Random thoughts as camp opens

What a long off-season. Here we go:

- Love that Snoopy is telling reporters to find something new to talk about other than his injury history. Our media is boring as hell and lacks any kind of original thought. I watched the interview clips of Spezza and Alfie at the All-Star Game announcement and the inability of our media to ask one sensible question amazes me. "Jason, do you want to play in the All-Star Game in Ottawa?" No, dipshit, I want to sell hotdogs in the stands. "Will you stuff the ballot box to make it?" Yes. "So does that give you motivation to play hard so you can be in the All-Star Game in Ottawa?" Are you still talking about the ASG that is 500 days away in a totally different season? Get a job, man! You guys can't even manage to get good sound bytes anymore. This childish work is in the same week that CTV announces that Pat Burns is dead. Great work, fellas.

- All the Gonchar talk seems to be on improving our powerplay. While I agree that he does add credibility to special teams, he's also a #1 guy on 5-on-5. You don't pay a guy that much money just to work the powerplay (outside of Kovalev, of course), you pay him that because he is our top defenceman, the puck mover that Murray has been longing for during the past three seasons. I'm excited to see these guys move the puck up the ice 5-on-5 and catch our opponents on a lazy backcheck. As great as A-Train and Big Rig were, forwards didn't exactly have to fly out of our zone because the puck never really left. With Sarge, we should be able to get some odd-man rushes. If Michalek can get his speed back that he did in the beginning of last season, we're in for some awesome end to end plays just using his breakaway ability with Gonchar's outlet.

- While I do hope that a guy like Butler or Wick can have a stellar camp and make the squad, it is a bit strange that we would turn down the offer of having a Lang or a Guerin come on a tryout basis. I know that cap space is a major issue and that we need the youth in our system to prepare for the departures of Kovalev and Alfie in the next couple of years, but would it hurt to see how those free agent vets could do in our camp? I guess it might not be fair to them knowing that we don't have the cap space to pay for them, but it would be a shame if we missed the boat on a guy like Guerin that can still hang around in the top six ranks because we think Wick might be able to do it. Then again, youth needs experience, right?

- Excited to see if Kuba can regain is 40+ point form that he used to bring. He's a good dman that won't have to play 24 minutes anymore so hopefully he brings a second wave of offence with Karlsson on the second pairing.

- Does anybody anywhere expect Brian Lee to crack the top six?

- Pardon me for being in the minority on this one, but I just don't give a shit about our scoreboard. When I'm at a game, I look up to see time remaining, shots, and penalty minutes. I just don't need some flashy HD screen. If I wanted a great TV picture of it, I'd watch from home where beer is cheaper. Garrioch says some scoreboards show who is on the ice. So do my eyeballs. To me, scoreboard is nothing more than a status symbol and I'd personally rather we spend the money on hiring the best scouts, the best trainers, the best nutritionists, the best training equipment, the best doctors, stay in the best hotels and fly in the best planes, and then go win a fecking Cup. And when Alfie hoists Lord Stanley's mug and parades around the ice, I'll be watching him and not the scoreboard.

- DROP THE PUCK! We're ready to roll.