Two guys, two years ago, met at the office and started talking sports.  While all sports were subject to these friendly arguments, it always came back to football and hockey.  Then one day, one guy told the other about a football website he had just found that had a lot of great information about football usually reporting it before most major news outlets.

So, when not being inconvenienced by their work, these two guys passed the time visiting the aforementioned football website and amicably arguing about sports.  Then football season ended and with the draft several months away, they topics of discussion soon gravitated toward the ice and the great sport of hockey.  But there was a problem.  These guys were forced to visit six or seven different websites, plus their teams’ pages, just to get their hockey fix.  You may be asking yourself, why is this a problem?  Visiting one site is much easier than seven when trying to make sure your boss doesn’t notice you not actually working.

That’s when the idea came to us, why not create a one stop website with up-to-date news and information about hockey.  No more multiple site surfing.  Everything hockey all in one place.  So that’s what we did.  With some inspiration and a lot of hard work (and many concessions from our wife and fiancée), AroundTheNet was born.

Matt had the good fortune of having a sister who figure skated for twelve years.  This was fortunate for two reasons.  First, he was able to spend most his time around athletic girls in short spandex skirts.  Second, he spent those twelve years in an ice rink watching, playing, and learning to love the sport of hockey.  He’s seen the rise and fall of the Oiler and Islander dynasties, the dominance of Montreal, New Jersey, Colorado, and Detroit.  He witnessed the play of the Great One, Lemieux, Borque, Roy, Broduer, Hull, and now Crosby and Ovechkin.  He’s seen the Russian defections, the European invasion, expansion, strikes, and the lockout.

Luke is a relative newcomer to the sport.  He grew up never actually seeing ice occur naturally (the tray in the freezer doesn’t count).  He watched a couple of games here and there on television.  He figured it could fill the doldrums of the football offseason.  Then he attended his first live game.  From that point he was hooked, and since that time his passion for the game has increased exponentially. With both feet, he jumped into the game, learning the rules, regulations, and nuances of how it is played.

Matt brings the experience and knowledge of the game to AroundTheNet, while Luke brings the fiery spirit that mirrors the rejuvenation of the sport.  Welcome, and we both hope you enjoy AroundTheNet, your one stop shop for up-to-date professional hockey news.

AroundTheNet was launched in September of 2008.  Our goal is to provide absolute up-to-date information about what things are going on in the world of hockey. Our goal is to provide the world with a single source for the latest unbiased hockey news, rumors, and our personal opinions on the happenings around the NHL and other leagues.

Special Thanks:
To Mike Florio who told us to “Follow your passion and bust your ass.”  Some of the best advice we’ve ever received.
Chris T., without your help, the site wouldn’t exist.
Our job, for giving us the time to get the site going.
Our paychecks (god knows this site isn’t making us any of the green stuff).

Editors (and all around badasses):
Matt Carlson
Luke Mills