On the Forecheck, a Nashville Predators community

Congratulations to Nashville Predators enforcer Brian McGrattan, who has some big plans for this weekend.

Based on TV ratings and chatter on platforms like ESPN, you'd be led to believe that hockey had fallen out of popular consciousness, but the NHL has been a leader when it comes to digital marketing and fan outreach via platforms like Facebook & Twitter.

One of the great innovations in hockey-watching in recent years is the explosion of mobile internet access, which allows the fan attending a game to access, well, pretty much the entire sum of human knowledge. That can be a daunting amount of information to sift thought, so how do you get to the important stuff, like hockey talk?

When it comes to using social media to promote their brand, some NHL teams are miles ahead of the laggards.

So you've been thinking about possibly running in the Nashville Predators' Fangtastic 5K this Saturday, but haven't quite gotten around to registering yet? Steve Sullivan is offering up a reward if you sign up for the 5K run/walk, and follow him on Twitter as well.

While hockey fans have enjoyed the tweets of NHL players like @MartinHavlat, @Sully26 and @dellis39, word comes this morning that @tjoshie, which claims to be the account for St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie, is not the real thing - despite the "Verified Account" label that Twitter has stamped on that profile page.

It's one thing for hockey bloggers to call each other out for reckless, speculative work. When an NHL player agent does so, we need to sit up and pay attention.

The latest news & notes includes a new Tennessee tax on professional sports that specifically exempts the NFL, a look at who the Predators might take in the Entry Draft, and an interview with the latest NHL star who's on Twitter.

Back in April, SB Nation launched a contest to see which of the community's various Twitter accounts could reach the 5,000 followers mark first, and over the weekend, The Ralphie Report (SB...

News and notes related to the Nashville Predators and around the world of hockey, including major change in the KHL.