Sean over at Popjocks wrote to tell me about the new Islanders jerseys that were put on display.  You can read his post about it here.  Thanks, Sean.

The word on the net is pretty negative so far, but give it time.  Some may come around.

This is Jamie.  She likes hockey people.

Jamie is a rescue kitten.  That does not mean that she rescues people from mountains or burning buildings, it means that her mother passed away when Jamie was born.  Jamie needs a home.

A little background.  I work as a stagehand on tour.  I am currently on tour with a broadway musical, and in Charlotte, North Carolina.  One of our local crew people volunteers for a local animal shelter, and brings in kittens to take care of during the shows.  New born kittens, like Jamie who came to us at the ripe age of two weeks, need consistent attention, because they don’t know how to do anything.  When I mean anything, they don’t even know how to go to the bathroom (not just litter training, but how the whole concept works).  The kittens are good for the crew as well.  There is nothing like a kitten first learning how to bat a piece of string around to take your mind away from the troubles of the day.

Unfortunately, the kittens may be going away.  The building (or someone) has decided that, after three years of there not being any problem with rescued kittens being around, there is now an issue.  Soon, the kittens will be going away.  I spend most of my off time at work with Jamie, and have watched just how much a kitten can grow in four weeks.  She is playful, fun, and full of personality.  If there were a way to adopt her, you bet I would.  But being on tour, spending days at a time at work setting up the show, moving every month or so, none of it is fair to a newborn kitten.  It’s one thing when you can just call your home a home, but when home changes so often, and with most housing options are limited when it comes to having pets, it’s something I just can’t do.

I wish I could tell you how upset I am by all of this.  It’s one thing to puff your chest out and act like a Big Time Roadie, to be the big strong stagehand, but when it comes to something like this, it hits me a little.  Actually, it hits me a lot.  Back in the day, theaters had cats around as a deterrent to rodents.  You can imagine how much rats and mice love old theaters, and if you have ever seen an old film with the rats scampering around backstage, I can tell you, it isn’t an exaggeration.   Theater cats were a part of the crew, and usually a well respected one at that.  We are losing ours.

As much of a longshot as this may be, if there is anyone in the Charlotte area in need of a cat, I have the perfect one here.  She loves hockey jerseys, is a lot of fun, and cute as hell.  If you feel you fit the description, and need a friend to watch some hockey with, send me a note using the contact form above.  I can hook you up with the powers that be, and you can do what you need to do.  And you can make a really cool kitten – and me – very happy.

What a face, huh?

Located mid-arena now, here are the last two rounds.

155th Jens Hellgren from Sweden
169th pick traded to Boston for the 4th round pick in 2008
195th Johan Alcen from Sweden

The final pick (211) was the Blue Jackets, who selected Trent Vogechuber from Columbus, OH.

That’s it for the draft. I am sad to report that I did not get selected this year, but there’s always the next. I will be posting pics, stories, and swag the rest of the day and tomorrow.

Direct from the draft, Colorado picks:

105th Brad Malone from Sioux Falls of the USHL
113th Kent Patterson from Cedar Rapids of the USHL
135th Paul _arey from Salisbury High School in Conn.
143rd pick is traded to the Flames for picks 155 and 169

After 4 rounds, the Avs have selected 3 players from the USHL. I’d say that speaks pretty well of US development. The USNTDP have had a strong showing, and the amount of US first round players that were US born points to a happy trend.

As Canadian as the game may be, hockey is the world’s sport.

Well, what is there to say? The hardcore hockey fans are still here, but th=
e pomp and circumstance has left the building. The lower bowl has been opened up for fans, getting us closer to the action. Even the press ranks have thinned out.

Of course, there are no jerseys being brought to the stage, even the picks are being made from the individual tables on the floor. Bettman isn’t around, and that’s just as well. He got the usual response yesterday from the hockey faithful. Being only the second round, most of the drafted players are here. Columbus’ first pick in this round (37th overall) got his 07 Blue Jackets jersey and went down to shake hands with his new team.
Colorado is picking 45th, 49th, and 55th in this round. Picks are as follows:
45th Colby Cohen from Lincoln of the USHL
49th Trevor Cann from Peterborough of the OHL
55th TJ Galiardi Dartmouth of the ECAC

I have lots of pictures to share, but those will go up over the next few days.

If this post looks weird, it’s thanks to the funky formatting of my phone, posting via email. I will fix it later.

For all my love of hockey, 6:00 AM is not my best hour, but that’s what it took to make it to the airport and catch my flight to Columbus for the Draft. There was a Draft info booth right at the baggage claim, with basic information. A kid in a Team Canada hat went straight up to it, after looking lost for a moment. Alas, I have no idea who he was.

Nationwide Arena is ready for the Draft (capital D? Draft? Anyone?)

Guess where I wasn’t?

It’s like both sides of my life altogether.

Tomorrow, I’m going skating at the Icehaus, which is attached to Nationwide Arena. Public skate starts at 11:30 AM, and may be crowded, but worth it. It’s a great place to skate (they rent skates too, so no excuses). Blogger party afterwords. See this post at Army of the Ohio for details.

So, I booked my flight and hotel for the NHL Draft in Columbus, OH today. I get in the day before, leave the day after, stay just a couple of blocks away, and may even get to skate at the Ice Haus at Nationwide (where the Blue Jackets practice).

If you want to go to the draft, Ticketmaster has made the tickets available, and each costs about two dollars (or so) to download. You don’t have to jump through all the hoops the Blue Jackets were creating. Just a few clicks away.

Michael from Army of the Ohio and Drew from End of the Bench are planning a blogger meetup, and some sort of drunken debauchery will likely occur. I’m bringing my skates, a few good jerseys, and a few mics to try and capture some audio, as well as maybe do a little blogger round table podcast of some sort.

For the Army of the Ohio draft info post, go here.

Who’s with me? Who else is planning on going to the draft?

Technorati : Draft, Hockey, NHL

Since the Appleton Radison does not have Versus, I am out and about watchin=
g the game. I am guessing I’m the only one in downtown Appleton barhopping=
and watching the game, much less walking around in a hockey jersey.

Since the game is about to start, I’m going to say Ducks in 6, but I’m real=
ly hoping for Ducks in 7, since I have monday nights off, and this is going=
to be another long offseason.

What’s better than watching the Stanley Cup Finals? Not much.=

Who would have thought you would hear those words ever again? Germany beats the Czechs 2 -0.