Daily Dose of the Dub: One Final Dose

 

As you have likely heard by now, the management team here at DUBNetwork has made the tough decision to stop coverage here at dubnetwork.ca because of the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

I made the decision last week to quietly step away from the site. Over the last months, I had become mentally drained as my day job requires me to be on top of the COVID-19 pandemic 24/7. When the time came to this article, most nights I didn’t have the energy to make this what I wanted it to be.

After Paul Figler informed me of the site’s news I asked if he would allow me to write one final Daily Dose and he has graciously agreed to let me come back to send this place I called home off into the sunset.

I first got involved in junior hockey in a media capacity in the 2011-12 season as Co-Host of the Ben and Stephen Talk Hockey podcast. Yes, my co-host was Stephen Hawco, who you’ve become familiar with as DUBNetwork’s beat writer covering the Vancouver Giants. And that podcast was the starting point for my current career in radio broadcasting as a producer for a Vancouver radio station.

Our podcast ended in 2013 when Stephen left home to play Junior B hockey throughout BC. But my love for junior hockey did not die with the podcast. I told myself that I would one day return to this world that stole my heart as a young teenager and when Stephen joined DUBNetwork, I knew that I would not be far behind.

Joining DUBNetwork was honestly one of the best decisions I ever made. I have built some great relationships along this wild ride and have had way too much fun, and for that, I am truly grateful. I want to thank Paul Figler and Jesse Phillips for allowing me to join their team. To see this happen to the site breaks my heart because I know how much blood, sweat, and tears they have poured into the site over the last years to make it into something I wanted to be a part of.

I also want to take some time to acknowledge the work that went into bringing this article to your screens every single day. Over the last year, my name was the one attached to the article, but I never did this on my own. I had a great team behind me and I can say with certainty that I never published a Daily Dose that didn’t have input from somebody else on this team. I had team members helping me keep track of all the news, providing insight, opinions, and background information that I would not have had access to otherwise. So to our team, I say thank you.

I also want to say thank you to the people who read these every single day. These articles were read by everyone from team management, to parents of the players, to the players themselves, to other media members, and to the general fan. I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time to read, and to reach out with messages of support. You made the work worthwhile more than anything else could.

So what does the future hold? That, my friends, is the million-dollar question. For myself, I am going to take a step back from junior hockey while this COVID-19 pandemic plays itself out. My day job requires a lot out of me these days, so it’s not possible for me to provide you with the standard of content I expect from myself, and there may not be junior hockey for us to talk about for a long while yet. I never liked it when I made a mistake in this article but nothing would make me happier than for me to be wrong about the status of junior hockey.

What I do know is this, when junior hockey comes back, I will be back in some capacity. Our team members will be working tremendously hard during this pandemic to figure out what comes next for themselves. Please do not stop following them. Please do stay in touch. They need your support more than ever. And please support your local paper, radio station, or television station in whatever way you can. The demand for local journalism right now is higher than its ever been as we all try to get through this pandemic. Your continued support is what keeps us all going.

This is not a goodbye for me, more of a see you later. I cannot wait until the time comes where we can talk about real live WHL hockey again.

Until that day comes,

Thank you,

Ben Dooley