Edward Morris paints the blue line during the installation of the ice surface at Verizon Center, the home of the NHL Washington Capitals, in Washington.GARY CAMERON/Reuters
Dear subscribers: We learned something about you this week. You love hockey. Or at least breaking news about hockey. On weekends.
When news broke Sunday morning about an end to the hockey lockout, our website lit up. Our initial reports were devoured, even more so by subscribers than by the casual readers, those people who haven't used up their 10 free clicks a month. That's great to know.
We then watched your interest tail off a tad, especially by Monday. Midweek, it spiked again with the Brian Burke story.
Again your reading habits told us something: Be quick and to the point. (Like most media companies, we are able to track reading habits to understand what our digital subscribers read most.)
Video pick
You can get a taste of the coming season in this video featuring our own Hannah Sung and sports columnist Jeff Blair.
Whether you are a big hockey reader or not, it was hard not to appreciate the sport's role in our country this week. The game led most news sites even when more important issues were at play, from native tensions with the Harper government to the growing conflict in Mali. Why? It's a game, sure. It's also one of the things that binds us, especially in these darker months.
We're much more than hockey, though. We love Canada's complex world, too. Join our award-winning East Asia correspondent Mark MacKinnon and celebrated photographer John Lehmann as they begin a three-week journey across China on the 70th anniversary of Mao's long march.
Enjoy your weekend,