I played competitive hockey until I was 17. The game took me across Canada, into rinks I'd never have seen otherwise, and gave me friendships I still lean on today. Hockey wasn't a hobby growing up. It was the calendar my whole life ran on.
Growing up, I wanted to play like Pavel Bure. Speed, hands, a shot that whistled. He played a game that was five years ahead of the league he was in, and watching him as a kid shaped what I thought the sport could look like. I wasn't built like Bure, and I wasn't going to play like him, but every kid needs a north star and he was mine.
I'm also one of the famous six Florida Panthers fans. Picking the Panthers in Ontario in the late 90s was not a popular decision. My parents had to hunt down Florida gear like it was contraband, and honestly I'm not sure you could even find it in Miami back then. Three decades later, the Cats finally got their flowers. Worth the wait.
I stopped playing, but I never stopped watching. It doesn't matter if it's my team on the line or Seattle hosting Anaheim at 10 PM EST on a Tuesday in February. If the puck is dropping somewhere, the game's on in my house.
The reason I started High Danger comes from my life outside the rink. I work with data for a living, and for years I'd been quietly pointing that lens at the thing I actually care about. The questions that hockey people argue about every night (whether a young player is the real deal, whether a hot streak is signal or noise, whether a team is actually good or just lucky) are data questions underneath. They have answers, or at least better answers than vibes alone. I wanted to build the place where those answers live.
The other half of it is the Compare feature, which is honestly where the project started in my head. Comparing players is half the fun of being a fan. It's what you do during intermissions, on the couch, around the firepit, in the group chat at midnight. High Danger is built around that instinct, and not just player against player. Team against team, era against era, prospect against the guy he's being projected to become. The place where the argument finally has receipts.
This has been the most fun project I've worked on in a long time. Glad you're here. Welcome to the community.