This article was written by the founder of NHL Ties explaining their recent departure from Twitter.

“One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock rock…”

Q: Hey, what happened to NHLTies?!

A: We were bought out. Our contract was weighing Team NHL Twitter down and even with the 5% escalator, it was going to be hard for them to retain their all-star lineup. Once Bob McKenzie tipped one-million followers, it triggered a bonus clause in his NHL Twitter contract that made retaining our contract untenable.

“Five, six, seven o´clock, eight o´clock, rock…”

Now for the serious answer – This past season was a challenge for us. A couple of key staffers were no longer able to help us with screen caps and joke writing, and don’t look to be able to do so again any time in the future.

We felt like we had hit a wall creatively and were pushing out a lot of recycled content. We tried a few new things this season (comic booking tie battles, using a fixed schedule, etc.), but nothing felt like it clicked. It started to feel like we weren’t going to be able to bring the absurdist humo(u)r at the levels we expect of ourselves. Jokes are serious business around here.



“Nine, ten, eleven o´clock, twelve o´clock, rock…”

Where it really became a struggle for us this season was; it all fell on one person to get screen caps from the games. We’re hockey fans first and foremost, so it also started to feel like we weren’t able to enjoy the games this season. It kind of felt like…a job. *shudders*

“We´re gonna rock around the clock tonight…”

So why are we throwing in lines from Billy Haley & The Comets ‘Rock Around the Clock’? We decided rather than let our account turn into the “Happy Days” of Twitter – rehashing jokes for far too long and eventually having our CTO on water skis jumping over Brent Burns in a swimming pool – it would be best to just step away from it all.

We had amazing adventures, we’ve been blessed to meet so many unbelievable people, share laughs and stories, and are proud to call so many of you our friends. That will not change.

We set out to have fun with this account. We did. We decided to use this account to help with causes dear to us. We did. All of that is thanks to you.

Are we done for good? Honestly, we have no idea. It depends on if we can “find teh funneez” again…

CUE:

– Luciano Michelini “Frolic” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-nxjTGKe5U

FADE TO:

– END CREDITS

Editor’s Note: I just wanted to thank everyone at NHL Ties for a really fun run. I came across this twitter account when I worked at the NHL Network and our commentators really got a kick out of the one on one battles and the nightly critiques. When I moved over to Sportsnet, the hosts and commentators were the same way. I heard on many occasions the guys on the desk asking for a tie check with the NHL Ties twitter account on their minds. We’ll miss you and hope to see you again down the road!



RELATED: Our interview with NHL Ties back in April of 2014

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