USC09

As much as I hate Avery, I thought that Heidi and Spencer should have been the targets in their shootout, I hate them way more than Avery. They make no sense of what they are talking about especially Spencer Pratt who ever the hell he is.

I would assume Versus would probably broadcast the Canadian game. There were many criticisms when ESPN refused to air the Heritage Classic in November 2003 only to show it a week later on ESPN Classic. I remember Stan Fischler blasting ESPN and ABC and fans were disappointed in the states, so I expect NBC to air the Fenway game and Versus to cap it off at night with the Canadian game, but the problem in Calgary could be the icy conditions like the one in Edmonton. Oh yea anyone remember what bullsh!t thing ESPN aired instead?

Well the Penguins and Red Wings already played in Winter Classics so lets give other teams a shot. I think it would be nice to see the two teams that play in the final start next season in Europe, but as far as Winter Classics lets give others a chance unless the team has not been in one yet. Thank god the Flyers, even though it has not been announced yet, are being considered less than the Caps. If the Flyers were in it, this would mean my least favorite teams are playing. I hate them both passionately, because I am close to the Devils and Habs.

This is definitely good for the NHL, but the risk in Calgary is the same thing Edmonton had in its heritage classic in November of 2003. However, with the cap likely to go down for this year, this may be exactly what the NHL needs to keep the number in between $55-$60 Million. This will definitely generate a large amount of league revenue. My expectation is that it will be either Canucks or Avalanche against Calgary, but I wouldn't mind an outdoor battle of Alberta. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282276

Thats a $5.25 million dollar cap hit per player, and $10.5 million for both. For players that will be turning 30 next year, this will definitely scare some teams. Which means the contract will expire when they are 42 and $5.25 million is too much of a cap hit for someone in their late 30's early 40s, yea I know Brian Rolston makes a little over 5, but the Canucks do have cap room so maybe they can negotiate it to about 10 years for each player. But its way to risky for that, but Zetterberg and Ovechkin kind of set the precedent for them.

There is a video of Pat Burns on NHL.com being interviewed.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=425922 I miss Pat Burns, I think had he still been here, this team probably would have had a parade in downtown Newark already, he would not accept such casual play that the team portrayed at times the last few years. Keep getting healthy Pat, I know you can make it.

Although in Lou's terminology unsure could be either unsure or very sure that he might hire a coach before the draft. I don't expect it to take past mid July, so maybe the Monday June 29th would be an ideal day to name a coach. Part of me thinks its going to be Lemaire, and the other thinks it may be someone like Tippett, Laviolette, Haviland or Carbonneau. The draft is not as important as July 1st is, and I am not saying that the Draft is unimportant, just saying that Free Agency is more important. I think some potential UFA's that might show interest in playing for the Devils might want to know who they are playing for and Zubrus is a bad example, maybe Antropov is a better one, but I he's a very risky player to sign, because he has his share of ups and downs. But, he is good on the power play and it would not surprise me to see him join Alex Ovechkin in Washington since Fedorov and Kozlov look to be leaving.

I hope you are kidding about Kevin Constantine, I mean I know I mentioned Jacques Lemaire, but I sure ain't mentioning Kevin or Larry Robinson. I am just saying that if he has a time table to accept his consultant role by next weeks Draft, then if he does not accept it and wants to coach again, then it will give us a better idea of when Lou will hire a coach.

http://njmg.typepad.com/devilsblog/2009/06...-the-draft.html Looks like Jacques Lemaire is at the top of his list somewhere, but its unlikely a coach will be named before. But Lou is known to surprise, so we'll see next week.

http://devils.nhl.com/team/app/?service=pa...rticleid=425778 He also states, that he would like a puck possession coach to succeed Brent Sutter.

I think they have to select anyone out of the Juniors, college or US National Team Developmental Program, or maybe yet another Swede like Erixon. I would stay away from High School products, not that I have anything against them, just that the Devils need someone to develop relatively quickly.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=281971

He could have been Dan Bylsma right now. He is the former coach of the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, until Todd McLellan hired him as an assistant in San Jose. That made Dan Bylsma the Head Coach of the WBS-Pens. He was the front runner all along in Minnesota based on his Penguin connection. So scratch him off the Devils list, but I don't think he was on the top of Lou's list anyway. I guess the trend seems to be hiring coaches out of the AHL and assistant coaches in the NHL, but I don't know how trendy Lou will be. I am willing to bet he will interview Red Wings assistant Paul MacLean, who was on Anaheim's bench in Game 7 in 2003 with Babcock. This time I am hoping for a coach before the Draft unlike 2 years ago when it was a distraction with Free Agency and everything.

Well I wasn't really trying to be stereotypical here. If I had to take a test like that, I would have been better off killing myself or living in the streets than take a useless knowledge test like that. SAT's are also useless knowledge somewhat and a big time killer.

Next years draft in 2010 is likely headed West, since it stayed in the East the past two years with Ottawa and Montreal. My guess is that Phoenix if they don't get sold to Balsillie will host both the Draft in 2010 and the ASG in 2011, for which I think they were selected already. Another possibility for that year could be Anaheim's Honda Center or LA's Staples Center, or San Jose's HP Pavilion, at least for the Draft. Don't forget Las Vegas as possibly hosting the Draft or the All Star Game once they get an arena built there. That will be kind off funny hosting the Draft there considering the prospects will be too young to gamble. So my guess is that it will stay out West for two straight years. As for Prudential Center, possibly in the near future they'll start with the Draft, but the All Star Game will only come here if the NHL ever goes back to ESPN.

Friday, June 26th 7 PM on Versus (HD), TSN (HD), NHL Network (HD). Also NHL.com will carry a live stream of the Draft.

Was it free though?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/world/as...no_interstitial I took the SAT's got an 1150/1600, 720 Math and 430 Verbal, the 3rd part was not required at the time even though I took the test when it was based on 2400 points already. Now I am in Rutgers going into my final year and a half, graduating in the end of Fall, because I transferred. But this test definitely demonstrates flaws in education. This is the Chinese college admission test, yea I know most of you will think I am stereotyping Asians in a way, but this is insane. Some study crazy students take like 6-8 hours a day studying for the SAT's and this test requires about 16-18 hours a day of studying meaning about 6-8 hours of sleep and then only breaks in between for food. I'd rather shoot myself than take this test, it explains a whole new meaning of the phrase 'Get a Life." 9 hours in a room draining out my brain is insane. I think if there was a test like this in the states, it would be a huge setback in our already terrible education system in this country, which is getting worse and worse every year.

Yea, so on the Versus schedule it says the Draft is scheduled til 10 PM ET and it might sign off to Sports Soup or Fanarchy which mean we can potentially miss the Devils Draft pick unless they extend the Draft to 10:30 or 11 PM ET. So if anyone finds an online stream of the Draft, please let me know. I don't want happen like OLN did in 2006 when they signed off to PBR Rodeo. I fully expect Versus to air Round 1 until its full conclusion though.

Ok, lets stop picking on Hossa, I mean he only signed a 1 year deal with a team that is always a contender for the cup and they will continue to be. If he signs there long-term eventually they'll win one for him, but the key here was that he was ineffective in the series and for most of the playoffs. If he wanted the cup, he could have showed more emotion and desperation, but I never felt that from him. The Penguins always have a lot more questions than answers in the beginning of the season no matter who they have. They struggled in 06-07 early on before making a late season run before making the playoffs and losing to Ottawa in 5, then last season (07-08), they had their share of struggles and this year as well. So, Hossa definitely should not regret his decision as unusual as it is, but he has to be more effective for the Red Wings and not rely on Datsyuk and Zetterberg too much. I don't think the Wings will get back there next year though, I just think that back to back finals is taking a huge toll on some players.

Hossa was a non-factor in the Finals, he should have been the one sticking it to the Pittsburgh fans and he was relatively non-existent in the series. He might be the biggest UFA out there again, but I wouldn't go near this guy, he is the biggest brand of bad luck there is no matter how good a player he is. I know he plays well against the Devils, but I would not want him here in New Jersey.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/us_world/NA...rash.html?yhp=1

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=281469 It looks like Marc Crawford is off Lou's list of candidates to replace Sutter. And I'll say add Dave Tippett to our list.

The only deal that would make sense is a Heatley to Sharks for Marleau and Clowe.