Some exciting news for the site: I'm happy to announce that Michael Schuerlein, aka "Islesblogger," is joining Lighthouse Hockey as an official contributor.

You may already know his work at www.islesblogger.com -- one of the founding Islanders BlogBox blogs that I've personally enjoyed since its inception. Michael will continue to do his thing there, but now he has a copy of the keys to drive this here ship, too (we're still negotiating curfew ... he's already modifying the engine). Both sites will continue, but this will be a chance for each of us to have more cross-blog pollination.

Michael will add another voice to Lighthouse Hockey and help keep this place humming with updates, features and who knows what else. The sky is the limit. As long as he doesn't repaint the den.

Bonus: He's actually a Long Island resident! Double-bonus; He actually has season tickets! (For new readers, due to a happy accident of childhood, I follow the Islanders long distance from a cabin in the Midwest. Ever since Al Gore made the Internet and the giant pine fell outside my cabin, I've been able to follow the Islanders online and get clear reception to Center Ice as nature intended.)

Through his BlogBox access, Michael gets to visit the post-game pressers and grab quotes and/or images from players and coaches, a nice bit of inside access that can help add another dimension here.

As I've mentioned before, my goal with Lighthouse Hockey is to leverage SBN's tools to initiate fun interaction among Islanders fans from anywhere and everywhere, among any online platform. The SBN user tools and communities among different teams are what drew me in. So I've never intended it to be "my" site -- but rather a great place that welcomes multiple passionate (albeit sane) voices among Islanders fans and general hockey fans. I imagine (and intend) there will be chances for more contributors down the line as this place grows, but Michael now will help set the tone and keep us from skidding off the road.

So please welcome Michael, our contributor, our Islesblogger, our friend!