Earlier this month, I put out a "help wanted" post looking for two new writing positions for In Lou We Trust. I did this because of how successful the last time I did something like that. Back in 2010, I wanted some assistance in writing on this very site, and I decided to to the community for help. I was impressed with all of those who took a chance, and I decided to add three people on board: Matthew Ventolo, Tom Stivali, and Kevin Sellathamby. They were readers like you, and now they are significant contributors to the growing hardcore Devils fan blog, In Lou We Trust. It is indicative of the quality within this community. Therefore, when I wanted more help this time, I went back to the community - back to you, the reader.
Only this time, I was looking for two specific roles. The first was to handle posting links on a daily basis, similar to the Caps Clips posted at Japers' Rink - the gold standard of links posts. The second was to record, store, and share scoring chance data for each Devils game in 2011-12. Both require significant commitment. The former requires plenty of awareness of what's going on and being able to post it every day. The latter requires a lot of work in just collecting the data - watching games closely and trying to parse out who's on the ice and when a chance happened. That doesn't even go into storing and presenting the data sometime after the game. I wasn't sure whether I'd get any interest for either position, so I left it open for readers to try and convince me to select them for the position.
Once again, I'm blown away by the readership of In Lou We Trust. I've gotten interest from several people for both roles; honest, candid interest from both long-time readers and recent users to long-time users and readers. I'd like to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to send me and email and express their interest regardless of who was selected. Out of all the responses, I've added three new writers to the masthead from this effort.
Rob Watson and Josh Weinstein (formerly jweinstein116) will be taking care of daily link posting for here on out. They'll share the workload and provide posts filled with links so you can discuss them during the day. In fact, they'll be hockey-related open threads; so you can discuss other Devils and hockey-related news and issues as well. Rob came up with a good name for it already: Devils in the Details. You'll start seeing their work fairly soon, likely sometime next week.
C.J. Richey (formerly C.J.Richey121) will be undertaking the scoring chance effort. He has shown me that he can perform the task, use Vic Ferrari's tools to present it, and has a good understanding of what's required to record them. Since there's quite a bit of time before the season starts, you won't see too much of this from C.J. soon. When the season does begin, the work he will do will yield valuable data and allow all of us at In Lou We Trust another way to analyze the Devils and their players.
I formally welcome Rob, Josh, and C.J. to the site. They're now on the masthead at the bottom; and best of luck to all three of them. I am confident that they will help take In Lou We Trust to the proverbial next level during the 2011-12 season. Please leave your welcomes in the comments. As for hockey-related content, there will be another goal breakdown, this one comes from a suggestion by statusquo.