Highlander Hockey Report exists to understand hockey more deeply and share what makes the game worth loving. We look beyond the score and the familiar story to ask worthwhile questions, examine the evidence and add the context that helps explain why.
Hockey is also the people beside us in the stands, the places a road trip takes us, the cards we collect and the stories passed from one generation to the next. Those experiences belong here alongside the analysis.
Why “Highlander”?
The name is personal.
My roots are in Pictou County, Nova Scotia — the birthplace of New Scotland and a part of the province with a deep Highland heritage. My own MacLeod ancestry is part of that tradition.
There is another family connection as well. One of my grandfathers served with the Nova Scotia Highlanders, a regiment whose history stretches back through generations of citizen-soldiers in northern Nova Scotia.
Those connections give Highlander meaning beyond a name or a logo.
And the MacLeod clan motto provides the philosophy:
Hold Fast.
For Highlander Hockey Report, Hold Fast doesn’t mean refusing to change your mind. Quite the opposite.
It means holding fast to the principles that should guide good analysis: curiosity, evidence, context and independent thought. Follow the evidence where it leads. Question assumptions — including your own. And be prepared to change a conclusion when better evidence demands it.
The perspective
I’m a Maple Leafs fan. I always have been. Toronto provides part of my perspective, but Highlander Hockey Report is a hockey publication with room for the whole game. Numbers, history, experience and curiosity inform the work. Understanding hockey is more rewarding than simply reacting to it.
Hold Fast. Think Sharp. See the Game Clearly.