In many ways, the month of September signifies change. The turnover from summer into fall; the dawn of a new hockey season, with training camps & preseason on the horizon; for the kids, a new school year…and for Die By The Blade: a new managing editor.
Oh hey, that’s me!
My name is Melissa Burgess. If you’ve been reading Die By the Blade, you’re probably already familiar with my work; I joined this site in 2017 as a staff writer, and now, I’m taking over as Managing Editor. I’m excited to continue working with a great collection of people – and we’ll be adding some new faces soon – and I can’t wait for the hockey season to get started.
Before I tell you a bit more about me, and my hopes for this community, I want to shout out Chad DeDominicis. Chad was a great Managing Editor for the past four years, and it’s been a great pleasure to work with him. Best of luck to him in his future endeavors. I’m grateful to Chad (and Stephanie Driver) for believing in me and trusting me with these new duties!
As for me: I’ve been covering hockey for the past 12 years for a number of outlets. The majority of my coverage has been about the NHL and the Buffalo Sabres, but I’ve also written about women’s hockey (professional, international & college), as well as men’s hockey at the junior, minor & college levels. Podcasting, radio hits, features, player profiles, in-depth investigative pieces, breaking news stories…. you name it, I’ve done it.
While this isn’t my full-time job, covering hockey is something I’m incredibly passionate about. I love the thrill of pouring my heart & soul into a piece, the excitement of chasing a story, setting up interviews, executing the research and penning something I’m proud of — there’s nothing like it. Even the simple things like walking into a rink as a credentialed media member & taking my seat in the press box, wrapping up post-game interviews and heading back to my computer to finish writing a story, even if it’s just a basic gamer — it’s something special.
I’m grateful for the continued opportunity to cover the Sabres here at Die By the Blade, and to step in as Managing Editor and help lead this site as we continue to grow. While we’ll keep providing a lot of the same great content you’ve come to expect, we’ll be adding a few new writers, and with them, more content on sports culture & what happens off the ice, too. After all, hockey is much more than just what happens on the ice during a game.
With the season just around the corner, I think this is the perfect time for me to step into this role. I can’t wait to get started – or really, to keep going – and bring you all the Sabres and hockey content you need. Let’s have some fun!