Welcome New Readers to Die by the Blade

With the NHL Draft this weekend and free agency about to begin we have seen a huge increase in the readership and many new people sign up as well.  I've been told that the blog platform is great but it's somewhat complicated.  I agree that it can be a little bit intimidating but that is because there are so many ways for you to become involved.  That is what makes SB nation so great...it's about fan interaction and building communities.  It took awhile but we are starting to have our own community here at Die by the Blade and we want you to be a part of hit.

How to Sign Up

In order to become a full member of the Die by the Blade community you need to sign up for an account.  It's extremely easy to sign up and you can even use your OpenID or your YahooID to sign up.  Just click here and the rest will be easy to do.

Community Guidelines

Now that you're signed up you are ready to become an active member of the community.  The entire list of guidelines can be read here but all you have to do is show your passion and be polite to the other users and you'll be fine.

Comments

We encourage you to become an active member of Die by the Blade and the best way to do it is commenting on a post.  It's extremely easy to do and there are some helpful tips as well.  When you click in a post and you want to separate the comments you have read from the comments you haven't read it's easy...press the "z" to highlight the first comment, press "z" again and it will mark it read.  After every comment you read press "z" to mark it read.  The rest of the comment functions are listed at the top of the comment section on every post.

FanPosts and FanShots

This is the best feature of Die by the Blade and every blog that is part of SB Nation.  It is your opportunity to really become a part of the community and to share your opinions.  Instead of spelling it all out here for you, I'll direct you to Buffalo Rumblings where Brian has done an outstanding job of explaining them.

Manager : D.O.

I am the founder of Die by the Blade and proud of being the first ever hockey blog on SB Nation.  SB Nation has expanded the Hockey group and now have all but four teams covered.  You'll get to know me as you keep reading but the short story is simple.  I am the eternal Sabres optimist but get frustrated easily.  I would consider myself  a management apologist and agree with letting go of Briere and to a lesser extent Chris Drury.

Coach : coolman856

As the blog continued to grow, it was important that another writer come aboard.  Coolman856 joined us a couple of months ago and has done an outstanding job since joining the team.  He is the brains behind the Daily Roundup and is also the man that will get you prepared to watch every game with his extensive previews.

Game Threads

The last thing to tell you about are the game threads.  During every Sabres game we have a thread open for everyone and anyone to join in and share their thoughts on the game.  Because the platform is designed to automatically refresh comments it makes it easy to follow along without missing the action on your TV.

If you have any further questions feel free to e-mail me directly.  You can find my e-mail adress at the bottom the page where the crew is listed.  We look forward to building an even bigger community and want to welcome all Sabres fans to join us.