Yes the news today about a potential lockout probably got you down but hopefully a few hockey videos will cheer you up or at least put a smile on your face.

Have a great night everyone!

Hi there everyone! I am the newest writer for "The Hockey Program" and am very happy to be on board. I write under the alias of "Fang Finger", but that doesn't mean I am a "insider". I am just a hockey fan, specifically of the Nashville Predators, living just 30 minutes from Bridgestone Arena. Right now, I am the lead editor/owner of "Fang Faction", a Predators' blog, on the Bloguin network as well. Staying in the Bloguin family.

My duty for The Hockey Program is to be a weekly contributor, in which my posts will be answering hockey fans' questions. The segment will be called, "The Hockey Program Mailbag", followed by the dates of the past week. You, the hockey fan, can email me questions that will be answer on a post about any of the following:

Gear, Fantasy (Chris Wassel's favorite thing), NHL, Minors, Juniors, rules, opinion and latest news. And hey, anything hockey related can be answered.

My goal in doing this is to reach out to every hockey fan, from beginner to being a hockey fan all their life. 

Questions can be emailed to my mailbag email, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Trust me, everybody's questions will be answered.

Thank you everyone and am glad to be on board! You can follow me on Twitter @Fang_Faction.
 

For many years athletes have been seen to enjoy betting and visiting land-based casinos and online casino Canada. Often this can lead to the temptation of immoral gambling and match fixing, as the history of athletic gambling has revealed.

The link between athletes and gambling goes back many years, such as the case with Ice Hockey player Don Gallinger. In 1948 Gallinger and former team-mate Billy Taylor were discovered gambling on their own teams and banned for life by the NHL. They were reinstated in 1970 but even today this stands as the longest suspensions in the history of NHL.

On February 7, 2006, the Coyotes’ assistant coach Rick Tocchet was charged for operating an illegal New Jersey-based gambling ring. Allegedly bets were taken from NHL players, Janet Gretzky and Coyotes GM Michael Barnett, who confirmed to police he placed a bet on Super Bowl XL with Tocchet. Gretzky always protested his innocence. It was announced on February 16, 2006 that Gretzky would not be charged nor was it likely his wife would be charged. Tocchet brought an end to the case by pleading guilty to the gambling charges on May 2, 2007. Gretzky and Jones were never charged with any wrong-doing, they are still surrounded by the gambling controversy however.

Another common outcome of athletes that gamble is that they are paid to represent a gambling company. Ice Hockey player Roberto Luongo, goalie for the Canucks, has been directly linked with gambling; in September 2011, his poker playing caught the attention of Playnow.com who signed him as the ‘face of’.

According to the lottery corporation, the partnership between PlayNow and Luongo makes sense with his reputation regarding Canadian sports circles and his skills in the game of poker. They said, "He is renowned for being a poker player…he is good.  Everyone knows about Roberto Luongo's poker playing abilities."

Luongo expressed his excitement surrounding this new business opportunity. He said, "I've always enjoyed playing poker and my competitive side is looking forward to practicing my poker skills," he said. The ice hockey star added in the press release: "The friendly competition of a poker game is one of my favourite hobbies. It's always been fun to play online and I look forward to testing my poker skills"

(It really is true....all good things must come to an end.....)

It is August here on The Program and it is time to announce some changes. Hockey never seems to rest for us and this may be the reason why so we owed it to everyone to reveal this now as opposed to later. Decisions like these are very tough emotionally. Let's face it. No one ever wants to be put in this position but sometimes it just happens that way.The last couple months had become very tough on so many people that were involved in the blog and podcast in one way or the other. When Bruce Hollingdrake and The Hockey Writers asked if a THW Live podcast could be pulled off, I was not sure. These are decisions that can not be made at the spur of the moment. This was a road that once we went down on, there was no turning back.

The decision weighed on us for quite some time. How on Earth do we do this? How do we keep the entities completely separate, etc? All this seems so easy at first but when it comes ot implementing the concepts, the lines always get blurry. In the end, it came down to what was best for everyone involved and not just the person heading this operation. Personally I cannot thank people enough for their patience and support in what was a very trying situation.

So how will this go about? Simply, there will be three more episodes of the podcast version of The Program. On August 26th, there will be the "series finale" that yes will be completely uncensored. Some have asked why already and the answer is easy. The two hour show will feature many friends from our past and include likely a couple that will go forward with us. Like it has been said before, there are too many people to mention on this one post. However, I hope saying thank you here is enough.

The series finale will feature memories of the show's first four years along with a look to what is ahead. With the debut of THW Live just two weeks later, it is not really goodbye but a step up into a new level of podcasting in a sense. There is nothing like trying to take a very good product and then trying to make it even better. The challenge is incredible and hopefully the results mean that much more hockey debate. This has always been the goal and forever will be.

THW Live will have many more people working on it which may be the nicest aspect of all. It is never easy to put together a show with all sorts of constraints and lack of reinforcements. That made The Program suffer at times and I humbly apologize. That should never occur. The decision was made to take the load off things in general so the best product made could be put forth. The unedited version of the show will be on the BTR page while the edited cut will be on The Hockey Writers. That hopefully works for everyone. Do not worry we will explain it a few more times for everyone throughout the month. It is the summer after all, right?

Again the topics will mostly be the same, but the delivery and tone will be different. So basically hold on tight and let us along for the ride hockey fans. Lastly from the bottom of our hearts, thanks for everything and enjoy the ride! There will be ways to help for all of our FB and Twitter fans and such so please hang tight. It is all very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Chris Wassel

(My hockey partner and life partner....)

This is a bit unusual we understand but inspirations come in many forms. Then there is one that makes all the others completely irrelevant. I consider myself truly very lucky to have enjoyed my time and continued times with Rachel Rose Cena but this is her day today. At 22 years of age now, not only does she make me feel young but also I know I have the truest hockey partner in crime.

Rachel is truly the best sounding board I know. Not many know this but a lot of my ideas often start off by either talking to her or it is more or less her idea. Our hockey debates go in so many different directions. One night it could be about the New Jersey Devils and the next it could be about fantasy hockey or whatever subject that may come up.

She is also an integral part of The Program and what will become The Hockey Writers Live in September. Behind every man is a great woman and the reality is the cliche is quite true. There are few people that could truly understand how hard we are working to bring you an old show that was great and try to make it even better. The ideas she provides have brought levity and sense into what is a really hectic process.

Then there is the help from a writing standpoint. One's vocabulary can always be expanded and leave it to Rachel to blow the roof off of it. When you are lucky to know someone that is not afraid to just be honest and blunt about what you do, one knows they really have found that special person. I am very lucky and extremely grateful.

That is why I wish Rachel a Happy 22nd Birthday and a hope that this day is truly special in every way because every day I am with her is very cherished and I love you.

Sincerely,

Me