Hordi out the door

Thanks to the heads-up from Kukla's Korner, word comes that the Predators have made their first swap of the off-season, trading enforcer Darcy Hordichuk to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 5th-round pick.

This smacks of a classic "something for nothing" deal similar to last summer when David Poile shipped Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell to Philadelphia, since he knew he wouldn't be able to sign them to new contracts anyway. Even when he was in the lineup, Hordi didn't get more than a few minutes of ice time, and it doesn't appear like that would change in 2008-9.

If he sticks with Carolina, Hordichuk will serve as a relatively useful enforcer, in that he's actually pretty disciplined (no minor penalties in 45 games last year), and appears to be a positive, team-first player despite not getting regular ice time. The fans in Carolina will enjoy his personality as well; he hosted a weekly radio show here in Nashville that's made him a fan favorite. He certainly has a pretty good website...

All in all, this is a very minor deal for the Predators, but doing the small things consistently well is the hallmark of a quality organization. Well played, Mr. Poile...

Celebrating a milestone month

I've been remiss in providing regular updates on my quest to turn this whole sports-blogging hobby into at least something of a significant side income, if not a career, but good news has a way of prompting action. That, and I've been heads-down busy working on a few different fronts to push things forward...

Social Media, Internet Marketing, and Real, Paying Customers - it really works!

Applying the basic tenets of internet marketing (SEO best practices and social media network building) have helped me grow the readership and engagement over at On The Forecheck tremendously in recent years, but lately I've been wondering if those same techniques could be applied to small- or medium-sized local businesses, to help them drive real, tangible business results. I'm talking about not just drawing idle hockey fans looking to a blog so they can muse over line combinations, but helping businesses connect with potential customers in ways that otherwise wouldn't occur. Recently, I was able to help make just such a thing happen, and it shows just how great the opportunities are for small, local businesses which may not have the resources or skills available to extend their brand effectively on the internet.

NHL Fake Trades, an idea worth pursuing further in 2013

As I wrote about a month ago , I decided to jump upon a short-term opportunity and set up a "hot topic" website for the 2012 NHL Trade Deadline. NHLFakeTrades.com was inspired by a column by Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail, who looked at the frenzy with which hockey fans jump on even the sketchiest of information about potential hockey trades, and wondered if some cash could be made by simply and forthrightly writing about fictitious trade scenarios. This meshed nicely with an exercise I went through a few years ago to create a Random Trade Generator, so in the course of a few hours I went ahead and registered the domain, set up a WordPress site using ( as I do at Hockey Gear HQ ) the wonderful Genesis framework with the News theme , and freshened up the Trade Generator for 2012. So how did it do, in terms of traffic, revenue, and accuracy of the trade projections? Let's take a look...

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