Toe Drag Update Re: ESPN

Seriously? Why can't we just consume more sport in general? This is what I mean when I say ESPN attempts to shove football down the American peoples' throats.

A Plea to ESPN

I've recently been picked up by another blog and am now writing for Arctic Ice Hockey of SB Nation fan. I shall be covering the Winnipeg Jets for the foreseeable future so all Jets fans can catch me on arcticicehockey.com. However, I am also committed to Toe Drag and will continue to write for Toe Drag for the foreseeable future as well. So keep visiting Toe Drag and visit Arctic Ice Hockey if you want to read some Jets coverage. I'm in the company of some pretty talented writers and great hockey minds over there as well as on here with Steven. I just felt that I should inform everyone that I'm currently wearing two hats in the blogosphere. So without further ado, my first post since becoming a member of Arctic Ice Hockey. Check it out after the jump. 

Goals of the Week

There are definitely some good ones this week, probably the best week of the year

5. Mikael Grabovski vs. Montreal

4. Thomas Vanek vs. Florida

3. Nick Foligno vs. Florida

2. Matt Duchene vs. Los Angeles

1. David Backes vs Edmonton

Quick Hits: October 29th

After a slow night last night (only 4 games), we'll cover what happened last night as well as upcoming storylines this weekend.

NHL.com: EJ Hradek writes about how a few hyped players and one hyped team aren't quite living up to expectations.

TSN: My fantasy hockey team is saved as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be staying with the Oilers.

Puck Daddy: Can't really explain this one. Just go to it. Brendan Shannahan mania would be my best effort to describe it

Stltoday.com: The Blues have a new owner on top of the Cardinals winning the World Series. A begrudging congratulations to them and all their fans.

Ottawa Sun: Kyle Turris' trade demands have piqued the interest of the Sens.

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Staying at 18

4 players drafted in this last NHL draft are here for the long haul as their respective teams have decided to keep them on the roster. each player at only 18 years of age will continue this season with their NHL clubs.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: selected #1 overall by the Edmonton Oilers, Nugent-Hopkins has shown plenty of promise. The main knock on him coming into this season was his weight, though that hasn't stopped him from playing his game. in only his first 9 games he's already scored 5 goals and 4 assists (9 points), which includes his first career hat trick, and a +3. He will center 1 of the top 2 lines for the Oilers this season.

Gabriel Landeskog: selected #2 overall by the Colorado Avalanche, Landeskog had the size and intangibles to make it this season, but no more speculation, he's here for good. scoring 4 goals and 2 assists (6 points) with a +2, Landeskog has been off to a great start and looks to keep that strong play to continue all season long. look for him to stay on 1 of the top 2 lines on the wing.

Adam Larsson: selected at #4 by the New Jersey Devils, the 6'3 200lbs swedish defenceman, much like Landeskog, was expected to crack the club this year, and he did. Helping a D-corps that severely needed some help in New Jersey, Larsson brings size and skill to the backend, looking to be the backbone of the D-corps for years to come. Larsson is still trying for that first NHL point.

Sean Couturier: Selected by the Philadelphia Flyers at #8 overall, after aquiring that pick from the Blue Jackets in a trade, Couturier is a big kid with plenty of skill, and he's shown it. He'll be center the 3rd line most likely for the Flyers, which is impressive to say the least with how much depth they have on that team, this will make things much more difficult for injured future-star Brayden Schenn. scoring 2 goals and 2 assists in 10 games, to go with a strong +5, Couturier uses his size and skill to create opportunities for him and his team mates and will be looking for continued success as the season progresses.

The Big Debate: Visors in the NHL

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

On Monday night, Philadelphia Flyers captain Chris Pronger took a stick to the eye courtesy of Nikolai Kulemin of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Soon after, it was determined that Pronger would miss 10 days, and would be restricted to bed rest, which was announced by Philadelphia GM Paul Holmgren. This sparked a firestorm among the media outlets of the NHL, and the hot topic of the week has been making helmet visors mandatory. Popular among European players, not to mention mandatory at the college level (full face shields) and in the AHL, the visor hasn't been so quick to catch on with North American players. However, progress is being made according to a tweet by Darren Dreger which stated that roughly 70% of NHL players wear a visor. This is not good enough for some people; there are many out there calling for a mandatory visor rule and just as many that think that notion is a bunch of hogwash. We'll cover both sides of the debate, and you'll hear my opinion as well. See the great helmet visor debate after the jump.

Quick with 3 straight Shutouts!

LA Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick just completed his 3rd straight shutout after defeating the divisional rival Dallas Stars and turning away all 28 shots. his 1st shutout this season was against the St. Louis Blues, stopping all 27 shots. the 2nd shutout coming against another divisional rival in the Phoenix Coyotes, blocking all 28 shots. Quick is now 5-0-1 on the season. He's 3rd in the league in wins (tied with Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury). 2nd in the league in GAA (goals against avg.) with a stunning 0.81, only behind Oilers goalie Khabibulin who's only played 4 games compared to Quick's 6. naturally, first in the league in shutouts with 3, no other goalie thusfar have multiple shutouts except for Quick. As well as a league leading .972 SV%. Jonathan Quick will have to wait for now to collect a possible 4th straight shutout, kings coach bob murray is starting jonathen bernier on tuesday against the New Jersey Devils. This is the first time in Kings history that a goalie has had 3 straight shutouts and first time in the league since Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets did it back in the '08 season. Quick was named the NHL's 1st star of the week.

Goals of the Week

5. Joe Pavelski vs. Bruins

4. Jamie Benn vs. Blue Jackets

3. Martin St. Louis goal vs. Sabres

 

The rest of the best after the jump.

Breaking Down the Booth-to-Vancouver trade

Panthers GM Dale Tallon is at it again. He is hard at work tinkering with his blueprint to turn around a franchise that has been far too inept for far too long, the Florida Panthers. This time, he has traded one of the few players who was around during the pre-Tallon era, David Booth, to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for forwards Marco Sturm and Mikael Samuelsson. Also going to Vancouver is a 3rd round pick for 2013 and forward Steven Reinprecht along with his beautiful head, who has been on loan overseas for the past 2 seasons. I'll be analyzing this trade piece-by-piece and delivering the final verdict on who got the better of the deal. Check it out after the jump.

Quick Hits: October 17th

Blueshirt Banter: The NY Rangers blog discusses the implications of the injury of D Michael Sauer to the PK

TSN: In the lone game last night, Hart Trophy winner Corey "Scorey" Perry lifted the Ducks over the St Louis

NHL: Over the weekend, super rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got his first career hat trick, one I'm sure is going to be the first of many

Yahoo: Drew Doughty, he of the massive shiny new contract, was placed on the injured list after suffering an upper body injury Saturday night in Philly

NHL: Hot off the presses, we've learned that Blue Jackets center Jeff Carter has a slight fracture in his foot

Quick Hits: October 15th

We're gonna be taking you around the league for the news and storylines of last night and today.

Aaron Asham regrets the WWE-style taunting but not laying the smackdown on young Beagle

TSN: Jason Blake suffers scary forearm injury

Puck Daddy: our friends over at Puck Daddy discuss tonight's return of Mike Richards to Broad Street

NHL.com Former Rangers great Kevin Weekes gives a goaltender's perspective on tight angle shots

New York Post: Isles' Dipietro out indefinitely with a concussion after shot rang off his mask

Goals of The Week

5. Claude Giroux goal vs. Boston

4. Brad Richards goal vs. Anaheim

See the rest of the scintillating goals of the week after the jump.

Peter Forsberg and the Legacy he Leaves Behind

Last night, the Colorado Avalanche had a night in honor of Peter Forsberg that, unfortunately for Avs fans, was ruined by the Red Wings of Detroit. Although Colorado could not pull off the victory, it still was a great night for a player who, along with Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy, led the Avalanche to prominence and established them as one of the most formidable teams in the NHL from the mid-90's until the lockout of 2005. Peter Forsberg leaves the game of hockey arguably the greatest Swedish hockey player of all time; I believe that an argument could also be made for Nicklas Lidstrom. Forsberg's unparallelled stickhandling and tireless work ethic along with incredible strength made him one of the toughest players to scout in the NHL. There was a period of 7 or 8 years or so where no matter what you couldn't keep him off the scoreboard. He was a perennial all star and was always in the conversation of the top 10 forwards in the NHL. His 885 career NHL points will always remind us of what could have been. Although Forsberg had all the talent in the world, his unfortunate career-long battle with a chronic, nagging foot injury is what some people will remember about him. For all the skills he possessed, the biggest challenge for him was staying out of the trainer's room. But for when he was on the ice, he was always the go-to guy for the Avs. There never was and will never ever be another Peter Forsberg. We here at Toe Drag wish him well in his life after hockey and maybe hope to see him in an analyst's role sometime in the future.

3 days in and already 4 shutouts

it's only 5-days into the NHL regular season and we've witnessed an impressive 4-shutouts from 4 different goaltenders, let's take a look:

James Reimer: the toronto maple leafs goaltender was the 1st to get a shutout, stopping 32 shots from the montreal canadiens in the maple leafs first game of the season, in front of the home crowd. reimer went on to gain "1st star of the game" honors.

Ilya Bryzgalov: the philadelphi flyers goaltender picked up a shutout in their 2nd game of the season against the new jersey devils (after defeating the boston bruins in their 1st game) on the road, bryzgalov stopped all 20 shots that came his way and was the 1st star of the game.

Jose Theodore: making his florida panthers debut, the veteran goaltender stopped all 27 shots, blanking the new york islanders in long island.

Ty Conklin: the detroit red wings goalie stopped all 29 shots, helping the red wings defeat the colorado avalanche, spoiling peter forsberg night for the colorado fans.

Tweeting During Games

AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND

Many games throughout the year, I'll be doing commmentary and talking about the games on twitter. You can follow the guys from Toe Drag @toedraghockey. Today I'll be gamecasting the Rangers and Ducks game in Stockholm, so follow us on twitter if you can't catch the game on tv or just want to hear some opinions. So far it's no score in the first, but both teams have had their chances. So head on over to twitter and follow @toedraghockey as soon as you can.

5 Things We Learned From Last Night's Games

(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Last night, the NHL dropped the puck on its 95th season, each team starting with a clean slate and beginning the long month grind on the road to the postseason and for one lucky team, a championship. I noticed a few things during last night's game, so after the jump I'll tell you a bit about last night's odds and ends if you happened to not stay up or did not get the chance to watch every game. More after the jump.

It's Time!

Ok Folks, it's been a while but we're ready to go finally! Regular season starts in 15 minutes and I hope you'll all be watching! I will be. After the games I'll post a column about tonight's games so make sure to check back after the games or tomorrow morning if you can't stay up for the late games. We're getting set to go here so make sure you all tune in to Vs. or TSN and make tonight a hockey night.

Top 10 young players to watch for this season

Logan Couture (2nd yr) : drafted 9th overall in the '07 draft by the san jose sharks, the kid continued to develop well in the OHL with the ottawa 67's, scores 39G and 87P in his final year there. after a short call-up stint in the '09-'10 season he completed his first year of pro hockey int he AHL, scoring 53pts in 42games. and in his first full season in the NHL scores 32G and 56pts. the kid never dissapoints, can very well improve on those numbers centering the 2nd line for a strong san jose team.

Jeff Skinner (2nd yr): drated 7th overall in last years draft, makes the club in his first year as an 18 year old, and tears it up, putting up 31G and 63pts in his first season. did i mention he also scored 50G and 90pts in his draft year in the OHL? kid has insane skills and he will only get better.

Michael Grabner (2nd yr): drafted 14th overall in the '06 draft, couldn't really find his way through the vancouver canucks depth, was later shipped off to florida in the ballard deal but after a lousey showing in training camp and pre-season dale tallon decided to release him. the new york islanders took a chance on him and boy did it pay off. in his first full season he managed to string 34G and 52pts together. can he keep up the good play in his 2nd season?

More after the Jump.

Gordon's Preseason NHL Power Rankings

(Image from Puck Daddy)

The 2011-2012 NHL season is upon us. Heading into this Thursday, here's a list of how the NHL's teams stack up against each other:

5 Players To Watch in 2011-12

Mike Richards's adjustment to life in the City of Angels will be something to keep an eye on.

So, the week is finally here. The week that teams finally shake off the offseason rust and hit the ice and play games that actually count in the standings. Unbelievable that it's been almost half a year since all 30 teams have been playings hockey, but boy are we glad that it's 3 days away! I will be posting something every day in order to get everyone hyped for the season opener on Thursday, not that any hype is needed anyway. Many teams will be in action and there will be many storylines depending on what team you root for, but in my opinion these 5 players will be the most interesting to watch this season for all kinds of reasons. See who you should keep an eye on and why after the jump.

Rowe's top 5 possible candidates for the Vezina

Bryzgalov: putting up incredible numbers and being one of the leagues best goaltenders for the last few years, ilya bryzgalov is looking to have a big year for a strong philadelphia team. though the flyers lost top center jeff carter and captain mike richards, they made up for it by picking up young wingers wayne simmonds and jakub voracek, as well as one of hockeys top prospects in brayden schenn. to go along with briere, giroux, hartnell, van riemsdyk, and czech legend jaromir jagr, the flyers shouldn't be hurting for goals, and with one of the leagues best defenses in front of him bryzgalov will pick up a lot of wins as well as putting up fantastic numbers in every category.

luongo: for some time now, luongo has consistently been in the leagues top-3 goalies. after losing to the boston bruins in game 7 of the stanley cup luongo will look for another trip to compete for the coveted trophy. with one of the leagues best offenses and a solid defense to go along with his natural talents luongo is primed to have, yet again, another incredible season, is this the year he finally wins the vezina? i wouldnt be surprised.

thomas: last years vezina trophy winner, and winner of 2 of the last 3, thomas has shown he is one of the leagues best goaltenders if not THE best. defending champion of the stanley cup and playoff mvp award (conn smyth award) he has shown he can pretty much do it all, though he isn't the youngest goaltender out there, he has shown he can lead a team and consistently play well. look for another strong season out of thomas even with rask behind him.

miller: winner of the vezina 2 years ago, millers buffalo sabres have made vast improvements to this years squad. picking up defensemen christian ehrhoff and veteran robyn regehr, to go along with one of the leagues best young dmen in tyler myers, the sabres have assembled a strong D corp in buffalo as well as bolstering their offense, making this years team one of the best in the east. even though buffalo has jonas enroth, who played fantastic in his appearences last season, still expect to see miller get a vast majority of the starts, which spells a lot of wins for him.

vokoun: consistenly putting up strong numbers regardless of the team in front of him, vokoun will look to have a strong season for the washington capitals. even playing for the florida panthers, which meant facing many shots and not having a stellar D in front of him he still managed to put up very solid numbers in all his seasons there. now he's on one of the best teams in the league, if not the best, combined with his talents, vokoun will look to take a majority of the starts, competeing with youngster michal neuvirth, and try to get the capitals back to stanley cup for the first time in a long time.

my pick: as of now i say bryzgalov, but we'll see as the season progresses. right now he's my favorite for the award.

Drew Doughty signs: 8yrs for 56mil

Drew Doughty of the LA Kings finally signs a long term deal, 8 years for 56 million dollars.

Chernoff's picks Part 2: Western Conference Rankings

Sorry for the delay, it's been a busy week but finally have time to make my Western Conference Pre-Season Rankings. So without further ado, here's how I think the West will play out in the regular season. 

Western 

1. Vancouver Canucks- Despite not showing up in the Stanley Cup Finals, any team with Luongo, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, and Ryan Kesler is sure to be deadly. 

2. San Jose Sharks- Look for Logan Couture to pick up where he left off left season; I see him as a blossoming superstar. 

3. Detroit Red Wings- Every year it's the same story: the Red Wings are always among the best teams in the league. Everything is gonna be fine in the city of hockey town; Goalie Jimmy Howard has 35-40 win potential. 

4. Anaheim Ducks- After Corey Perry's year long scoring binge, I expect Anaheim to surprise a lot of people with the help of Hiller in net and Bobby Ryan dropping jaws with plays like this. Watch that and try not to smile. I dare you. 

5. Los Angeles Kings- After getting Mike Richards, the Kings will get a boost offensively along with the usual production of Kopitar. 

6. Chicago Blackhawks- The team that took the eventual Western conference champions to OT in game 7 of the first round will rebound after having an underachieving regular season last year. Michael Frolik looks to bolster the offensive depth in his first full season with the windy city warriors. 

7. Minnesota Wild- They haven't made the playoffs in a few years, but after making two shrewd trades and acquiring Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley, they will be back in the postseason. 

8. Columbus Blue Jackets- Jeff Carter, Derrick Brassard, Rick Nash. Those are the three names that will lead CBJ back to the playoffs. 

For the teams that weren't lucky enough to make the playoffs (hypothetically of course), read about them after the jump. 

Chernoff's Prediction: Pre-Season Eastern Conference Rankings

The Penguins and Flyers will tussle on the ice and jostle for a shot at the Cup.

With about a week and a half left until the season starts, and since Rowe put out his pre-season predictions, I've decided to make a rankings post all my own. Behold, the almighty Shane Chernoff pre-season Eastern Conference rankings. West will come tomorrow, 

Eastern 

1. Philadelphia Flyers- With the addition of Jagr and Bryzgalov, the Flyers will dominate their sport much like their baseball counterparts the Phillies. 

2. Boston Bruins- Boston didn't lose much if anything at all important in the off-season, so look for them to pick up right where they left off. 

3. Washington Capitals- The addition of Tomas Vokoun finally gives Washington a piece to the puzzle they've never before had; despite losing Fleischmann, still plenty of offensive firepower. 

4. Pittsburgh Penguins- Even without Crosby, Pittsburgh managed to make it to the conference semifinals last year. The main question for them is what kind of a player Sid will be when they get him back. 

5. Buffalo Sabres- After absolutely loading up on D, putting the puck past Ryan Miller and the Sabres seems to be a improbable if not impossible task. 

6. New York Rangers- The addition of Brad Richards (however overpaid) finally gives Marian Gaborik a robin to his batman. It will be interesting to watch Derek Stepan to see if he hits the wall after an impressive rookie season. 

7. Tampa Bay Lightning- The team that came within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals will try to engineer another Cinderella run this season. I see no reason to believe they can't. 

8. Florida Panthers- Yes, the perennially awful Panthers will finally end their 11 year drought and return to the playoffs for the first time since the Pavel Bure era. Dale Tallon completely revamped this team and the Panthers shall finally make their fans proud after adding guys like Brian Campbell, Tomas Fleischmann, and drafting hyped-up rookie Jonathan Huberdeau. For more on Huberdeau, check out Steven's post on the former St. John's Sea Dog.

See the teams who didn't make the playoffs after the jump.

Rowe's prediction: Pre-Season Conference rankings

These are my pre-season conference rankings, i'll make another one of these after the trade deadline as well as include my predicted Stanley Cup match-up. For now, these are my rankings:

Eastern Conference:
---------------------
1) Washington
2) Philadelphia
3) Buffalo
4) Pittsburgh
5) Boston
6) Tampa Bay
7) NY Rangers
8) Montreal
9) Florida
10) Carolina
11) Toronto
12) Winnipeg
13) NY Islanders
14) Ottawa
15) New Jersey

Western Conference:
----------------------
1) Vancouver
2) San Jose
3) Detroit
4) Los Angeles
5) Chicago
6) Nashville
7) Anaheim
8) Calgary
9) Columbus
10) Minnesota
11) Colorado
12) St. Louis
13) Dallas
14) Edmonton
15) Phoenix

In Shanahan, NHL May have Found a Permanent Disciplinary Solution

When you think of the Red Wings Stanley Cup teams of the late 1990's, a handful of guys come to mind. Obviously Yzerman. Federov comes to mind as well. The third one that I think of is Brendan Shanahan. Always revered as a great teammate wherever he played, Shanahan was a value on and off the ice. Often times he was a mouthpiece for his team, always saying the right things to the press and giving his team a kick in the pants when they needed one. He also had quite a great sense of humor, as displayed in this classic hilarious commercial. Now, since retiring from the game and becoming the NHL's disciplinarian, he has since shown no sense of humor in dealing with a couple of early incidents. While certainly a small sample size, it is a good start and a welcome change from the days of Colin Campbell and the much-maligned "Wheel of Justice". More after the jump.

 Shanahan could prove to be the answer to the NHL's long history of unequal punishments of players (Getty Images)

Social Networks

Just wanted to tell everyone that we are now on facebook as well as twitter!

Like us on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toe-Drag-Hockey-Blog/165548556864436

and follow us on twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/ToeDragHockey

Hope you've enjoyed the first couple of posts so far. There will be plenty more to come so stick around, one more post will definitely be up tonight.

Doughty remains unsigned as the season nears

Drew Doughty sure seems to be the hot topic as of late. The former Norris candidate remains unsigned for the upcoming NHL season, and it doesn't seem like the contract talks have been improving too much either. After being draft 2nd overall, behind Stamkos, and being a Norris candidate in just his 2nd year after putting up 59pts with the LA Kings you'd imagine the young 6'1 210+lbs 21 year old would be due for a rather sizable contract extension. All the talks from the media and fans make it seem like he's the bad guy, making it sound like perhaps money is all it's about. He said though it is not about the money and he wish the talks would come off publicly so he doesn't sound like the bad guy anymore. He may say it's not about the money, but that's no doubt a large part of it. It can also be the length of the contract and GM Dean Lombardi is taking this all into account. Lombardi wants to lock up his young superstar to a long-term contract, believed to be for 7+ years. Doughty on the other hand doesn't want to commit that long it seems, and may be looking for something along the lines of 5 years. The proposed yearly salary is assumed to be between 6.5-7.0 mil per year roughly. If Doughty signs the longer deal it may mean more money (annually), and shorter years may mean slightly less money. We're currently in the middle of training camp and the preseason has already commenced. With the new season fast approaching it seems like either Lombardi and/or Doughty will have agree on something, and fast. Would the Kings actually think of trading their young superstar and a key part of their future? Well of course they "can", but that is highly unlikely as Lombardi has already said that he will not trade him. Another GM could always send an offer sheet, he is a RFA after all, but that would be bad for business as well as committing not just a lot of money in one player, but you would also have to sacrifice many top draft picks due to the rules of offer-sheeting a RFA. So that as well seems highly unlikely. At this point its just him and the LA Kings. Is he loyal enough to the Kings that he'll sign a more Lombardi-favored deal? Or will Lombardi be pressured to sign him to whatever he wants if he continues to holdout? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. We should hear more on this subject matter in the coming weeks. The Kings open up their season on October 7th against the NY Rangers in Stockholm, Sweden.

What should the Florida Panthers do with Huberdeau?

With the 3rd overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft the Florida Panthers selected the skillful Jonathan Huberdeau (forward). The skilled Left-Winger was invited to the Florida Panthers development camp, as well as the main training camp. In both camps he showed amazing potential and wowed the coaches, staff, and fans. Following those solid looks into game performances during the rookie games against the Lightning (2 games) and the Predators (1 game), playing on the 1st line, being named 1st star after the game 1 victory over the Lightning as hoping to bring those talents into the pre-season. In just his first pre-season game against the Predators he became the 1st star once again, tipping a Gudbranson slap-shot for a goal, and a beautiful assist to Santorelli. He showed poise, amazing vision, hockey IQ, great puck/stick handling abilities, and just having a knack for getting on the scoresheet. even though the young 18 year old Huberdeau only weighs give or take 175lbs he doesn't go down easily. That has been the main issue with him, is the weight. Players like Patrick Kane, who are smaller, show that you don't need to be huge to succeed at the NHL level, it's more the skill, but there is no doubting that more size makes it easier on the player. He has incredible balance, skating ability, and even delivered a solid check during that 1 pre-season game so far. I've even seen him stick up for team mates and i've yet to see him fall once. He can handle the puck through heavy traffic yet still remain control. Can strip it from opposing players as well as having a solid 2-way game where he is effective in his own end as well. So my question is this...what do the Panthers do? If he continues to "wow" during the pre-season should he be given a shot on the main club? Should they send him back to juniors for another year anyways to mature, develop more, gain size and strength, and play for team Canada? Should they at least sign him and give him the "9 game tryout" and go from there? Read more after the Jump.

Welcome to Toe Drag

If you're reading this, you're on Toe Drag, the latest and greatest edition to the hockey blogosphere. I'm Shane Chernoff, and along with my partner Steven Rowe, we'll be bringing you any and all hockey news and our opinions on what's going on around the pucks world! This blog will cover the entire NHL, so if you're a fan of hockey in general, or just want to learn more about the game, you'll want to check this blog out as much as you can. We hope that join us for the ride for this upcoming season, from the time the puck first drops in the regular season in October, to the time that the last team standing gets to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. If it's in the NHL, it sure as hell will be in Toe Drag, where we're always on the power play.