Editorial

Thanks for the memories

Written by Paul Figler on

 

As I say my final farewell to the site I helped create, I am left with some fantastic memories about my five-plus years building the world’s biggest independent media site about the Western Hockey League.

First some background.

I actually started writing about the WHL before DUBNetwork came about. I was writing some stories and making videos as a member of RD Rebel Nation. It was a great group of fans who made many bus trips between Red Deer and Calgary and Edmonton. 

Then came WHL Stats. That was a lot of fun for me, as a numbers and statistics guy. The amount of work that went into that site for Jesse and me was absolutely insane. I remember spending many hours inputting data to our database, and being so annoyed when formatting from our sources was all over the place. It created countless hours of reworking information. The cool thing was it landed us a short, paid gig. 

In the late spring of 2016, Red Deer hosted the Memorial Cup. I decided that I wanted to volunteer my time and wound up as security for some of the events happening throughout the tournament. It was the opening game for the Rebels that allowed me to meet Dave Lowry, who already knew about WHL Stats. That was quite an awesome experience. So too was it when I met Kelly McCrimmon and David Anning, who both also already knew of me through WHL Stats. 

Who knew that a conversation with Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek at the Memorial Cup would guide a decision that came mere months later?

It got the ball rolling on DUBNetwork. 

Jesse and I were approached by Scott Sepich to take our stats and turn them into articles. We brought Brandon Rivers on board to help us out and he quickly became an integral part of the management group. That conversion with Jeff Marek? It gave me the courage to take a giant leap. He didn’t need to spend his time talking to me, but I am forever grateful he did.

Unfortunately for us, Scott received a promotion with his full-time gig and wasn’t able to stay on. 

We handled all kinds of ups and downs through our time navigating a new media company, from distrust from some of the teams to being granted permission to attend events outside of regular hockey games. I have personally attended the WHL Draft, WHL Awards, WHL vs. Russia Series, and the IIHF World Junior Summer Showcase in Calgary. I have been to all but seven WHL rinks, and several of them multiple times. Some of our writers attended the 2019 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Vancouver and Victoria and we were provided access to the 2019 Memorial Cup.

Some of my favourite memories around media access come from my time in the US, each of Portland, Seattle, and Everett were amazing. I was treated so well by all the staff and even some of the fans. A special shoutout to Mike Benton, Ian Henry, and Nick Marek for making everything about that trip as smooth as the ice the players skate on.

I have a funny story about the 2019-20 WHL trade deadline. The Red Deer Rebels were to play in Winnipeg on January 11, 2020. I happened to have a lot of family there and was off work due to an ankle injury. I figured I would fly to Winnipeg from Calgary and catch the Rebels in action the day after the trade deadline. Well, my flight was delayed 12 hours and I was stuck inside the airport, past security. Thankfully, I traveled with my laptop. 

That day we broke many trades and were on top of the ones we didn’t have a heads up on in record time. Our website had one of its busiest days ever. I was exhausted by the time I reached Winnipeg at 10:30 PM local time, but it felt amazing to be part of such a well-oiled machine. 

Turns out one of the biggest deals of that day was between the Winnipeg ICE and Red Deer Rebels. Dawson Barteaux and a couple of draft picks headed to Winnipeg for six draft picks, including four second-round picks. I interviewed Dawson after the game that night, a 6-0 Winnipeg win, and that entire trip ended up being an experience I will never forget. 

We made, and failed at, an attempt to duplicate DUBNetwork. OHLNetwork just didn’t seem to take off as DUBNetwork did and our, mostly my, patience was thin in trying to get things going. It was difficult to manage from thousands of kilometers away and the pandemic and other factors killed it off. Too soon? Maybe. 

It wasn’t always “good” news either. We broke the story that Matthew Savoie wouldn’t be granted exceptional status. That was a highwater mark for us in terms of page views and attention but I will tell you this… it was a heartbreaking story to tell. It is not something I wanted to write and our team waited a few hours and made absolutely sure we weren’t going to publish something so sensitive and be wrong. I still think about whether or not we made the right choice that day.

We tried to manage a global pandemic, while I was injured and off work. At times, my patience wore thin with writers not wanting to write and my personal expectations not being met. These were trying times for everyone, and I regret, in some ways, the way I handled the pandemic.

Something I struggled with during my time with the website was expectations.

I wanted to grow the site to be the biggest junior hockey website anywhere. I wanted people from the site to be the experts on their local team’s players and then some. My wants didn’t always line up with what the writers or other managers wanted and that caused friction at times. My hope was that everyone who wrote for our site could move on to something bigger and get paid for their time and efforts. No matter what we (or I) tried, we really struggled to attain that. To those I upset over the years, I am truly sorry. I learned a lot about the site, other people, and myself through all of that.

Stepping away from the site I helped build was not an easy decision to make. There have been many things in my personal life that have changed in the last number of years and as a result, my mental health suffered. I could no longer give my best to the website. 

Thank you to folks like Glen Erickson, Ryan Sinclair, Joshua Critzer, Brandon Rivers, Jesse Phillips, Ben Dooley, Chad Balcom, Shawn Mullin, Stephen Hawco, Tyler Lowey, and Zach Zaret for all of your dedication over the years. Thank you to all the other contributors and writers for your efforts as well. 

Thank you to Byron Hackett, Joe Whitbread, and Cam Moon for making every Rebels home game an opportunity to learn while having a lot of fun. 

Thank you to Shellie and Amalee for allowing me to make all the arrangements over the years to attend hockey games. My passion for hockey is exceeded only by my love for my kids and my appreciation for you. 

Thank you, Taylor Rocca. Without your help and support, none of this would have been possible. I knew we were doing ok when the phone calls became less and less frequent. You helped us build rapport with all of the teams and supported what we were trying to do even if others didn’t. While I am at it, thank you to all the communications professionals across the WHL for everything you have allowed us to do and for believing in what we were trying to accomplish.

Thank you also to former CHL Communications Manager Paul Krotz. Any time we ran into each other at events or I had a question via email, you always gave me the time I needed. It was appreciated.

I want to especially thank BCHLNetwork’s Brian Wiebe for everything over the last few years. Whether website or personal life related, you’ve answered the bell every single time. If nothing else, I have gained a great friend from all of this. I am very grateful to have someone like you in my corner.

Most of all though, thank you for reading. Without you, I wouldn’t have ever done this. The Western Hockey League is lucky to have the most passionate and vocal fans.

I have no doubt that Darren Dupont and Rod Pedersen and the rest of the team here at the site will carry on in fine fashion. 

Thank you to everyone for everything. 

I’ve never been great at goodbyes and so I will leave you with this; you haven’t seen the last of me, so I’ll see you around.