Stuff - Random and Hockey

So, since I've been without my favorite sport for over a year, I think I'm going to indulge in a little extra hockey stuff today, BUT... before I begin, can you believe Kenny Rogers? I mean he's being booked for his run-in with a camera man, and while that is going on, he's actually threatening another one. Was this guy harmed by a camera in his early life or something? It just doesn't make sense. The other thing I don't get is how he is now being painted by many as the victim in all of this. I know that being a sports figure is tough. I know it's frustrating to have just about every little thing you ever do caught on camera, but Kenny is in his 40's. It's not like this is new. And from what I've seen, the cameramen (that's right, don't forget that incident included two cameramen) did nothing to provoke him. I never thought I'd agree with Jim Rome, but he had a comment about those who said how brave it was for Kenny to voluntarily go to the media during the All-Star game. It was something along the likes of Congradulations, you were able to control yourself enough not to punch a camera or cameraman for 5 whole minutes. Let's create a statue in honor of this guy. (Not an actual quote, but as good as I can remember.

Well, now that I've got that off my chest, here is some cool stuff I found out about the next season. A list of dates has been released regarding the next few events in the NHL:
July 21 - Draft Lottery (aka the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes - I still say this "happens" to go to the New York Rangers)
July 22 - Board of Governors expected to ratify the agreement
July 23 - Period for initiating buyouts begins (This lets a team pay a player 2/3 of his remaining contract after the 24% roll-back without counting toward the cap
July 23 - Period to negotiate and sign 2003 draft picks begins
July 23 - Period to negotiate with own club's restricted and unrestricted free agents begins.
July 28 - Deadline to exercise club and player options
July 28 - Deadline to sign 2003 draft picks
July 28 - Deadline to make offers to 2004 draft picks
July 29 - Deadline for initiating buyouts
July 30 - Entry Draft
August 1 - Free-Agent signing period begins.

All in all, this is going to be a very interesting time in the life of the NHL. I can't even imagine the players who will be in new cities once the season starts. Here's a good article about each team and the players they have under contract. It really looks in depth at the situation for each club. I think the main goal for the Stars is to get Mike Modano under contract. Even if that means buying out Turgeon and Guerin. I've heard that they are planning on kepping Guerin because his buy-out would be too expensive. One thing is for sure and that is the Stars are going to look a lot younger next year. The Thrashers on the other hand are in probably the most enviable position out there. They have 12 players signed for next year and only account for 14 million (Did I just say only and million in the same sentence?). A good chunk of that will go toward signing Heatley and Kovalchuk, but that will still leave a lot of room for acquiring that center that has eluded Atlanta to this point. The rest of the NHL has a lot of haves vs have nots and the only thing I can say is that I am glad I do not work for the Rangers (6 players signed responsible for $21.7 million). I really hope the Stars land the draft lottery number 1 spot, but if not, please let it not go to New York.

That's it for now,
PJ