and we've done all this while also fortifying our base news coverage from the staff. That latter tier will be focused on a faster, more fun and reliable-as-ever approach to ensuring that the Feeds and our alerts keep you constantly updated.
Happy to take questions in the comments, as ever.
INSIDE THE WORKS
• Reminder: Our 10th anniversary is July 23 at the Downtown HQ/shop. We've already heard from quite a few of you planning to attend, including some from well out of town. For anyone interested in the latter, know that the Pirates and Cardinals have a three-game series at PNC Park at that time, so it's a nice double-dip.
• Grateful that so many of you, per a recent Site Stuff, followed through on our request to support us without spending a penny, by simply leaving us good reviews on specific outside platforms. There were, quite literally, hundreds of them. For anyone who hasn't yet, feel free to do so on our Google listing, our Apple or Spotify podcast channels, our YouTube channels for the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates and, last but definitely not least, our own app, whether it's the Apple or Android version. And again, thank you!
• Each of our team pages has restored a top-story function, as you'll see from tapping any Feed. That's to highlight the latest work by staff, since this new Grind thing's going to anchor the home page.
• Wheels remain in motion on the commenting platform upgrade. Still no firm target, but it's moving.
• Everyone still loving being ad-free? If you're not there yet, it's only for paying subscribers. If you aren't subscribed yet or if your subscription's expired: this is our new subscribe page. Make sure you're logged in, tap on the link, and thumb down to the bottom for the SUBSCRIBE button to buy/renew at the monthly or annual level. We also have discounts, as ever, for student subscriptions and senior subscriptions.
• For anyone asking -- and we still get lots of questions on this -- yeah, there's still a subscription level. It's the level where there are zero ads, first and foremost. It's an infinitely better experience. It's also the level at which readers have access to our Live Qs, our commenting platforms, our in-person meetings and many other perks. We feel it's a really good value.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page-view numbers for the past week were 766,153, with 29,089 unique users over the most recent full seven-day span, Feb. 9-15. Our most-read original piece was my column from Winnipeg, Manitoba, about Mike Sullivan's standing with the Penguins, at 17,517. Look for us to strive for a million views a week before long. We were there all through football season, but it needs to be up there consistently.
• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were 101,633, and our YouTube video views for the past week were 110,003. That first number's about to get more complicated to share, as Dali's found a second home for our podcasts that we're testing from a revenue standpoint, so the shows are being spread out within distribution.
• Our company social media accounts are at 52,216 followers on X, 40,411 on Facebook, 29,450 on YouTube, 14,965 on Instagram ... and already 3,980 on the new Threads!
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• We're often asked about our HQ/shop merch being available online, and yes, it's right here.
• Anything you need, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com
