In Case I Don't See Ya.....Good Afternoon, Good Evening & Goodnight.

This isn't a farewell.

I'm not moving anywhere. I'm not taking off on trek around the world where you won't hear from me ever again. I'm still going to be around, bugging everyone here on Twitter and Facebook and doing anything else I can to cause havoc. I'll be here everyday, commenting and laying down the law as best I can. I think of everyone here as a dear friend, and there's no way I could just up and walk away forever.

But this is a goodbye of sorts.

Starting this morning, I will no longer be contributing to Defending Big D. ProHockeyTalk launched this morning, and I'm most likely already hard at work getting ready for the re-start of NHL action and the trade deadline. It's going to be a big change for me personally, for a number of reasons, but most of all it's going to be a big change because for the first time in a long time I am flying solo, completely alone. Despite being part of the NBC Sports umbrella, never before I have felt so isolated as a blogger.

When I launched Defending Big D last January, my plan was to build this site, nurture it and let it grow for as many years as I possibly could. I started from scratch with just a few faithful readers catching on from day one but for the most part, it was slow going.

Yet with the help of Brandon, Art and Brad, we started to build. We really started to take off when Brad joined the team, and the past couple of months have been a thing of magic. Every single day I'm amazed not only at the amount of readers that Defending Big D had gained, but also at how many of you were avid members of the community we had built.

This is why me leaving DBD will ultimately not change much around here, because it is all of you that make this website so great. Every single one of our great readers treat DBD as their own internet home, supporting us in any and every way you can. You read us every day, you comment on every post and more importantly everyone here thinks of each other as friends. This is something special that we've built here, and my leaving will do nothing to change that.

I have every faith that Brad will continue the quest that I started. I know of no other Stars fan as dedicated as he is, and he is one hell of a writer. This is his show now, and I fully expect for him to take this site to bigger and better places, more so than ever before.

So this is not a complete and total farewell, but there's no doubt things will change. Brad has his own voice, and my only wish is that everyone support him in the absolutely incredible way you supported me. I will still be here, every single day, reading every single post and comment and you better believe I'll be in the game threads.

And I will still be at the Watching Party. You better believe it.

Also, please take some time throughout your busy day to read my new blog: ProHockeyTalk. It's completely different than anything I ever did here at Defending Big D, but I'm hoping you guys enjoy it.