Quick hits

Finally, the NHL Network is coming to America next month. As a Comcast subscriber, I'll be finding it on channel 276 (right before the Tennis Channel) and to say that I can't wait would be an understatement. I flip by NBA TV all the time and I beg for the NHL Network to get up and running.

By the way, one great thing about hockey is that there is no WNHL for the league to shove down our throats like David Stern tries to do with the WNBA. I mean, is there anything more laughable than a show called "Classic WNBA"? As the one place in the world where we are supposed to care about women's basketball more than life itself--not Tennessee--I can do without more news about that. Maybe that makes me more susceptible, I don't know. But it sure is on the news a lot.

Laid up with a wonky back, I noticed this morning that Dollar Bill Wirtz has passed on in Chicago. I am not one to speak ill of the dead in any way, but this may be the time where the Blackhawks can turn the corner back to respectability. The guy blacked out home games from TV for like a hundred years because he thought it would hurt the gate. Archaic thinking, for sure, but it is true. Hopefully Dale Tallon and Denis Savard can get the town back into that team. Chicago is begging to be a hockey town again.

I am looking way forward to the Islanders game on Saturday night in Bridgeport vs. the Devils. My wife and I will be joined by our brother-in-law, who will be going to his first-ever hockey game. That should add to the excitement for sure. I know that way back in the day, the first thing I can remember about going to my first game (Whalers-Isles in Springfield, MA in 1979) was the sound of the game. The puck hitting a stick and the crunching of the skates on the ice had me at hello. My bet is that Dave is going to enjoy himself.

We will have a wrap-up Sunday about the game and how the players looked, etc. I know that Ted has said that he'll be re-introducing some of the younger players back into the lineup for the game so we may have some word on future Soundtigers playing on their home ice.

Check ebay to see if you can get a copy of the original Heritage Classic from Edmonton. I got one for less that ten beans including shipping. Every hockey fan who hasn't seen the outdoor game owes it to themselves to see it.

And let me finish with one last mention of the US Open Cup that will be played next week in Dallas. My Revs will be looking to get a trophy for the first time in their history as MLS Originals. Bring it home, boys.