Welcome to Southeast Shootout

A Brief But Rich Heritage
The resume is already impressive:

• The NHL's last two Stanley Cup champions
• The last two Conn Smythe winners
• Vezina, Art Ross and Hart winners
• Three "Rocket" Richard awards in the seven years the trophy has been awarded
• The 2004 Jack Adams award
• Two of the past four Calder Trophy award winners

All this from a division entering its eighth season in existence. Heck, one of its teams didn't even exist when the division was formed.

Southeast Division teams have represented the NHL's Eastern Conference in three of the last four Stanley Cup Finals, and each of the Division's teams that has been around for at least a decade has made an appearance in the Finals during the past ten seasons. The Northeast Division, meanwhile, with all of its "tradition" and half of the Original Six teams, has exactly one Finals appearance since the Habs won it all back in 1993 - how's that for "tradition?"

And yet the Division is still referred to in some circles as the "Southleast" (though, to be fair, plenty of commenters realize that that shoe no longer fits). Which, is in part, why we're here. Modeled to an extent after the fantastic Battle of Alberta and Battle of Ontario sites, Southeast Shootout (or "SeSo," for short) aims to bring attention to the passionate fans, the great hockey being played and the phenomenal hockey players plying their wares south of the Mason-Dixon line by combining well-reasoned analysis, humor and a healthy dose of trash talking in a user-friendly forum - non-traditional hockey thoughts from non-traditional hockey markets, if you will. Think of this site as your connection to everything Southeast Division - like the Hartsfield Airport of internet hockey coverage, without the long lines and delays. Better yet, think of it as the Waffle House of the hockey blogosphere - scattered, smothered and covered in Southern puck goodness.

Some of us you might already know - J.P., Scott (a.k.a. CasonBlog) and Matt (a.k.a. The Falconer) - from elsewhere in the hockey blogosphere. Others of us - Dave (a.k.a. El Mojito) and Rick (a.k.a. Ching Ning Ming) - you might remember from that late summer night you spent in prison in Boston back in the late '90s after that girl (who, to this day you stubbornly insist was 18) claimed the stuff was yours and- sorry. Deep breath. OK. Anyway, you'll get to know each of us better along the way, for better or, perhaps more likely, for worse.

So take your NASCAR/redneck jokes somewhere else and check your stereotypes at the door. Don't talk to us about attendance or television ratings for hockey in Southeast Division cities - we don't care. The league's most dynamic players - Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Staal, Jokinen and Lecavalier, to name just a few - play down here, so Lord Stanely's chalice looks to keep working on its tan for years to come.

We're here for the hockey and we're glad you've joined us. It's really as simple as that... y'all.