No Heat Wave Can Kill Hockey

As the weather gets hotter and hotter here in New York, my longing for the frozen pond grows exponentially ... and its not even July yet. So, as my brains become scrambled in the torturous heat, I figured what better thing can I do to cool down than to write about a winter sport?

*Larry Brooks asked "are the Blueshirts better off with a combined $6M investment in Rozsival and projected third-pair defenseman (Josef) Melichar, or with a combined $6.5-7M investment in (Brooks) Orpik and, say, impending Montreal free agent Mark Streit"? I would say no, they aren't. Melichar didn't play in the U.S. this year, and didn't do so well when he did, often falling victim to a bum shoulder (more in his Wiki, which was clearly edited by a Pens fan). Rozy was a mess this year, no matter how Brooksie wants to justify it. Orpik is a hitter and Streit is a power play stud - both qualities needed by the Rangers that neither Rozy or Melichar would be able to provide. Although I think Streit and Orpik will end up costing at least a million more than Brooks estimated.

*Jaromir Jagr wants to remain a Ranger. Should he return, he had better play like it ... for the entire season. If he doesn't come back, I said it before: I think Mats Sundin would be a fantastic replacement for around the same cost.

*The Rangers have yet to give out any information about season tickets for next year or even anything about their Eurotrip to open the year. The Tampa Bay Lightning, their opponents in Prague, have had a travel package available for weeks. What could the Blueshirts box office folks be doing? The Rangers have been out since the second round, the Knicks ... hahaha and the Liberty are already well underway.

*I went through some of my archives and noticed a lot of pictures were down. Sorry about that. When I first started I would just grab Yahoo! photos without realizing they dump their archives. I'm not about to go back through all of them (sorry) but have taken some steps to avoid that going forward.

*Its kinda funny: I lament the loss of the Jets, Puck Daddy memorializes the Whalers and this week's Hockey News brings up the Nordiques (no direct link, sorry). Do you think many people will fondly remember the days of the Thrashers and the Predators as fondly?

*And I love the Hockey News. I have read it on regularly for most of my life but they have to improve their production schedule. As a subscriber, I received the June 10th issue on June 7th and it talks about the upcoming Stanley Cup Final series, while the damn parade already made its way through Detroit on the 6th. Jason Kay and the crew have done a really good job trying to make THN not as time sensitive but for things like this, they need to do better and altering the production schedule by condensing it and improving the means they print will help keep them relevant.

*For Wings fans, the Behind The Jersey blog is a must-read by a great young writer but this photo is a little bit unfortunate/perverted/leading for the poor girl, don't you think? Maybe I just have a dirty mind ...

*Pierre McGuire pointed out that the ice at the Igloo wasn't the greatest due to the heat and humidity in the building. As the NHL continues to stretch their schedule into June, don't you think they would prepare for this kind of thing by now? The ice was awful in Florida and Tampa Bay and, well, pretty much everywhere in the states during June hockey. Why wouldn't they have insisted the Pens bring in more dehumidifiers and air conditioning units?

*For everyone who is still salivating over the thought of the next Winter Classic, I just want to again voice my concerns. The Heritage Classic in Edmonton that got the outdoor thing started wasn't nearly as good as the Winter Classic but was so well received because it welcomed back some of the best players in history in an exhibition before the game. The NHL had better have one helluva gimmick up their sleeve for the next one because you just can't replicate what happened in Buffalo.

*Those Winter Classic jerseys will be back as third jerseys next year. The NHL Tournament of Logos has been having a lot of fun pitching other prospective kits so check them out.

*Speaking of jerseys, if anyone hits a garage sale this summer and sees someone selling an Islanders fishsticks jersey in XL for 10 bucks or less, let me know. I want one of those, just for laughs. Maybe I'd get it personalized "HAHAHAHA 94" or something.

*The NHL Draft is again scattered across two days, so they can put the first round in primetime the night before the second through seventh rounds. Simply said, I think its terrible. Aside from a few geeks like me (and probably you), who is going to sit home on a Friday night to watch the draft? And aside from viewership, by splitting up the draft, it kills any kinds of draft parties team might/should hold. I remember going to MSG on the day of the 1999 draft for all sorts of festivities including tours of the locker room, player appearances and bubble hockey. Of course I left early when they traded Dan Cloutier and Marc Savard and drafted Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark, but the party was still a good idea.

*And no time-killing post would be good without some YouTubage so I turn it over to the Sharks fans over at We Bleed Teal for a look at the best NHL commercials.

Ok, that's it. I'm spent. Time to revel in some air conditioning.