Frank MacDonald

The Florida Panthers made some expected moves Monday, sending goaltender Tyler Plante and defensemen Frank MacDonald and Jordan Henry to the Florida Everblades. The reinforcements had not made it to Estero, Florida, in time for the opening of camp today, so former Everblades goalie Cam McCormick was helping out for the first practice of training camp.

The Blades also added forwards Derek Damon, Rick Ferroni and Adam Taylor to the roster. Damon joned the team after attending Islanders training camp and failing to make the roster for the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The 26-year-old University of Maine product recorded 48 points (20 goals and 28 assists) in 56 regular season games for the Everblades in the 2006-07 season. He also appeared in 16 Kelly Cup playoff games for the Blades, netting 5 goals and assisting on 2 others during Florida's post season run.

The 23-year-old Taylor returns to Blades having scored 41 points (21 goals, 20 assits) in 37 regular season contests for the Blades. He added 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) in the playoff run for Florida as well.

Ferroni is a 25-year-old native of Stoney Creek, Ontario, who is joining the team on a tryout basis. He played 22 games last season with the Arizona State University men's ice hockey team.

Veteran Ryan Van Buskirk was also added to the Blades roster today. Van Buskirk appeared in 29 games for the Blades last season, scoring 1 goal and adding 12 assists, while spending 74 minutes in the penalty box. The 27-year-old defenseman adds a good deal of grit to Florida's blueline.

MacDonld joins Florida for his second Everblades season. He tallied 24 points (4g, 20a) last season and added an additional six points (1g, 5a) in the playoffs. Henry joins the Blades having finished up his junior career with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League. The 21-year-old recorded 32 points (7 goals, 25 assists) and 162 penalty minutes in 72 junior major games. Henry signed by the Panthers as a minor league free agent.

Goaltender Tyler Plante is also in his first professional season. A 2nd round pick by the Panthers in 2005, he completed his junior major career with a record of 30-14-9 and a 2.71 GAA in 54 games with Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL.

Former Blade goalie Justin Peters was also formally added to the roster today, despite being assigned down to the Blades last week by Albany.

Rumors from training camp say that defenseman Martin Tuma will not be reporting the Blades. The Most, Czech Republic, native was expected to start his 3rd season with the Blades having split the previous 2 seasons between Florida and Rochester of the AHL. Tuma had 9 assists and 77 penalty minutes in 32 regular season games for the 2006-07 Everblades. He also appeared in 23 games with Rochester, recording 33 penalty minutes.

Sadly, it has also been reported that Ryan Brindley has decided to follow Reggie Berg in to retirement. The Everblades captain appeared in 48 regular season contests for the Blades, gathering 2 goals and 23 assists, while logging 63 penalty minutes. Brindly as appeared in 159 Everblades games over 4 season from 2003 to 2007.

Everblades training camp will run through Oct. 18, the day before the opening of the regular season. Camp consists of an on-ice practice at 10 a.m. followed by an off-ice workout session each day except Sunday, which the players will have off. The Blades will play a pair of preseason games Friday and Saturday against the Central Hockey League's Mississippi RiverKings to get ready for the regular season. Tickets to the preseason contests, as well as opening night, are available at all ticketmaster locations and at the Germain Arena Box Office.

After this morning - with Diamond breaking my crystal vase followed by what I consider to be a time wasting staff meeting, all I really want to do is go home and hide out.

You know...it's just one of those days. Besides I really want to unload about the staff meeting, however...

I have tickets to tonight's Florida Everblades game against the Gwinnett Gladiators. Erf...

In minor league hockey, a Valentine's Day game usually means something unusual. In this case, they're wearing special jerseys which will be auctioned off afterwards to benefit the Heart Association.

My initial thought was green and pink -- ugh -- but I saw the draft and they actually don't look too hideous, nor do they look terribly Christmasy, which was my other concern.

I did ask Sean if he had special music lined up for the game and he said "Yeah, I guess I need to do that." Jeez, I can just imagine it will be a lack-luster effort, but that's part of the problem the Blades have been having. Lack up updated effort.

Swampee comes out, skates around before the start of the game with an American Flag. Then he throws T-Shirts to the crowd. Then we introduce the team and sing the national anthem. Then....it goes on and on.

I had gone to a Valentine's Day game in 2001, the Florida Panthers vs. the Phoenix Coyotes, a game I remember fondly, not because the Yotes won. They didn't, they lost 4-3. But more because they did play Valentine's day music and make an effort at working it into the holiday.

Travis Green had gone to the box at one point, to the tune of "Lonely...I'm Mister Lonely...I have nobody...to call my own..." When he realized they had him on the Jumbotron, he looked up, got a shit eating grin on his face and waggled his eyebrows. It was HYSTERICAL!

Pavel Bure scored a hat trick - something which he seemed to do every time I showed up for game. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to enough games that season, and so he wasn't scoring enough hat tricks, make it worth the Panthers while.

Kevyn Adams had the game winning goal. The problem I had, was that Brad May had the hook on him, and he didn't take it.

"You should have set the hook," I told him after the game. Sunrise doesn't like the fans to hang out after the game, but he likes to talk to his fans, and knew I was there, so we waited back the fence to the loading dock and he came out. I knew he would. He was, if nothing else, happy to see me.

"I would have gotten thrown in the penalty box."

"Like you've never been in one before?"

"Coach would have gotten mad. They would have given him a penalty shot."

"Esche would have stopped it." Goalies always have the advantage on penalty shots and shoot outs.

"But what if he didn't?"

"Then you would have lost, which you did anyway. At least this way, you would have had a chance to preserve the tie!"

Never argue hockey with a hockey player.

After missing most of the season following reconstructive shoulder surgery, May returned to the Colorado line up in time for the 6-3 loss to Atlanta Thursday, a game in which he was -1 with four shots on goal and four penalty minutes.

He did have an assist Sunday against the Dallas Stars (another loss) and was pretty much a non-factor in last night's win over the (no longer Mighty) Ducks.

I know that many of the Colorado fans still have a problem with him, but he really is a great guy to meet on a one-to-one level.

As for the Blades, I will have pictures up, hopefully by this weekend. The shots from Friday night's game against the Ice Pilots are available here. After tonight, Florida is off for three games on the road. While I'm going to the mid-week games for the next two weeks, this is pretty much going to be my last "free" weekend, as Spring Training starts and next weekend, I'll be down at the ballpark, having a look around.

We're also getting into a work crunch where I'll have to start putting in Saturday time as well as tax season is really starting to kick into gear. Ah well, I need the money. No rest for the weary and all of that. I wouldn't mind it so much if we weren't spending time in time wasting staff meetings!

The Rochester Americans kick off a six-game homestand tonight against the Syracuse Crunch at the Blue Cross Arena.

The Amerks remain without Daniel Paille, who remains in Buffalo, as well as Drew Larman and Rob Globke, who are with the Florida Panthers. The Panthers also re-assigned goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier to Adler Mannheim of the German Elite League last week.

Clarke MacArthur remains the Amerks leading scorer with 25 points (10g, 15a) in 23 games. Mark Mancari jumps to second place with 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists). The Amerks Brandon Smith and Florida's Martin Lojek are both +13 on the season.

The Amerks are 1-1 against Syracuse this season, suffering a 5-0 shut out at the Onodaga County War Memorial at Oncenter, but rebounding the following night at home for 2-1 win. The Amerks won both preseason games against the Crunch earlier this season.

Joe Motzko leades the Crunch in scoring with 20 points (6 g, 14 a). The fifth year player has appeared in 4 NHL games with the Columbus Blue Jackets since signing with the team out of St. Cloud State University. Center Goeff Platt, who appeared in three games with Columbus earlier this year, has 15 points on the season (11 g, 4 a).

Former Panther prospect Filip Novak has 12 points on the season for the Crunch, most coming on assists (11) for the defenseman. Novak was returned to the Crunch yesterday after a stint with Columbus.

The Crunch are in last place in the North Division and trail the Rochester Americans by 24 points. They have lost 6 of their last 10 games, but defeated the Toronto Marlies in their last outing.

Ty Conklin and rookie Tomas Popperle have been splitting the netmind chores for Syracus, Conklin has a 3.51 GAA and a .901 save percentage in 13 goals with a 2-9-1 record, while Popperle has a 4-6-0 record, has a 3.72 GAA and a .865 save percentage in 10 games.

The Amerks have their Toys for Tots campaign underway. Bring a new, unwrapped toy with you to Blue Cross arena and receive a free $16 ticket.

Amerks host Cruch tonight
Amerks return to Rochester in high spirits

The ECHL Florida Everblades take on the Ice Pilots in Pensacola tonight and tomorrow, both teams receiving a bit of a makeover from their last meeting.

Florida acquired help on the blue line, receiving Franklin MacDonald from the Amerks (in exchange for Jeremy Swanson) and re-signing Ryan Van Buskirk, who played with the Blades in the 2003-04 season.

Pensacola shipped brothers Derek and Jordan Krestanovich off to the Victoria Salmon Kings in exchange for forwards Adam Taylor and David Wrigley.

The Blades did catch a bit of a break though, as Pensacola will be without netminder Mike Mole, who was recalled to Bridgeport of the AHL Thursday.

Florida is short on forwards, so head coach Gerry Fleming will be looking for defenseman Chris Lee and Brett Peterson to swing some two way shifts on a checking line for this weekend's games.

Veteran Brent McDonald leads the Blades in scoring with 18 points (7 g, 11 a); Florida prospect Dustin Johner has 16 points (7 g, 9a) in 15 games.

Carolina's Craig Kowalski leades the Everblades netminding duo with a 6-5-0 record, a 2.27 GAA and a .929 save percentage in 11 games. Rookie David Shantz, a second round draft pick by the Florida Panthers, is 6-2-1 on the season with a 2.72 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.

Mike Wirll leads the Pilots gunners with 19 points (11 g, 8a), 10 of which (5g/5a) he has recorded with Pensacola. Colin Hemingway has 18 points (12 goals, 6 assists) in 19 Pilot games this season.

Mike Ayers will likely handle the Pilots net with weekend, he is 2-3-1 in six games this seson with a 3.17 GAA and a .912 save percentage.

The season is 1-1 between these two teams, with Pensacola winning the last meeting on the road at Germain Arena.

Ice Pilots hot, host cool Blades
Pilots goaltender Mole recalled to Bridgeport Sound Tigers of AHL

The Carolina/Colorado affiliated Albany River Rats take on the Tampa Bay affilated Springfield Falcons tonight in Albany. The Rats are in fifth place in the East division with an 11-11-2 record, good for 24 points. The Falcons are in fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 13-11-0 record. They are 7-3-0 in their last ten, but dropped their last game.

The Grand Rapid Griffins host the Toronto Marlies, Hartford visits Worcester, Norfolk is at Binghamton, the Chicago Wolves invade Philadelphia, Portland tangles with the Baby Bruins in Providence, the Penguins are at Hamilton, Peoria takes on the Moose at the MTS center and Lowell and Manchester tangle at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

I got an e-mail that former Panthers prospect David Lemanowicz has signed with the Elmira Jackals of the UHL. This is probably not as odd as it might otherwise be as Brent Cullaton is playing for the Jackals and the two played together in Laredo of the CeHL.

Both had also played for the old ECHL Tallahassee Tiger Sharks, but not at the same time.

I just strikes me as a bit amusing when names resurface like that.

A 9th round (218th overall) draft pick of the Florida Panthers in the 1995 NHL entry draft, he has also played with the old AHL Carolina Monarchs, the AHL Beast of New Haven, and the Austin Ice Bats (then with the Western Professional Hockey League) and the Memphis Riverkings of the Central Hockey League.

During the stint with Memphis he played for former Tiger Sharks netminder Mark Richards, who was coaching the team at that time. Richards never played with Manny. In fact, he left the Sharks the year that Manny arrived because Florida was assigning two goalies to the Tiger Sharks, the other being Aaron MacDonald.

The Riverkings were Leafs affilated at the time he played there, he had been working as a practice goalie for the Maple Leafs when they learned they needed someone in Memphis, so they signed him and shipped him south.

And yes, all those interconnections in the hockey world strike me as amusing as well.

Manny also made a very brief stop in Port Huron and played for the then Florida affiliated Port Huron Border Cats where he got into a bit of trouble during a game in Flint, Michigan. Manny only played 3 games with the B-Cats before the league suspended him, and the Panthers moved him over up to the Carolina Monarchs.

Richards also played one game for the Monarchs the year Manny was there. In fact, I think he replaced Manny in net during one game.

In any case, Manny began this season playing in Europe. He played 15 games for Wojas Podhale Nowy Targ in Poland, posting a record of (7-6-2) before returning to the USA to sign with the Jackals.

Elmira needs the netmind help as goalie Kris Tebbs has played 12 consecutive games and could probably really do with a night off.

Manny took a break after his stint with Austin to play two years of college hockey with the University of Toronto, his hometown. Elmira is currently 12-8 on the season, good for 4th in the 10 team United Hockey League. They trail league leading Muskegeon by 14 points.

The Jackals are a home this weekend, hosting the Fort Wayne Komets for a two game series on Friday and Saturday.

The Rochester Americans conclude their six-game road trip in Manitoba tonight and tomorrow before returning to Blue Cross Arena to face the Syracuse Crunch on Friday and the Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday.

Despite droping two to Grand Rapids this last weekend and losing 3 of their last 5, the Amerks remain in first place in the North Division, eight points ahead of Hamilton and Manitoba.

The Amerks won their past two meetings against the Moose this season, and are 12-10 all-time against Manitoba. The two games start at 8:30 eastern and you can listen live on the Amerks website at www.amerks.com.

Clarke MacArthur leads the Amerks in scoring with 9 goals and 14 assists (23 points). Michael Ryan also has 9 goals on the season, despite playing in four fewer games than MacArthur. Drew Stafford was returned to the Amerks by the Buffalo Sabres, he scored his second NHL goal on Saturday in the Sabres loss to the Washington Capitals. Stafford has 5 goals and 4 assists (9 points) in 11 games this season with the Amerks.

Craig Anderson and Dennis Adams have been splitting time in net for the Amerks, and the trend will likely continue through the next two games. Anderson, a Panthers prospect who has seen time in the NHL has a 2.33 GAA on the season with a .923 save percentage in eight games, while the Sabres' Dennis has a 2.56 GAA with a .925 save percentage in nine games.

Anderson has a 6-2-0 record, while Dennis has a 6-3-0 record.

The Vancouver affiliated Moose are lead by Jason Jaffrey (14 g, 11 a) and Brad Morgan (11 g, 14 a) with 25 points each.

Former Panther prospect Wade Flaherty has a handled the bulk of the Moose netminding and has a 6-5-0 record with a 2.91 GAA and a .886 save percentage. Partner Drew MacIntyre, who played last season for the Griffins, has a 3-5-2 record with a 2.92 GAA and a .897 save percentage.

Manitoba lost dropped to this weekend, one to the Hershey Bears and one to the Philadelphia Phantoms, both by the score of 2-5, and have lost 3 of their last five. The division leading Amerks have 4 games in hand over the 2nd placed Moose.

In NHL action the Sabres take on the Lightning in Tampa Bay tonight at 7:30, while the Panthers will try their luck at Pittsburgh against the Penguins. The Panthers are last in the Southeast Division, and only 1 point ahead of last placed Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference standings. They trail the Lightning by seven points, and both Philly and the Bolts have one game in hand on the lowely Panthers.

Henrik Tallinder and Tim Connolly remain out of the line up for the Sabres. Derek Roy is expected to play tonight. Tampa Bay is without forward Rob DiMaio.

Joe Nieuwendyk is expected to miss tonight's game for the Panthers, forward Jurij Kolnik is doubtful and Todd Bertuzzi remains sidelined indefinitely following back surgery. Mike Ouellet is day to day for the Pens, and defensemen Eric Cairns, Mark Eaton and Ryan Malone all remain on Pittsburgh's disabled list.

The Florida Everblades take to the ice against the Texas Wildcatters again tonight at Germain Arena, hoping for a different result than Tuesday night's game.

The Blades will rely on Carolina talent to get them through as Craig Kowalski gets the start in net and forward Bill Kinkel, who was a healthy scratch on Tuesday returns to the ice.

"They came out crashed and banged and they knocked us around," Kinkel said to the Fort Myers News Press in regards to the opening night game against Texas. "The next night I went in and (forward Brad) Parsons went in and the game was a little different. They weren't going to do the same (expletive) with me on the ice."

The crashing and banging on Tuesday cost the Everblades Panther prospect Derek Damon and Amerks farmhand Jonathan Lehun. Damon has a knee injury and will a miss a month, while Lehun suffered a concussion.

"I need to let them know it's going to be a different game," said Kinkel, who leads the team in penalty minutes (33), fights and black eyes. "They're not going to get way with the (expletive) they got away with in the last game."

Panther prospect Jeremy Swanson was promoted to Rochester earlier this week, in exchange for Franklin MacDonald, who played in Tuesday's game.

The Blades will also be going with the regular goalie rotation, despite the fact that Kowalski replaced David Shantz part way through Tuesday's loss. Shantz will play Saturday night's rematch against Texas.

“This is an opportunity for somebody else to step up and show us that he has the ability to play in those positions that maybe he hasn’t seen yet this year. (Associate coach) Jason (Nobili) and I talked about the personnel changes yesterday and our combinations on the power play and the penalty kill, and we feel very confident with the guys we have designated to play in those situations," Everblades head coach Gerry Fleming said to the Naples Daily News in regards to line changes for tonight's contest.

The Wildcatters are a physical style team, while the Everblades will need to rely on their speed and skating to take the game. Kinkel's return is particularly important to keeping the lanes open.

“What we have to do is use our speed, make them turn and skate and try to keep up with us," Kinkle said in the same article. "And if they do continue to go after our smaller guys, my job is to make sure they’re safe and that nothing happens to them. So I’ll be in (the Wildcatters’) ear making sure they know what not to do, and I can obviously help more in that role.”

Kinkel played in the AHL with the Houston Aeros last season and is on a two way contract with the AHL Albany River Rats this year.

The Wildcatters have won six straight and are finishing off their roat trip in Florida. They will return to Beaumont on Sunday.

The Blades meanwhile are on a two game losing skid. They hope to change their fortunes tonight and tomorrow at home before heading out on a two week road swing.

Saturday night is the Everblades annual Teddy Bear toss. Fans are asked to bring a new plush toy to the game with them to throw on the ice after the Blades score their first goal in the game.

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Next Game
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Who: Texas Wildcatters at Florida Everblades
When: Friday, December 1, 2006; 7:30 PM
Where: Germain Arena
TV: B2 Network
Radio: Sportsradio 770 AM
Internet: www.abc-7.com
Web site: www.floridaeverblades.com

I rediscovered an old joy: watching hockey on TV. Honestly, I missed that last season during the lockout. I actually didn’t realize it until I stopped at Ruby Tuesday’s for lunch and they had nothing on the TV’s at the bar to watch except Poker. I’m sorry. Watching people play Poker does not exactly thrill me. Elementary school hoops has more action and would, at least to my mind, have been more entertaining.

So anyway, the NHL is back and I started watching the Panthers games because I’ve been chatting with my friends in Miami and Fort Laud who are, for the most part, Panthers fans. This has been fun. Especially when the Cats lose. But in any case, I got excited. Advertisements for the NHL on OLN and well, sitting here in SW Florida, I figured I’m halfway between the Lightning and the Panthers and I can get the Bolts games too.

Well, no such luck. We do get Sun, but they are always showing Hoops or something, not the Lightning games. And OLN is not a real cable channel meaning Time-Warner doesn’t carry it. So this totally sucks. We can watch the Panthers games and well, like tomorrow, when they are playing the Sabres, it’s going to be blacked out.

Unless I want to spring for a Dish. Which Sprint sent me the info on, but as I just got the DSL set up tonight – it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, but I did have to call customer support – I need to wait and see how my finances are going before I spring for a Dish.

We do have Everblades hockey on the radio tonight, and I suppose I could hook the speakers up the computer and listen to games online as well. But it’s just not the same as curling up on the sofa with the cat and watching hockey.

But then again, I have a lot of catching up online to do. So…

As some of you might know, Twins Territory has shut down. So my new Twins blog can be found at Bottom of the Fifth. The link over on the side there that says Twins Territory will work for it too. That’s one thing I have to work on.

I’ve also been renovating Bladesline, but have a lot of work to do there to, as well as getting Miraclefans.com caught up to date, plus the New Britain page and well, the GCL Site, which is still my favorite child. I have also been working on a Panthers site to appease my Panther-watching friends. The trick on this one is I’ve been working on it using Tripod Builder, instead of just htmling and uploading the things like I usually do. It’s been a bit on the frustrating level, but at least I have some idea of how the things work incase the lost art of website building ever replaces the Blogging craze again.

And then there’s my actual homepage. While I wasn’t online I was scanning things in, so now I have to upload all that stuff and update. I’ve already put together a little Marlins’ Autograph Page (spurred on by the Twins acquisition of Luis Castillo) and I now need to work on a Dolphins’ page. In the mean time, here’s a little something for my online Cheesehad friend to enjoy:

And yes, there’s more but that’s enough for now. Besides, it’s time to turn the radio on and listen as the Blades try for win number 11 on home ice against Pensacola.

Let’s Go Everblades!

I have a bunch of things to write about, but Gwenny was talking about weird dreams. This is a hockey one I remember from a few years ago, only because it was so weird for me.

My friend Diane had the biggest case on Panthers enforcer Paul Laus. He's not my friend, but I've very close to his parents.

Me to Paul: "Hey, you're parents left two weeks ago and I haven't heard from them recently. When are they arriving?

Paul to me: "How should I know. You talk to them more then I do. One day, they will just show up in my yard."

I personally have NO interest in the guy, aside from what he does on the ice, but his folks are really cool. In any case...

I was really sick at the time of this dream and in this dream, I was -- guess what? -- really sick!

This is also why I wear a nightshirt to bed. If I sleep naked, I'm always naked in my dreams. If I've got a nightshirt on, I'm at least properly clothed in my dreams.

In any case, I was really sick and Lausy came over to check on me. How he got into the house and into my bedroom, I don't know, because I was still in bed and didn't let him in. But he showed up at my bedside.

We did the "I'm Okay, and no, I don't need anything from the store" routine, and then he starts looking at my hockey sticks. He gets to Kevin's and says "We'll what's wrong with this one? It doesn't look broken to me."

"There's nothing wrong with it," I reply. "He left it in Washy's (Steve Washburn's) garage at the end of the season and I rescued it." Which is actually how I got it!

Several years ago, Nike did a bunch of "out-of-work goalie" commercials, which, to this day I still love! This particular dream took a part from the "janitor" commercial.

In the commercial, the goalie is in full gear, but has a mop instead of his stick, as he goes into his moves in this neatly polished hallway, where a guy in a suite stands, waiting for the elevator, wondering how he's going to escape this freak:

"I tried a glove save! I couldn't stop him!

"I tried a kick save! I couldn't stop him!"

Well, in the dream, Lausy is in jeans and a T, but he goes into the full routine using Kevin's stick as a prop.

I nearly choked to death laughing!

He comes over afterwards and sits on my bed, and I give him a peck on the cheek and say "Thanks, Lausy. Laughter really is the best medicine!"

:-)

A note on the name: For his first two years with the Panthers, it was pronounced as louse (lous). The Cats decided they could make more money with the name "Laws" as in Laus-enforcement, so the pronunciation suddenly changed.

Evan once dared me to call him "lousey" to his face, which I did right in front of Evan. He laughed and gave me a hug for it. Evan was left to scrape is jaw off the pavement.

Yes, John and Rhea are my "In-Laus" (pronounced "in-laws") but I still get a kick out of calling him "lousey"

I have, for several years now, been referred to as the "Official Suck Hole" of the Florida Panthers. I figure as I was awarded it, it's mine to give away! :-)

How I got it goes something like this:

I was hanging out at the Panthers practice rink when one of the employees who also serves as an assistant equipment manager for the Cats asked me what I thought was the dumbest question I'd every heard.

"Do you want to meet Dominik Hasek?"

It's still the dumbest question I've every heard. He had to ASK that?

Anyway, after getting the post-game passes straightened out, I tottled off to Sawgrass Mills and found a nice white replica Buffalo Sabres jersey (unlettered) for him to sign. I wore it to the game that night.

Walking into the arena, the first people I should run into would be John and Rhea, the parents of Panthers' enforcer Paul Laus. (Sometimes referred to my as my In-Laus. The last time he signed with the team I was told, 'you're stuck with them for another four years.' I replied that was fine, as I like the whole family, including their little dog, Princess.)

"What is that you're wearing?" Rhea asks immediately.

"Oh! I'm going to meet Dominik Hasek tonight so I bought this for him to sign."

She looked at me and said "You're a suck hole, you know that?"

Hence forth (as the story got around) I became the first Official Florida Panthers Suck Hole -- at least as far as the fans are concerned -- and I've continued to suck up to the visiting teams in Panthers territory since!

Well, it's time to pass that title along, I think, and the new recipient is defenseman Paul Elliot, who was recently assigned down to the Everblades from Utah. In his bio this week, he lists his favorite NHL Team as the Florida Panthers, his favorite City as Miami, Florida, and his favorite arena as the National Car Rental Center. He is, of course, Panthers Property.

I hate to tell him this, but brown nosing the team is not going to get him called up.

:-)

And yes, I did meet the Dominator and yes, he did sign my jersey. I'm working on the rest of the team now. I will say I was so nervous during the proceedings that I scribbled on my stomach with the sharpie, which was uncapped at the time, so if you happen to catch me wearing that sweater, that's not an autograph on my stomach, it's jittery nerves.

(The scribbling on the sleeve of my Monarchs sweater came when Kevin got me going over something and I forgot I had the sharpie uncapped and so, while gesturing wildly I managed to scribble all over my sleeve, but that's another story.)

Sports agents sort of strike me as a cross between attorneys and horse traders. You have to know a little of both to be successful. Not that they are bad people. Well, some of them.

Rich Winters is likely the worst, but he does have some of the biggest names in the business.

Rick Langnas is pretty nice, and I do really like Kevin's agent, Tony. Although I think Tony gave him some bad advice in regards to his contract negotiations with the Florida Panthers.

Not that I would ever tell either of them this. Despite my personal feelings for the situation, I never said anything that wasn't 100% behind their decision.

Maybe in the end it worked out for the best. At least, that year, Kevin spent most of the time in the IHL with the Vipers until he got traded to Vancouver. The Vipers goalie went down just before their playoff series with the Solar Bears. That was the year that Cully got called up to Orlando for the Post Season, although he barely played.

But I followed the Solar Bears that whole season.

Kevin had been netting shut out after shut out with the Vipers earlier and when they lost their goalie, they tried to get him back from the Cannucks. Vancouver said no. A bunch of people on the Solar Bears list were ready to buy Vancouver jerseys, just for that! The Vips went with Lamothe in net and lost in round 3 and the Solar Bears went on to be eventually downed by the Houston Aeros.

I honestly do not remember meeting Kevin. Sometimes it seems like I always knew him, but I recall it was sometime during the 1996-97 season when he was with the old AHL Carolina Monarchs. In any case, I'd had a message for him from his Pee Wee coach, and since he refuses to have a computer, I went and delivered it. Don't even remember what it was about now.

Anyway, I waited for him after practice and he finally wandered out...

This is something else that bothers me about my favorite players. Why do I always have to pick the last ones out the locker room? Pete (Hogan) was terrible about that as is Brad, my friend in Phoenix.

In any case...he finally came out and came right on over to see me. He always does. I delivered the message and he was just all smiles and laughing. He introduced me to the guy he'd come out with.

"This is my agent, Tony. Tell him what you just told me."

So I repeated the message to Tony as Kevin went off to sign autographs.

I like to believe that someday, Mullethead will be as important to a youngster who makes the NHL as Kevin's Pee Wee Coach is to him. Who knows? Maybe twenty years from now I'll be passing on messages to one of his former students who'll be happy to hear from him.)

The repartition of the message lead to a conversation about how I'd come to know Kevin, which lead to Tony looking through my photo album which in turn lead to a conversation about masks.

Kevin insists he got into goaltending because he loves the equipment, but in trying to talk equipment with him, he gets really vague on the subject. His folks said it was because he was adamant about playing hockey but he was such a small fellow that he got put into net so he wouldn't get run over and hurt.

In any case, he averages at least two masks a year.

"I don't know what he does with them all!" Tony told me.

I laughed and suggested his folks have a basement on their home in Scarborough and all the old masks are stored on shelves. I also told him my favorite was the "Raging Lion" design he'd had for part of the second year in AHL Carolina. That's also where he latched onto his current mask maker, Masked Expressions, which is also the designer for most of the NHL Carolina helmets.

I should ask his mom sometime, as he sure as hell won't tell me.

So we ended up discussing helmets and Kevin finally came back over to collect Tony.

Tony looks at me and says "Tell him what you just told me."

Slight segue: There was a guy on the radio yesterday who had wrote a book on meeting Mr. or Mrs. Right and he insists the key to it all it talking.

Women, he says hold all the power in this and the best way to meet a guy is to stop thinking about them as guys and start thinking about them as Golden Retrievers. Golden Retrievers are easy to attract.

You cruise down the cereal aisle in the Publix, he said, because cereal is the favorite food of all men. It requires them to add just one ingredient, milk. So while your prospective Mr. Right is picking up a box of cereal, you pick up another one, make eye contact and start a conversation. Talking about cereal is great. In any case, you should end the conversation with "It was really nice talking to you" and hint at getting is phone number.

He said it works. He then went off to say that the Golden Retriever will go off to his car and immediately (it doesn't matter if he only has one minute left on this calling plan, he'll pay over for this) call the rest of the Golden Retrievers in his litter to tell them all about this "hot babe" he picked up at the Publix.

(Somehow, I do not think it will work for me, as it would be a real stretch of the imagination for anyone -- even a Golden Retriever -- to classify me as a hot babe.)

But now, I'm wondering if the pound puppies in question here actually speak to each other directly when they are alone together. One assumes they do and that they do not need a female along to interpret for them. Then again, maybe that's why Kevin got such bad advice from Tony. There wasn’t a girl around to act as a go between.

Anyway, we went back through the helmet conversation. I suggested one with a profile of Mike Jordan going up for a dunk with the slogan "I want to be like Mike!" It was popular at the time and Jordan is his favorite athlete. He thought about it. I then suggested a "cheesy" (Cheetos) theme and he quickly killed that. His nickname is "Cheesy" which comes from the days of his being a youngster and coming into the rink each day with a bag of "cheesies" (Cheetos) and a soda. He'd ask for tips from the older goalies, who ended up dubbing him "Cheesy".

He hates that nickname.

I'll never let him live it down.

:)

I'm glad he's back in Carolina and is now a Hurricane. I'm really looking forward to seeing him a Canes Camp in the fall.