Welcome to the new, new Eyes On The Prize!
From January 20, 2023, the day the majority of hockey sites on SB Nation were informed that we would no longer be monetized by Vox Media, the conversation began about forming a new network. The first step was to get new sites set up as quickly as possible to continue covering our teams and giving our communities a new home —- the site on the Ghost platform we had been using for the past few months — with a longer-term vision of having a platform developed in-house and being more catered to the needs of sports sites. That plan begins to come to fruition now with most of the former SB Nation hockey sites part of the new For Fans Sports Network.
Outside of a new-look website, things won’t be much different from what we had on the temporary site, including remaining an independent venture. But there are a few improvements to the platform based on feedback we received, including:
- The return of the ‘Z’ key. After leaving SB Nation, we also lost the functionality of navigating to the latest unread comments within articles, which made it difficult to keep track of ongoing conversations. This was one of the first features we knew needed to be included, and is available once more on new articles.
- Related to this is the display of unread comment counts so you know which articles have had further discussions since your last visit.
- The “magic link” email sign-in method was the option used by the Ghost platform. However, some members are unable to use that feature as they can’t access their email accounts at all times, so the more traditional password login is the method on the new platform.
With the network having now migrated all of the participating sites, the behind-the-scenes work will now be focused on optimizing the sites’ performance and adding new features.
Thank you for sticking with us through this period of transition we’ve been in since January, and we look forward to another season of comprehensive coverage and discussion of all things Montreal Canadiens.
Montreal Canadiens news and notes
- Brian O’Neill, a longtime NHL executive whom many credit with helping boost the profile of the NHL in the 1980s, had a memorial service on Saturday with several prominent league personnel in attendance, including Montreal Canadiens team doctor David Mulder. [NHL.com]
- There’s little in the way of Habs content on this holiday weekend, but we will have a few Top 25 Under 25 wrap-up articles, starting tomorrow.
