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June 09, 2006

All in favor?

So Charles Wang introduced, as Alan Hahn rather aptly puts it, his advisory board today. I almost had to check myself when I heard Wang say everyone at the dais -- Milbury, Nolan, Trottier, LaFontaine, Smith -- reports to him. Did he say that? (Yup, he did.) It looked like a Senate committee up there.

Since I had a lacrosse game to make in Norwalk, I got surprisingly little done in Uniondale. But here's some thoughts:

--Bryan Trottier says he expects to be in Bridgeport a lot. He's looking forward to working with the young guys, bringing them along.

--Support staffers in attendance (that I recognized, at least): new Isles trainer Garrett Timms, massage therapist Nates Goto, and assistant equipment manager Rich Krouse. Told that equip manager Scott Moon was there, too, but I missed him.

--As you'll see in the story, Smith said he hasn't given any thought yet to what to do with the Sound Tigers' coaching situation. (As you'll also see in the story, something that didn't strike me until very late in the day, there's a very dumb coincidence in the careers of Neil Smith and of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. It's so dumb, in fact, I almost left it for here.) In response to a Yashin question, Smith also said the advisory board plans to sit down and evaluate every player.

--Milbury was very quiet; sat at the end of the dais, answered one question, ducked out pretty quickly. But he did bring the house down with that one reply. Someone asked about his input into the decisions. Milbury held up a brochure and intoned, "I'm here to sell tickets..."

--Second-best one-liner, overheard out of Smith's son: "I'm proud of my dad. He got a free hat..."

--There were a couple of cute stories. Smith told of calling Bill Torrey and Al Arbour and telling them he'd never have won a Cup in New York without their example of a winning team. Nolan told about wondering if he still had the passion and commitment for coaching... and found it again in his first five minutes in Moncton.

--Smith said part of the timing was completing his OLN responsibilities. Wednesday was the last night down the dial.

--Isles player development man Dan Marshall knows Nolan from growing up in the Soo and thinks a lot of him, as a coach and as a person.

And then it took me almost two hours to get to McMahon. Some thoughts thereafter:

A few interesting things on TSN tonight. One is that it was a busy day for the 1994 Rangers, as then-assistant coach Dick Todd announced his retirement. Another is one of those things I guess I'm just not legal-beagle enough to get in the first place: The NHL and the PA agreed to let teams talk to their own free agents. There was a clause in the CBA that would have prevented that from happening between June 15 and July 1, when the flag drops and free agency begins for real. I don't get that clause, especially since teams have to tender offer sheets to Group II free agents by, I think it is, June 26. (That's another thing I wanted to ask about today but didn't. (Edit: The CBA agrees: 10.2(B)(ii).))

Hey, remember the Calder Cup Final? Me neither. Building conflicts stink. (A little research says it's 1-1, and Game 3 is Saturday. I'll be at DeLuca Field.)

The Brakettes remained perfect tonight: They're 0-0-0-6. (That's six rainouts.) And how come the Philadelphia Force play in Allentown, anyway?

Can I ask any more dumb rhetorical questions? (Of course.)

This whole Jason Grimsley story is just gonna get uglier, isn't it?

Picked up the Beatles' Capitol Albums Vol. 2 the other night on the (sorta) cheap. I won't say it was worth the money just to hear that false start in "I'm Looking Through You" again. I won't say it was worth it, either, to hear "Yes It Is" segue into a less-processed "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" again. I certainly won't say it was worth it to hear the instrumentals on the "Help!" soundtrack. I won't say it was worth the money to at last own a legitimate copy of the stereo alternate of "Please Please Me," with the delightfully flubbed guitar riff in the bridge and the near-total breakdown near the end. But they're close.

It was weird, after a long time with EZ Pass, to be paying tolls in cash. Particularly since the round trip cost me 10 and a quarter in cash, for cryin' out loud. (It doesn't seem as bad when it's $10.13 a month later, does it?)

Second item in this NY Post story says the Devils have let John Hennessy and Randy Velischek go. Hope they both land on their feet soon. Know John from his Albany days, and I've always enjoyed Velischek...

Who's stoked for the World Cup? (Besides our buddy Mike Cardillo, that is.) I tend to get into it, actually. Not one to schedule my days around it, but it's like the Olympics: I'll watch more of it than I think I will. Especially since I don't have to get up at 6 in the morning this time.

And in Norwalk, a good game for Fairfield Prep today, my first lacrosse game, I think, since the Barrage left town the day before the 2004 NHL trade deadline. (Is that possible? Wow.) Some good, hard, gutsy efforts; some flashy plays. And Prep coach Chris Smalkais, as expected, was pumped about the mad-extensive hockey coverage in today's Toronto Sun...

Posted by mike on June 9, 2006 02:40 AM

Comments

Posted by: captain america at June 10, 2006 01:55 AM