It must have been quite some time since I’ve seen a puck drop in earnest, because I suddenly feel inclined to share a few off-season ruminations:

Man, when you see what’s happening in the world of sports these days, isn’t it good to be a fan of hockey?  Steroids rampant in baseball, dog fighting in football, a referee betting on basketball games that he was working – all alleged, of course.  Maybe the boys on frozen pond aren’t yet the mainstream athletes in some parts of North America that we all believe they should be, but give me this hard working group of generally grounded guys – and the people who surround them - any day.  I understand scandals can erupt anywhere, and our sport is not immune.  From where I sit, though, the over-under says your next headline rattling sports story erupts outside the realm of hockey.  Thankfully.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love ESPN and usually enjoy the work of Kevin James and Adam Sandler.  But how bad must that Chuck and Larry movie be that they’ve signed up to be on ESPN’s “Who’s Now” panel?  And is it just me, or does that Who’s Now promotion have an air of ESPN Ocho about it? 

It always impresses me that some of the most famous people out there are also some of the most approachable.  Case in point – I was in Vegas a few weekends ago with some college friends.  We’re all from New England, all went to UMASS, and still get together every other year in Sin City.  Anyway, we had reservations to see Jay Leno at the Mirage, and when we went to pick up the tickets, one of my friends asked an employee at the box office if he would pass on a note to Mr. Leno.  The Tonight Show host is from Andover, MA, and most of us are also from that area, so my friend was simply telling Jay where we would be in the audience and asking if he would give us a “shout out.” 

An hour later, we arrived back at the theater, about 30 minutes before the show was scheduled to start.  No more than three minutes after we had sat down, a Mirage usher came over, pointed to us and said, “Gentlemen, please come with me, Mr. Leno wants to meet you.”  We practically tore MCL’s climbing over each other to get out into the aisle and were escorted back to his dressing room.  For the next 15 minutes, we all just sat around and swapped stories about growing up in New England.  It was actually someone from our group that suggested we better get back out to the theater, since it was getting close to show time.  Our escort took a picture of the “New England Eight (Leno included), we thanked our unexpected host profusely and then returned to our seats, our appreciation of the legendary comedian all that stronger.  (I guess not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, eh?)

                   
With some of the wild free-agent spending going on this off-season, can someone tell me why the NHL ever had a lockout?  Just wondering.