Next summer, Philadelphians and Bruce Springsteen pilgrims everywhere will bid a final adieu to the city's fabled indoor sporting arena, the Spectrum.

Ed Snider, Chairman of Comcast Spectacor and essentially the owner of Flyers and Sixers, has announced that the long-time home of hockey, basketball, concerts, indoor soccer, WWF SummerSlams, Rocky and those monster truck nights will be torn down like its concrete cousin The Vet, which met its fate in 2004. Although many fans have rarely set foot in the old Spectrum since the "Center" opened its doors more than a decade ago, we'll still miss its now unassuming presence in South Philly -- and we'll always remember going downstairs into the basement to stand in long bathroom lines between periods and sets.

The building will be replaced by an entertainment complex called Philly Live!, but the memories created in that building since it opened its doors in 1967 won't be toppled so easily. Although selecting and ranking them is somewhat arbitrary, here are 10 of the most memorable hockey moments that took place at the Spectrum. I'll be interested to hear yours.

10. November 15, 1992 - Lindros Is for Real.

No one would argue that the Eric Lindros Era in Philly had a happy ending, but his arrival sparked a resurgence in the franchise that has continued (albeit without a Stanley Cup) to this day. In his first season with the Flyers, Big E would notch three hat tricks, with the first coming on home ice this night in November. Flyers fans hadn't seen good hockey in a few seasons, and Lindros came in the middle of the franchise's worst playoff drought-five straight seasons of early tee times. True they wouldn't make the playoffs until two seasons later, but Lindros provided a show of his own while the team rebuilt, scoring 41 goals and 75 points in 61 games as a rookie.

9. April 11, 1996 - Movin' on Up.

In the last regular season game played at the Spectrum, the Flyers trotted out the old timers before beating the Montreal Canadiens to clinch the Atlantic Division. In the opening round matchup with the new rival Tampa Bay Lightning, things got rough on the ice and in the stands. I was in the third deck for one of the games, and I remember a fan bouncing another guy's head off of a concrete step. No idea what started it (I blame Igor Ulanov), but it was a visual that stuck with me. The Flyers outlasted the Lightning, but unfortunately, in the next round, the Flyers closed the Orange & Black Era at the Spectrum for good with a 2-1 double-overtime loss to John Vanbiesbrouck and the Florida Panthers. The last two NHL teams to visit the Spectrum were from Florida. Ugh.

8. March 1, 1968 - Tear the Roof Off the MuthaSucka.

Shortly after construction was completed, the Spectrum hosted the Ice Capades on the night of a nasty wind storm. A portion of the roof was ripped off, no doubt terrifying the kids inside more than if Goofy on Skates had lost his dog-esque head. The Flyers were forced to play the remainder of their regular season home games on the road -- a helluva way to christen a franchise. They made the playoffs though, and the roof was repaired in time for post-season play.

7. One night in March, 1991? - I Score a Goal on Ron Hextall.

Although it might not get as much publicity around the league as it deserves, each year since 1977 the Flyers and their wives have held a charity event to raise money for cancer and blood disease research. After former Flyer Barry Ashbee died of leukemia three years after his playing career ended, the organization has put on this charity event at the Spectrum (and now the Wachovia Center) annually for 31 years. They've raised more than $20 million, and the players and their hot wives put on a great interactive event each year for fans. (By the way: I took Hexy low glove side. He let the other kids score, but not me. I beat him cold.)

6. April 10, 1973 - Dorny Gets Immortal on the North Stars.

Flyers fans of my generation will remember Gary Dornhoefer not only for his color commentary over the games while we were growing up, but also the giant statue we've walked past on the way into the games at the Spectrum. The statue commemorates Dorny's goal in the 1973 playoffs, a Game 5 overtime winner against the Minnesota North Stars. By all accounts, it was an amazing play to set up and finish the goal, but Dorny's reaction (mouth wide open, arms raised as he flies past the goal in mid air) is what garners the nostalgia. The Flyers immortalized the moment by commissioning a statue of it, which was placed outside the arena. Hoops players often talk about not wanting to get posterized. Ask N. Stars goalie Gilles Gilbert what it's like to get bronzed like Han Solo.

5. May 6, 1976 - Reggie Leach's Mystery Hangover Cure.

I'll let Jimmy Jackson explain this one.

You're an inspiration, Mr. Leach. I don't even think I could put together five blog posts after a night like that.

4. October 11, 1973 - God Bless Kate Smith.

Considered a good luck charm for the team, which saw great success in home games when a recording of her rendition of God Bless America was played, Kate made a surprise appearance at the '73-'74 home opener, and the Flyers won 2-0. The Flyers still play the song before big games, with long-time announcer Gene Hart's daughter Lauren singing a virtual duet that brings the house down every time. Kate's statue stands outside of the Spectrum to this day, and we'll be watching to see where it's placed next. Here's a recent version of the duet:

3. December 8, 1987 - Ron Hextall Makes History.

With the opposing goaltender pulled, Hextall became the first netminder to light the lamp at the other end of the ice by actually taking a shot on net. Hexy regularly set himself apart from the crowd, as a rookie Vezina and Conn Smythe winner, a bastard of a brawler with some lengthy suspension time on his punchcard, and on this night, a goal scorer. He'd mark another in 1989, this time in the playoffs. Legendary.

2. January 11, 1976 - Flyers Pummel Soviets, Communism.

In the midst of the Cold War, hockey welcomed the Super Series, in which the Red Army played against NHL teams. The Soviets were a formidable opponent, but they had nothing on the Broad Street Bullies. The Flyers played them so rough that they tried to quit in the middle of the game. After Ed van Impe leveled Red Army star Valery Karmalov, leaving him lying on the ice, the Russian coach pulled his team off the ice and said they were taking their puck and going home. NHL commissioner Clarence Campbell told him they wouldn't be paid if they didn't get back on the ice; and fearing subsequent mutual nuclear proliferation, they reluctantly obliged. The Flyers completed the onslaught, winning 4-1. Decades later, opposing teams, coaches, and executives still complain about Philadelphia's style of play.

1. May 19, 1974 - The Flyers win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

I was minus-5 years old, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I can hear the Gene Hart call now; it's still played in highlight reels, in part because of the elation it will always convey.

Here are your

• Mats Sundin hasn't really decided if he's going to come back and play yet, but if he does Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis has one heck of a selling point: The 2010 Winter Olympics! Guess when $20 million fails, you're bound to try anything. [Waiting for Stanley]

• Igor Larionov has reportedly signed on as the director of hockey operations for SKA St. Petersburg, the KHL club owned by league president Alexander Medvedev. We can only hope he has the good sense to name his daughter as director of "teh hotness," LOL. [Slap Shot]

• Michel Therrien of the Pittsburgh Penguins gets a spiffy new three-year contract, which is a great sample size to study the law of diminishing returns. Incidentally, Seth from Empty Netters also confirms in this piece what we feared this morning: The Penguins Student Rush as we knew it is dead. [Empty Netters]

• In a related story: "Orgasm face?" Who knew? [Hockey, Football and Stiletto Shoes]

• The black jersey trend has returned, as the Carolina Hurricanes intend to unveil their alternate sweaters this year. [Lord Stanley's Blog]

• In their lawsuit with the NHL, the New York Rangers claim that "the league should have the lead in collective bargaining and on-ice rules, but not on certain aspects of marketing, such as team Web sites." Good luck with that. [Newsday]

• A landmark hockey bar in Hershey could be shutting its doors. Pour a little out tonight in its honor. [The Red Skate]

• Today's fun fact: Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett is a huge fan of custom motorcycles and has built a few himself. [Dallas Stars Blog]

• A look at Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz and some other NHL owners. Katz is worth $2.37 billion? That's like, what, 100,000 Dustin Penners? [Canadian Business Online]

• The KB takes a run at the whole Gary Bettman/Boots Del Biaggio/Nashville Predators hilarity. "Considering the business is being run like a bloody flea market, it won't be long before the Predators are being hawked next to used mini fridges and the guy who sells five pairs of tube socks for a dollar." [Orland Kurtenblog]

• Finally, Puck Daddy inspired some rankings of hottie players over on our friend Margee's blog SportSquee. Here's the latest edition; Ovechkin in the top three, eh?

"You mean the survey in North Carolina about how nobody knows we are here?"

Public Policy Polling, a Raleigh-based firm that works for a number of politicians and organizations, published a survey yesterday on "North Carolina sports" that had some rather unpleasant results (.pdf) for the Hurricanes, two years removed from a Stanley Cup championship:

• "If offered tickets to any of the following sporting events, which would you be most likely to attend?" Only 10 percent of the 500 respondents chose the Hurricanes.

• "Did you know that North Carolina has a professional ice hockey team, the Carolina Hurricanes?" While 82 percent answered "yes," that meant 18 percent of respondents were unaware the Hurricanes played in their state after 11 years.

• Perhaps even more disturbing, six percent of respondents in the 919 area code, where the team's arena is located, said they did not know the Hurricanes existed. Which Lord Stanley's Blog finds a little weird.

"It's probably the same six percent who couldn't name the Vice President of the United States if you did a survey asking them what his name is," said Sundheim, and he's being kind: It's actually 31 percent of Americans who don't know the name of their Veep.

Is the survey fair? Are the Hurricanes in trouble? We asked Sundheim for the team's take on this rather sensational, and potentially embarrassing, polling data.

First, on the survey: Public Policy Polling is a respected firm that uses an automated calling system to administer its polls. This particular survey was created by summer fellow Curtis Labban, with "summer fellow" being a fancy term for "intern."

According to PPP, this poll was his summer project. Labban is from the University of North Carolina and, before hockey fans shoot the messenger over these results, appears to be a bit of a puckhead.

He blogged about his findings for PPP:

The Carolina Hurricanes still get little respect from North Carolinians. No, hockey has not caught on in the South, and no, the Hurricanes don't do a great job of marketing the team across the state, but due to the success that the team has had in the past 10 years (2 Stanley Cup Finals appearances, with 1 Championship) one might think that people would start watching. The main reason is the lack of ability to even watch NHL games, since ESPN pulled out before the lockout, but I still find it surprising that 18% of the state didn't even know that they had a professional hockey team.

Sundheim somewhat agreed with the notion that there are parts of the state where people may be unaware of the Hurricanes; mainly because it's a big-ass state. "There are people in North Carolina that are five or six hours from here, in the mountains," he said.

The Hurricanes aren't marketing to them, necessarily. But for the fans they have been attempting to reach, Sundheim is pleased with the results.

"We feel happy with our imprint in the Triangle. You can't drive five miles without seeing a Hurricanes sticker or a Hurricanes flag," he said. "I guess those six percent [in the 919 area code] don't know what that symbol is."

So how are the Hurricanes doing? Carolina drew an average of 16,633 fans per home game (an 88.8 percent capacity) in 2007-08; down from the previous post-Stanley Cup season (17,386, 92.8). But attendance has been strong since the team bottomed out with a 12,171 average in 2004.

As for as impact, look at this way: Sundheim said that the News & Observer dedicated "basically the entire front page" of the sports section and another page inside to dissecting the team's 2008-09 schedule this week. Slow sports summer, granted, but a rather impressive amount of attention for a hockey team.

Naturally, the Hurricanes are going to try and downplay survey results like these. But it's just another battle in their constant fight against the impression that hockey hasn't taken hold in Carolina  -- even during their Stanley Cup winning season.

"It's extremely frustrating," said Sundheim. "I remember in the Stanley Cup finals, a guy for ESPN that was based here in Durham basically ripped us and said nobody cares about us. Well, that guy must have literally not left his house during the two months of the playoffs that year to say that nobody here cares."

In the end, it's just one survey; but the fight for respect for hockey teams in non-traditional markets continues.

Hey, there's always a silver lining: The survey showed that more women (4 percent) than men (3 percent) are most likely to watch hockey before any other sport, and that more women (83) than men (81) knew the Hurricanes existed. Hockey 'n Heels, indeed.

Any political scientists out there want to take a crack as to why more Republicans (86 percent) than Democrats (81 percent) knew North Carolina had a hockey team?

H/T to Illegal Curve for hipping us to the survey.

Turns out there's something else rather spooky going on down there. Like, "get me Pete Venkman" spooky: The team believes that a 47-foot-tall advertising space on the side of the arena is actually cursed. (Insert creepy organ music here.)

Damian Cristodero of the Times writes that the space, located at the corner of Morgan Street and Channelside Drive, has had a run of bad juju:

• Last season, it featured goalie Marc Denis; a free-agent bust of such a magnitude that the team decided to buy him out this summer.

• An image of No. 1 draft pick Steven Stamkos had to be removed from the space, because too many people had "Seen Stamkos" to know he doesn't have a left-handed shot.

• Finally, the space replaced the Stamkos image with one of defenseman Dan Boyle, who ... well, let's just say it didn't end well.

Tampa Bay's senior director of marketing Mark Gullett told Cristodero that the team has decided to never again put an image of a Lightning player in the space. Of course, what they should do is create a giant "now playing" banner and put photos of players from the Lightning's opponents in the hockey voodoo spot. But they haven't.

No, the Bolts have decided to turn a quirky little story into yet another Koules-Aid doused bit of lunacy: The team placed the banner to the right in the hexed space; a banner that Gullett said has "design elements" that were created to "reverse the curse."

In case you're a little slow on the uptake here in July, once more with feeling: The Tampa Bay Lightning have specifically designed a 47-foot-tall billboard to get rid of a supernatural curse on one wall of their arena.

Suddenly, $31 million for Ryan Malone no longer seems like the craziest thing Tampa's done this summer.

A larger image of the "reverse the curse" wall banner can be found here, but beware: It could begin to consume your life. My guess is that the lines on the banner are some sort of quasi-dreamcatcher, but I stopped staring after about an hour, out of fear I could turn into the fat guy from "Mallrats" who couldn't see the sailboat. But what do you see?

I'm not quite sure I'm ready to live in a world bereft of constant chatter about Miller going to Detroit and Vinny Lecavalier centering for the Canadiens. It almost seems ... unnatural.

TSN has the deal at five years for $31.25 million, which is less than what Henrik Lundqvist makes but more than the majority of his Eastern Conference peers pull in.

More importantly, it gives the Sabres stability in a position that demands it and successfully avoids putting Miller in the financial lame-duck position Brian Campbell was in for most of last season. Honk If You Love Justice is thrilled and The Goose's Roost believes it's a solid contract. I imagine Crunchy Time is organizing a celebratory all-nighter as we speak.

Miller's first real season as a full-time NHL workhorse saw manageable dips in GAA (2.64) and save percentage (.908) from the previous season on a Buffalo team that struggled. If you think those numbers are worth $6.25 million a year ... well, what are the alternatives, right? Let's just hope the numbers don't continue to trend downward.

The bottom line is that the Sabres avoided contract hell with a good player, and he decided to come back to a city that hasn't had all that much luck attracting or retaining talent.

At the very least, it's five more seasons of quality Yo Momma jokes. Now what are the Red Wings going to do next summer?

There won't be an official transfer agreement between the NHL and Russia until September, if then. What kind of jurisdiction does the IIHF have in this, other than giving a rubber-stamp validation to an aggrieved party?

The is looking into the contracts of former Nashville Predators winger Alexander Radulov, Columbus Blue Jackets rookie Nikita Filatov, Phoenix Coyotes prospect Viktor Tikhonov, potential New Jersey Devils player Fedor Fedorov, Vancouver Canucks signee Jason Krog and Minnesota Wild defenseman Thomas Mojzis. The Federation announced they are "suspended from international transfers and competitions" and that it has "requested that all involved parties submit all relevant documentation by July 31.

Unless I'm mistaken, at stake is their eligibility for international competitions. I've been told that in the case of the NHL and Russia, the validity of their contracts is up to their respective leagues or, remembering Evgeni Malkin's great escape, the courts should they get involved. Where this thing gets a little hazy is the lack of a transfer agreement between the NHL and Russia; the jurisdiction of the IIHF used to be a tad clearer back in the good old days.

In fact, the entire notion of Russian labor law is a little hazy. Amanda Bynes Filatov's case is a perfect example: He claims he gave his Russian club all the notice it needed, and the Russian League claims he owes them $1.5 million in transfer fees. How, exactly, does one bridge that sort of philosophical gap?

The IIHF ruling was expected by the NHL in Radulov's case; but again, to what end? The more this situation develops, the more it appears he's going to be the last man over the wall before the rules changed. It's much more important to the NHL to hammer out a "no poaching" agreement with the KHL than to throw rotten fruit at each other over Alexander Radulov.

If you're a fan of the wonky side of this story, my friends and occasional Puck Daddy helper-outers James Mirtle and Lyle "Spector" Richardson had an extensive conversation on the NHL/KHL situation that's worth a read. I continue to side with Spector: This Red Menace stuff is all bluster until the KHL starts vying for A-level talent, and until the NHL feels the need to amend its own bylaws in an attempt to keep young players from jumping across the pond.

As for the IIHF, one Russian source told me today over e-mail: "The IIHF are a bunch of cheap hookers with no principles." Come to think of it, the cheap hooker with lofty principles is rather rare these days.

Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi (left) and new coach Terry Murray (other guy) hold up a commemorative jersey with the kind of enthusiasm you typically see from "Law & Order" detectives when they hold up a manslaughter suspect.

And as UniWatch points out: Unless there's some visual trickery going on here, the "zero" and the "eight" appear to be completely different sizes. Always impressive when you honor your new coach with an irregular jersey from the official team store's reject bin.

I listened to Murray speak yesterday, and he said many of the right things, as any coach who's been kicking around since Papa Bush's administration should. Like I said when his name first came up: He's something more than a retread, but less than inspiring. It's like finding out Greg Kinnear is in a movie you just rented: You're either going to get "Little Miss Sunshine" or you're going to get "Mystery Men," but chances are neither success nor failure will necessarily be his fault.

The esteemed Helene Elliott of the LA Times writes that Murray "agreed to a three-year contract at a relatively paltry $2.65 million." That figure, his age (57), the fact that the Kings have more holes than Sonny Corleone at a toll plaza ... you get the feeling Murray's a caretaker rather than the guy getting mobbed when the Kings finally win a playoff series again.

In the end, though, I'm sure most will agree with Elliott's basic take:

While it's difficult to shake the thought they could have done better, perhaps by hiring up-and-comer Mike Johnston to grow with a young team, they could have done worse. They could have hired a mullet-wearing former broadcaster who will coach the Tampa Bay Lightning next season after being away from coaching for more than 13 years.

Clearly, someone hasn't had her Koules-Aid.

The reason that second example was especially valid for the Penguins was their Student Rush program, in which tickets that are not sold one hour prior to faceoff are sold to anyone with a valid student ID on a first-come basis for the starving college student price of $20. As Jennie Luptak, a Pitt freshman back in 2007, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a year ago:

"We know how lucky we are to be witnessing one of the most promising teams in the NHL, and the students bring so much energy to the crowd," Ms. Luptak said. "I mean, the guys aren't much older than us, so we feel a camaraderie that's unprecedented in the league. These are our Pittsburgh Penguins."

Well, not really. The Penguins are no more the fans' than McDonald's is the carnivores'. They're a business; and in case you haven't noticed, they've slightly increased payroll for the next two seasons. It appears the Student Rush promotion may be a casualty of this escalation.

The eagle eyes of Seth Rorabaugh on Empty Netters noticed this tidbit on the Penguins' boastful press release on season-ticket renewals:

The club also plans to select four games for special "Student Rush" promotions. For those games, college and high school students will be able to purchase discounted tickets for $20. A total of 400 tickets will be available for each of the four games.

While Empty Netters didn't get confirmation that the same-day student ticket promotion was done, his coverage brings up an important point about the NHL: Are fannies in the seats more important than the price of their tickets?

Seth explains that the NHL, more than any other sport, is a slave to ticket revenue, but he also cuts to the heart of this decision: "The class of fans who helped make this team the hottest ticket in town and helped the Penguins achieve that record of 67 consecutive sellouts they like to brag about is being priced out."

So, in a sense, good business is bad business. There should be a natural progression for these young fans from Student Rush to first job to mini-plan to season-ticket holder. That's the way it should work. Pricing out your most rabid fans -- in a season that, let's face it, has its share of uncertainty for Sidney Crosby and the boys -- seems like another symptom of a rather depressing off-season for the Penguins.

But if we've learned anything about fans being priced out, it's that they'll eventually get a free exhibition game out of it, which is nice.

The worst part about this is the potential death of the home-game "Student Rush" promotion, because it's such a killer good idea. I hope Seth is wrong and the Rush survives. Instead of seeing teams scale back availability, the NHL should mandate the Penguins' original model be adopted by every team in the League. Student Rush, every regular season game. Are you telling me that wouldn't fill in the blanks over in Jersey?

Obviously, there are some cities that don't need a Student Rush. And there are some season-ticket holders that no doubt bristle at the fact that a kid sitting a few seats over could be paying $80 less than they are.

But the bottom line is that it is a kid. Bettman's NHL spent an entire decade mis-marketing the game while an entire generation of young sports fans swallowed up the NFL, the X Games and MMA.

The ultimate crack rock for hockey has always been the live, in-arena experience. So did it like the dealers do it: Give'em a taste until they're out of school, and then start asking for more scratch as their addiction grows.

Here are your

• Minnesota Wild winger Stephane Veilleux is an RFA who is one year away from being a UFA, which is about as an enviable a position as Sgt. Murtaugh saying he's one week away from retirement. So Veilleux believes he's worth X-amount of dollars, and the Wild don't, so they placed him on waivers. Michael Russo of the Star Tribune has some words from Veilleux, and shockingly "d'oh!" isn't one of them.

• Pittsburgh Penguins import Janne Pesonen has his own cult song, and Pittsburgh Sports and Mini-Ponies had it before YouTube deleted it. Please know that Pesonen's face was pasted on Jesus's face and that one of the lyrics may have been "meat is robust while meat is dull." Or not.

• The Tampa Bay Lightning hired former NHL goaltender Mike Vernon as special assistant to the vice president of hockey operations. Wait, he never played for the Penguins, did he? There's also a rumor kicking around that Craig Patrick could become the Bolts' new GM. Ah, good ... back to the Pittsburgh well again.

• Earl Sleek breaks down the new NHL schedule, explaining that "teams that struggled in their own division will probably enjoy the new schedule; same with teams that dominated the opposite conference." [BoC]

• More team-specific schedule breakdowns for the Rangers, the Capitals, the Flames, and the Leafs. Oh, and the Florida Panthers are adding a $25 surcharge for single-game tickets for "premium games." Classy. 

• Speaking of the new schedule and the Buds: The Toronto Maple Leafs actually aren't playing on a few Saturday nights this season. Which is a rather stunning and historic turn of events for the Center of the Hockey Universe. [PPP]

• Gary Bettman didn't require Boots Del Biaggio "to show audited financial statements before" approving him to buy into the Nashville Predators. In The Forechecker's world, this is the kind of egregious oversight that could cost the commissioner his job. [On the Forecheck]

• An ice show featuring dancing Zambonis will get money through a fund to support cultural development leading up to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. In other news, sales of mushrooms spiked today in Vancouver. [CBC]

• Shawn Horcoff signs with the Edmonton Oilers, long term. Many cold ones were cracked open in celebration. [Lowetide]

• Marty Reasoner heads down to the Atlanta Thrashers. A fond farewell from an Oilers fan. [The Oilfield]

• With the departure of Max Pacioretty to the Montreal Canadiens, the University of Michigan summer hockey curse is in full effect. [The Ace of Sports]

• In case you haven't read it, Mike Toth's Sportsnet column on Ray Emery and racism may be the funniest thing you'll see all week; including the line, "Many black people have their own distinct culture." This thing is like a beer-filled piñata: An easy target with a delicious reward for the annihilators. [Scarlett Ice]

• Finally, here's Bob Sweeney of the Boston Bruins at the New England Sand Sculpting Festival, where the team logo was placed in front of Wonder Woman and Batman. And yes, the only reason you're seeing this is because we are so super-stoked to see "The Dark Knight" this weekend. Some men just want to watch the world burn ...

In 2006, the idea of retrofitting The Aud into some kind of retail/hotel hybrid was abandoned. This week, the Buffalo Planning Board approved a plan that will see the arena knocked down (but not imploded ... thanks, asbestos) in October.

In its place will be a planned 125,000-square-foot Outdoor World store from Bass Pro Shops. Which is charmingly ironic in the sense that there will still be people hooking in the same location where Christian Ruuttu and Adam Creighton used to play.

Quite a number of legendary players skated on that ice: Like Dominik Hasek, Gilbert Perreault, Pat LaFontaine, Dale Hawerchuk, Alexander Mogilny and Dave Andreychuk. LetsGoSabres.com remembered the final game in The Aud, played on April 14, 1996, as a "a nostalgic, bittersweet night to say 'farewell, old friend.'" After the jump, some video memories from that memorable night.

First up is the venerable Rick Jeanneret, offering some "Aud memories":

The skating wackiness with Sabres players that ended the previous video continues here, before a rather striking moment in which chants of "Let's Go Buffalo" cascade over darkened ice:

This invitational-only trade show has become the place where gaming companies tease and tantalize about their upcoming products; and, in turn, where geeks can viciously criticize or shamelessly gush over a few seconds of non-contextual footage projected in a darkened conference room. So it's just like ComicCon, but without as many Imperial Stormtrooper battalions and women dressed as Harley Quinn.

2K Sports presented pre-release footage from NHL 2K9 at the event, and went into detail about what Nintendo wanted out of the first hockey title for the Wii: "You're taking slap shots with the wrist, but when you're fighting, you're moving both the nunchuk and the Wii remote around."

Yeah, we've come a long way from picking Poland and skinny-medium-fat-fat on "Ice Hockey," haven't we?

Coolness: The game will feature a mode where you drive the Zamboni between periods. More coolness: This footage captured at E3 that doesn't feature any Wii-mote action, but gives a solid glimpse at the play and the philosophy behind NHL 2K9:

That sound you hear right now is fans furiously typing away e-mails, planning their road trips and winter weekends around hockey. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? What are New York Islanders fans doing today? Well, probably looking forward to Jets or Giants season ...

As you start planning ahead for the upcoming season, I've picked out 10 games that you should circle on your calendars:

Atlanta Thrashers at Florida Panthers (Oct. 11, 2008)

You might be saying, "What the hell could this game be good for?" Well, it's not so much as anything between the two teams, but the return of a player. Richard Zednik will return after the horrendous skate-to-throat injury he suffered last February. You can be sure there will be a long ovation when he hits the ice.

Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks (Oct. 15, 2008)

Word has it that during their meetings last season, there was a security guard located between the two suites that sat Kevin Lowe and Brian Burke. If that was the case, well, they might as well just let these two duke it out and get it over with. You think a Gary Bettman muzzle is going to work?

Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins (Oct. 16, 2008)

You can't have a "Games to Watch" list without Alex versus Sid. Another interesting storyline is the entire "Ovechkin taking runs at Malkin" thing that we saw a few times last season. This rivalry is only going to get better now that the Capitals have improved themselves and have a stud defenseman in Karl Alzner ready to hit somebody. The teams meet again on Jan. 14, Feb. 22 and March 8, all in 2009.

Dallas Stars at New York Rangers (Oct. 20, 2008)

Sean Avery plays against his former mates and you can be sure he won't mind stirring some crap up. Ex-teammates be damned, Avery is going to be drawing penalties, turtling, and yapping his gob the entire game. I guess we'll see how some of his former teammates felt about him now that he'll be wearing an opposing jersey.

Dallas Stars at New Jersey Devils (Oct. 22, 2008)

Meanwhile in Jersey, Martin Brodeur and Sean Avery rekindle their feud. Over/Under on the amount of ice showers Brodeur gets by Avery is now up to four. Luckily for the Devils and Marty, these two teams will only play once, so "Fatso" can rest in his crease in piece.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals (Nov. 10, 2008)

Olaf Kolzig comes back to the city that he spent the last 19 years in.It'll be an emotional night as one of D.C.'s most popular athletes returns home and, despite being nudged out the door last season, Olie the Goalie will want to prove he still has something left in the tank.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings (Nov. 11, 2008)

Marian Hossa faces his former teammates after he basically said they did not have a good chance to win the Stanley Cup. He passed on playing with Sidney Crosby for the next 5-7 years and took less money to head to Hockeytown. This one might have some bitterness.  Oh, and these two teams played in the Cup final or something last month, too.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins (Dec. 23, 2008)

The Lightning, also known as Pittsburgh-South, comes back to the Steel City and fans will have their chance to welcome Adam Hall, Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, as well as Michel Ouellet and Mark Recchi home. Will Pittsburghers boo their hometown boy Malone? Or will he be given a hero's welcome with his gutsy Game 5 performance still fresh in memory? There are so many interesting match-ups for Tampa Bay next season, it could have its own list: What about Jan. 12, 2009, when the Mullet returns to Hollywood to face the Los Angeles Kings? Or for that matter, on April 3 when he goes to Newark for the first time as a coach after trashing the city on ESPN?

Detroit Red Wings at Chicago Blackhawks (The Winter Classic), Jan. 1, 2009

The third incarnation of the outdoor game is upon us and let's all hope this new portable rink will diminish any ice problems like we saw in Buffalo this past New Year's Day. It should be fun to see the brown ivy in the middle of winter and "The Windy City" faithful come out in full support of their revived Blackhawks, who'll no doubt be wearing vintage jerseys.

San Jose Sharks at Boston Bruins (Feb. 10, 2009)

The prodigal son returns for a second time as an opponent. Joe Thornton was never shown the love during his time in Boston as he was not considered a big game player, especially in the playoffs. He moved to San Jose in 2005 and has continued that trend. Will the boo birds be out when Thornton comes back?  You can bet on it.

--

There you have it: 10 games to watch this coming season. There are some other noteworthy contest, of course: The Vancouver Canucks meet Markus Naslund and the Rangers in New York on Nov. 19; best friends Bruce Boudreau and John Anderson meet as coaches when the Capitals go to Atlanta on Oct. 10; Toronto faces Darcy Tucker, and Jeff Finger returns to Colorado, on Jan. 29, 2009; Todd Bertuzzi goes back to Anaheim on Nov. 2; and Hossa comes back to Pittsburgh on Feb. 8, 2009.

The great thing about hockey is that more games are sure to be added to this list as storylines and rivalries are created on a regular basis. Now all we have to do is sit and wait the three months until they finally drop the puck again -- in Prague and Stockholm, where the Rangers, Lightning, Senators and Penguins play on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5.

What games are you looking forward to the most?

(Have you ever seen a photo like this, where you want to create a back story for every single person in focus? I could literally spend the rest of the summer building a novel around the bottom three from the right. Anyhoo, moving on ...)

The quote above from Anselmi is a stunner. Not because it addresses demographic shifts in Toronto's hockey fan base, but because it completely fails to address the Leafs' own role in alienating new generations. It's sort of hard to attract new, young fans they have to decide whether to buy Toronto hockey tickets or spend the money on a financially equivalent item ... like a gold-plated Porsche. 

Obviously, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to take their shots from gleeful bashers even when they try and give tickets away to fans. And it's not like they don't deserve them, from the utter mismanagement of the franchise to the fact that Leafs games long ago stopped being something a puckhead of humble means could afford to enjoy. Or as From the Center of the Hockey Universe wrote:

Their goal is to get the tickets for that game out of the hands of the corporate season ticket holders that usually fill the ACC and into the hand of true fans, young fans that can't normally get tickets. The atmosphere should be electric as the lower bowl will be filled by people who will actually be cheering as opposed to checking their email on their blackberries.

Reaching out to the masses who aren't fiscally blessed enough to see Bryan McCabe play "defense" live and in person is, obviously, a prime motivation for this stunt. (A stunt underwritten by a major soft drink company, of course.) But blogger Costa Tsiokos had the most interesting take on the Leafs' giveaway, which was to take a deep whiff of the desperation on display; desperation that, in a warm-weather American city, would be hailed as a harbinger of failure.

You see, free ticket drops are the sort of gimmicks typically frowned upon by the Toronto hockey snobbery "as a pretext to yelp for contraction or relocation" when they happen around the American Sun Belt. From Population Statistic:

I can't help but wonder how loud the cries of protest would be if this were happening in Phoenix or St. Louis, or similar American NHL locales. Shouldn't the same standards apply to Canada?{/ysp:bock}

{ysp:block}You could argue that Toronto's cosmopolitanism makes it a given that hockey would lose ground, making such a meet-and-greet necessary. No such concerns in smaller Ontario towns, which unfortunately have no hope of hosting an NHL squad; nor even in smaller "big cities" like Calgary and Edmonton, which are more homogeneous. But it's amusing that Canada's traditional hockey capital (English Canada, anyway - check ya, Montreal!) is resorting to freebies, like some second-tier venue.

Ouch, but the truth hurts: The Toronto Maple Leafs need to buy off fans to earn good will these days. Because even GM Cliff Fletcher is saying things like, "We may be taking a step back to take three steps forward."

It's rather difficult to charm a new generation of hockey fans when your worrying less about the Stanley Cup and more about uniform number John Tavares will wear.

In case you haven't noticed yet, the guy's one best-selling book and a movie cameo away from being the Czar of All Media.

Three new hits on the Ovechkin pop culture radar: A victory, a defeat and a reference in an Eminem-style hip-hop song. No, we're not sure how to categorize that last one, either.

• First, the rather stunning news for Ovie Nation: Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins took home the ESPY Award last night for top NHL player. Crosby topped Ovechkin (whose nomination was the headline for many papers), Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings and Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames for the award. Perhaps fan voting continues to just baffle at every turn? Nah, we all know this is a secret scheme by ESPN to undermine Ovechkin's unstoppable momentum because they hate hockey. Well, at least his coach got some props this week.

• Now, the clear victory: Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog reports that 17 huge billboards featuring Ovechkin have gone up around Moscow:

The translation, from Ovechkin's business manager to Steinberg: "Olympic athletes. You can do it. I believe in you. See you in Beijing. Alexander Ovechkin." Perhaps the most inspirational message to Russian athletes in recent memory that didn't involve the word "gulag."

• Finally, there's ... well, this: Japers' Rink reports that Ovechkin was name-checked in a rap song by "hip-hop's next big thing" Asher Roth. It's a (NSFW) freestyle over "A Millie" by Lil Wayne, which features this line: "Rap's Wayne Gretzky/Yes, I'm the best/ And only 22/More like Alex Ovechkin." It sounds like he says "Alish," but who are we to tempt fate that some Seth Green-looking dude might snap and bust a cap. Assuming they still sell glocks in towns with three smoothie stores and a Michael's.

All kidding aside, Roth rapped for Jay-Z and has a few press clippings, so who knows: Maybe this name-check joins Snoop Dogg's Ducks obsession in the pantheon of hockey/hip-hop crossovers. Or maybe it'll be like Kris Kross wearing backwards Devils jerseys. Man, that was wigity-wigity-wigity-wack.

He also gets reader tips of possible new alternate uniforms from people who work in the athletic apparel retail business. It seems as if there's about 17 teams lined up to have third jerseys next season. Hopefully, this comes to fruition and we can replace some of the more ugly current RBK Edge jerseys we see on a nightly basis.

Yesterday, Chris came across a graphic on the Maple Leafs website that appears to be some sort of alternate jersey, one that the Buds have not worn before.

That's definitely some sort of alternate. Now, is this a third jersey leak by mistake on the Toronto Web site? Or are the Leafs going to try and sell their own line of alternative colored/designed uniforms, similar to what other sports do selling different colored hats and jerseys among other merchandise? 

That's only one half of the story. You see, as I mentioned, Chris from Icethetics receives and posts reader-created jersey designs all the time. That picture you see above was sent to Chris last August. 

He asks the same question I am today: "How did that exact image make it on the Leafs' official site?! That's my question. Weird. Are the Leafs considering a jersey alternation already?" 

Icethetics also reports a source that says Montreal will don three special jerseys throughout the year to commemorate their centennial season. No word on if those are three separate jerseys from the everyday home/away set. Like what we'll probably see during the Winter Classic, I would have to think the Habs will go old school for at least one them. I've always loved this sweater, which the Canadiens wore as an alternate a few years back. 

Supposedly, some teams are planning to announce their alternates in September, but if we're lucky, EA Sports will leak them again, much like they did last year with the RBK Edge jersey's in NHL 08. All it took was a password.

Hockey fans are especially guilty of this mischievous behavior. Witness the Vote For Rory campaign, in which fans flooded the ballot box and nearly sent journeyman defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick to the NHL All-Star Game as a write-in candidate. Now it's the CBC's "Canada's Hockey Anthem Challenge," which seeks to find new music to be featured on "Hockey Night in Canada," that's facing an unpredictable insurgency.

The contest entry is "Hockey Scores," and it is the most-viewed (23,075 as of Wednesday night) and second highest-rated (4/5 stars) song in the anthem gallery. Based on the numbers, this collection of animal sounds, gun shots and babies crying could be your new Hockey Night in Canada theme song ... and the winner of $100,000 (CDN):

What might seem like 30 seconds of auditory insanity is now a full-fledged fan movement. "Hockey Scores" has been picked up by blogs, by Torontoist and has an official Facebook page with 297 members. There are now even YouTube remixes of the theme, like this one featuring Don Cherry. If the CBC secretly hoped that this is a passing fad, think again: They said the same thing about "Vote for Rory" until he finished about 36,000 votes behind Nicklas Lidstrom in the all-star voting.

Logan Aube, the creator of "Hockey Scores," said that the song has been taken down and put back up twice by the CBC's Web site. Recently, the song suddenly disappeared from the "Canada's Hockey Anthem Challenge," then it was reinstated, and then Aube received an e-mail from the CBC apologizing for the removal -- placing the blame on a "third party moderator."

Puck Daddy got in touch with Aube to find out how "Hockey Scores" was started, how this movement came about and why Ron MacLean could soon be featured on the same broadcast with crying babies and farm animals.

My first question was simply, "What was the inspiration behind Hockey Scores?" Aube's answer says it all:

"My love for hockey is reflected quite well in this piece I feel. The intense percussion symbolizes the hard-hitting excitement of the sport, while the cat samples are used to demonstrate the feline qualities players must possess: speed, cunning, agility, and fearlessness. The other animal noises reflect the rich domestic history of the sport; I remember my grandfather who grew up on a farm used to freeze a rink in their field every year so that they could play the game, while the animals watched on.

"The happy child was used to symbolize the child-like wonder many Canadians feel every time they turn on this great game. The climax of the piece brings it all together, bringing the excitement to its peak and then finishing it off with a buzzer. Goal!"

In summary: Hockey players are fearless like house cats, farm animals love pond hockey and crying babies symbolize Canadian hockey fans. You know, this is all starting to make a lot of sense ...

Aube wasn't worried that this rather abstract approach to a hockey theme -- refresh your palate with the original HNIC theme for a moment (video) -- wouldn't make the cut. "From the start, I knew I had something special. There does appear to be a screening process for entries, but I was confident in the quality of my piece."

Aube said the reaction and support for the song has been "surprising." There are many, many other options on the CBC's contest page vying for the right to be heard on Hockey Night in Canada. And according to the official rules, all of this support might not be enough, because the winner is not up to the fans: "Until Semi-Finalists are revealed on October 4, 2008, 'ratings,' 'recommendations,' 'most viewed,' and other similar information will be available on the website, but will only be a factor for the Producer and Judges to consider in selecting Semi-Finalists. Semi-Finalists will be revealed in a CBC broadcast on October 4, 2008."

So why has the voting public gravitated to this little ditty?

"I would say that the viewers decided it is time for a change, and understood the vision I had for the future of hockey," said Aube. "I am very proud to say I have been a part of fulfilling the public's vision."

Uh-huh.

This e-mail interview, and this entire "Hockey Scores" hilarity, brought me back to my interview with Steve Schmid, the guy who started the whole Vote for Rory campaign.

Like "Hockey Scores," that movement started as a goof on the Something Awful boards. "You can't pick a guy like Belak or [Donald] Brashear because people hate them," Schmid said at the time. "Who can hate a guy like Rory Fitzpatrick, other than a couple of disgruntled Sabres fans?"

Right now, the "Hockey Scores" movement is pure anarchist comedy, with posts like these from Something Awful orchestrating a campaign: "For those who haven't posted a comment to the submission, take the ‘convincer' angle. That is, say how much it disturbed you or you didn't get it or whatever. Then you listened to it for awhile and now you LOVE it. See if we can convince others to come to the same conclusion."

But will it remain a comedic charade? A curious thing happened during the Vote for Rory movement: What was a goof to some became a political statement for others, as fans voted for Fitzpatrick as a way to honor the blue-collar players in the NHL that never got a sniff of the all-star game otherwise.

I'm not saying that thousands of fans are listening to "Hockey Scores" and saying, "Finally, someone makes the tacit connection between my childlike infatuation with hockey and farm animals! Here's my vote, sir!"

The point is that even if someone is writing in Stephen Colbert for mayor of Sioux City, there's some meaning behind that vote, beyond the obvious laugh factor.

In other words: When "Hockey Scores" shoots to the top of the charts, perhaps the CBC has only itself to blame for ticking off the viewing public and creating the opportunity for a cacophony of sheep, cats and gun shots to hit the top of the charts.

So in the end, the League went with Chicago over The Bronx; it was the right decision, but the NHL wants there to be no hard feelings. "We also acknowledge the interest and efforts of the New York Yankees and the City of New York throughout the NHL Winter Classic 2009 site selection process. We look forward to continuing discussions regarding the possibility of a future Winter Classic game at the new Yankee Stadium," said NHL Commission Gary Bettman, head of the unstoppable marketing machine that chose a Wednesday in the middle of July to announce the sequel to its biggest mainstream success of the last dozen years.

No one should expect the same levels of ratings achievement, spellbinding ambiance or pop culture curiosity the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres received last January.

But Wrigley Field will be as compelling a player as any on the Wings or the 'Hawks in Jan. 2009; the novelty of seeing hockey in the Friendly Confines, and seeing hockey fans bundled up in bleachers and on rooftops, will be enough to guarantee a second straight triumphant made-for-TV event for the NHL.

Hockey fans are already sold on this thing, big time. What Puck Daddy wanted to know was: How do Chicago Cubs fans feel about an NHL game being played in their historic ballpark? So we snagged three of the top Chicago baseball bloggers and received some interesting answers.

Maddog from Another Cubs Blog warned us right off the bat that he doesn't care for hockey. "It's not that I don't like it. I just don't care about it." Al Yellon, Founder and Editor-in-Chief for Bleed Cubbie Blue, has been blogging about Windy City baseball since 2003. Finally, Ryan Corazza is PostmanR on the wickedly funny Chicago sports site We Are The Postmen, which blogged about the Winter Classic earlier today. He's also a White Sox fan, which brings some rather unexpected balance to the following Q&A.

Q. What are your general thoughts about hockey coming to Wrigley?

Maddog: The only thought I have about it is wondering how much money the Cubs are getting, if any. If there's money that can go back into payroll, I hope they do it more often.

Yellon: I'm thrilled, actually. I thought the game in Buffalo last winter was great for hockey and having an outdoor game at Wrigley Field brings the added allure of a grand old stadium.

Corazza: I'm excited about it. I live just a block or two from Wrigley -- too close for a White Sox lifer, in fact -- so it should be a cool event for the neighborhood on New Year's Day. John McDonough did a great job last year taking over as president -- and now that Papa Wirtz is out of the picture, RIP -- we can actually, um, watch games on TV again.

Q. Is Chicago enough of a hockey town in 2008 to warrant this kind of event?

Maddog: I have no idea if Chicago is enough of a hockey town.

Yellon: Until the death of Dollar Bill Wirtz, who ran the Blackhawks like it was 1949, I'd have said no. But Rocky Wirtz and John McDonough have brought the Blackhawks quickly into the 21st Century, have exciting young players, and this is one more way of MAKING Chicago a hockey town again, as it was in the 1960's.

Corazza: Yes and no. I think as a city, Chicago warrants it. But it's certainly not a die-hard hockey town. However, I really do think the Blackhawks are gaining steam and have some great young talent in Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. The Winter Classic should only help.

Q. As a baseball fan, how does it feel to know that Wrigley won out over Yankee Stadium for the 2009 Winter Classic? Why do you think this decision is a good one?

Maddog: To be honest, being a baseball fan has nothing to do with any of my opinions about this. I don't really care that Wrigley won out over Yankee Stadium. It's interesting. Yankee Stadium is undoubtedly a better place than Wrigley in more than one way.

Yellon: It's great, really. When I first heard the league was going to do this again, I thought Wrigley -- with the two Original Six teams, Chicago and Detroit, participating -- was the perfect venue. Yankee Stadium -- well, there were  reasons to do it there, too, but I'm glad they chose Wrigley Field. NBC will be very happy with all the visuals they can get from a sold-out Wrigley in winter.

Corazza: To be honest, I'm surprised. I'd figure Yankee Stadium, in its last year, would be a no-brainer. I don't know if McDonough worked some magic, or how it exactly it all played out ... but yeah, I think the decision is fine as is. It's not like Wrigley is a bad place for the Classic by any stretch. It's a great one. I just would have thought Yankee Stadium, for this year, wins out because this is its last year.

Q. Finally, are there any Wrigley traditions you'd like to see carried over to the hockey game?

Maddog: Hockey is a different sport, and I'm not one to worry about traditions in baseball anyway. Sometimes they're more annoying than anything else -- like the 7th inning stretch.

Yellon: If you're asking me whether we should "throw pucks back," I'd say no (and besides, the rink is probably going to be too far away for that to happen). This is a once-in-a-lifetime event and as such, I think it can stand on its own merits.

Corazza: I think watching the Classic from the rooftops is a must. (I wonder what the pricing is going to be on those for the game. On par with a Cardinals or White Sox series? Higher than that?) A tradition I don't want to see carried over? The crowd singing "Go Cubs Go" after a win. Can't. Stand. That. Song.

His piece on the league for the Sporting News is a very in-depth read. This afternoon over on (my old stomping grounds) NHL FanHouse, he breaks the news that the KHL will not invalidate Alexander Radulov's new contract -- all but assuring the Nashville Predators winger will break his NHL contract and play for Salavat Ulaef next season, if the NHL and the Predators don't seek further legal recourse.

McErlain received confirmation on the contract's validity from Shawn McBride, the KHL's North American spokesman. This comes after the KHL Press Service in Moscow issued a statement regarding an agreement with the NHL, via FanHouse:

"The KHL is acting under the assumption that the Moratorium shall be honored by all Parties and shall be valid from July 10, 2008 until signing of the Memorandum of Agreement no later than August 1, 2008."

Radulov's new contract was signed on July 5, according to the KHL.

The agreement between the two parties should calm fears that the KHL may seek to "Radulov" another NHL player, such as Marek Zagrapan of the Buffalo Sabres. Again, I hate to have to be the flag-waving, Mellencamp singing, American jingoist here ... but if losing Alexander Radulov and Marek Zagrapan is (or was) the NHL's biggest threat from the KHL, then I agree with what Spector said in our live chat today: "The Radulov thing is a minor irritant to the NHL, nothing more."

I had a few folks compare Murray to new Ottawa Senators coach Craig Hartsburg, whom I labeled a retread when he was hired. Sorry, no contest. Take a look at the coaching records for Hartsburg and Murray; there's no comparison in depth of experience, postseason success or long-term impact. Just because Murray's on his fourth team (allegedly) doesn't make him a retread. The only concern I usually have in a spot like this is whether an old head coach can still make it work in the "new" NHL. His experience on the Flyers' bench alleviates that fear.

Rich Hammond of Inside the Kings explained the LA/Murray connection:

He fits two of Dean Lombardi's two qualifications. He's a defenseman, and Lombardi understands the importance of developing the Kings' young defensemen, particularly next season, when there could be a handful of kids on the blue line. He's also familiar to Lombardi, since they were employed by the Flyers at the same time. As a bonus, Murray has won. He showed a sustained ability to get his team to the playoffs and took one, the 1996-97 Flyers, to the Stanley Cup Finals.

On the other hand... there seems to be some surprise that the Kings would hire a coach who has been fired three times, and an older coach. Murray turns 58 on Sunday.

That last point is an important one, because there's a chance something like 85 percent of next year's roster (rough estimate) will be under 30.

But even when he was 43, Murray was a guy who could work with players of all ages. With the departure of Rob Blake, perhaps a father figure behind the bench suits this team. Perhaps not; maybe the Kings would do better to grow with a coach rather than grow under him.

What's always interested me about Murray is that he's one of the few coaches to ever be fired after taking a team to the Stanley Cup finals. The Philadelphia Flyers clipped him because his relationship with players was deteriorating, especially after he said "it is basically a choking situation for a team" when the Flyers were flopping in 1997. What a pisser that must have been. Yet another highlight from Eric Lindros's epic career in orange and black. Wonder if he remembers it?

So that's Terry Murray. And so is this, and boy is he she happy about the extra Web traffic. Bottom line is that either of them is going to be an improvement over Marc Crawford. Which is all a Kings fan should care about.

Partly because we feel showing him in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey is just salt in the wounds of those poor bastards in Leafs Nation. Partly because we have a defunct team fetish. And partly because Quebec City could have a new franchise before Sundin decides what to do with the rest of his career, at the rate he's going.

Please join yours truly, Lyle "Spector" Richardson of Fox Sports and The Hockey News, and Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period for our weekly hockey rumors and scuttlebutt live chat at 1 p.m. EDT. 

On the docket: Sundin's next NHL destination (if he has one); the hilarious trade rumor involving the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators that broke this morning; some discussion of the new Russian KHL's impact; and the aftermath of the New York Islanders' coaching decision with Ted Nolan. Tell a friend!

UPDATE: We'll also touch on Winter Classic II, coming Jan. 1, 2009 to Wrigley Field!

You know, since he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and all.

The inspiration for the ridiculously tall Boston Bruins defenseman's trip was to raise awareness and funds for Right To Play, an international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to help communities around the world. Which is why he decided to hike up the mountain rather than just step on top of it like we suggested.

The trek was covered by a film crew and over on the Boston Bruins' Web site in diary form. On Day One, we learned that Chara and four others were carrying their little backpacks while 21 local African porters carried " tents, mess tents, all our winter clothes, cooking stuff, etc." (Or as the NHL calls them, "equipment managers.")

Day Two featured the realization that they were actually climbing a dormant volcano. Day Three featured way too much about writer Rob Simpson, an author who is covering the trek for the Bruins. In fact, we don't even have to bother with the Bruins Web site since Simpson already wrote about the entire journey in Sunday's Boston Herald.

Spoiler Warning: The group made it to Gilman's Point at 18,650 feet, but declined to continue on to the 19,350 foot summit, Uhuru Peak, which is the highest point on the Africa continent.

It was Chara who had the definitive no: "Too tired, I can't take a chance of a slip and compromise the hockey." That sound you just heard was Manny Fernandez, Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask simultaneously exhaling in relief.

Check out more on the humanitarian journeys of Chara and Calgary Flames defenseman Robyn Regehr from the Calgary Herald.

According to insiders, Ottawa would trade netminder Martin Gerber and defenceman Andrej Meszaros to Los Angeles, the Kings would move 20-year-old centre Anze Kopitar to Chicago and the Blackhawks would propel goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and either of young blueliners Brent Seabrook or Cam Barker to the Senators.

If you read Brennan's analysis of this fantasy hockey league rumor, he offers some great justification for why the Ottawa Senators ("No more contract headaches with Meszaros, and a real live starting goalie!") and the Chicago Blackhawks ("No more goalie log-jam!") would jump on this deal like Wil Wheaton on a ComicCon appearance fee.

Not so clear: Why in the name of Mike Milbury would the Los Angeles Kings do anything with this trade offer except drop the phone in uncontrollable laughter?

Brennan's take on trading Kopitar, shown above after winning an award from the Austrian Man-Bull Love Association (jokes, people), for this stellar package: "As a sophomore, Kopitar led Los Angeles in scoring last season with 32 goals and 45 assists. He will make $765,000 next season and is slated to become a restricted free agent next summer."

That's it. No mas. An inconvenient truth. The justification is that he was the team's leading scorer and is going to need a raise next summer. It's like Sherlock Holmes solving a mystery and then tossing a piece of completely contradictory evidence out the window while Watson isn't looking.

Lyle Richardson, who will join Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period in our Hockey Trade Rumors Chat at 1 p.m. EDT this afternoon, writes that this rumor has been "floating around the internet for several days before it hit the media" and that "deals of this magnitude are never leaked." Then there is, perhaps, the greatest justification:

Third, this deal sucks for the Kings, moving their best forward (and perhaps future franchise player) for an overpaid average goalie and a young defenseman which they've already got in abundance. At least the 'Khabibulin to the Kings" rumors made sense in that Khabby is an experienced starter. If Kings GM Dean Lombardi dreams of accepting that weak package for arguably the best young superstar forward no one outside of LA has heard about he'd better wake up and apologize. So, the Kings lose, the 'Hawks win big time at forward but could potentially lose a good young blueliner in the process and the Sens potentially do okay in the short and long term. Sorry, doesn't make sense to me.

Oh, we're not sure of that, Lyle. Who wouldn't trade their only offensive superstar to sure up their goaltending with a player who has exactly one more postseason win than Jonathan Bernier?

What is this, a race between Ottawa and Los Angeles to see who has the better mind-altering substances?

Ah, the glory of Internet rumors in a MSM world.

We referenced this story in yesterday's Puck Headlines, but in case you missed it you really must read Alanah's breakdown of a Brendan Shanahan "rumor" over on Canucks and Beyond.

A sportswriter for the Vancouver Province comes across a "rumor" on the open-source Bleacher Report -- likely via Google News, which has BR content mucking up the works in nearly every sports search -- that stated that the Vancouver Canucks tried to sign Shanahan but were denied. This newspaper reporter (emphasis ours) cited Daniel Sallows's Bleacher Report column "The NHL Insider: Rumours and Gossip From Around the League" as a "U.S. report" in his story for a newspaper (emphasis, again, ours).

Alanah said it best:

But that The Bleacher Report is now considered a viable source for mainstream media to chase stories from-and that an excellent hockey writer like Kuzma felt compelled to follow up this rumor (whether he came by it in Sallows's column or elsewhere) by phoning Shanahan's agent-seems to suggest that hockey bloggers everywhere are more powerful than they think. Well, at least that's what I hope...

The only other option is that a reputable writer with the Vancouver Province seriously didn't realize the source of this speculation was actually a fan site running with a rumor that no one else I know of spent any time taking seriously at all.