Ramblings For August
The summer is almost done, the longest month for a hockey fan in August is almost done, thank God. I find every off-season the worst month by far is August, it just seems to drag on and one for whatever reason. Not that it matters now, September is upon us, training camps will soon be in full swing, preseason hockey games are just around the corner, and maybe the best part, fantasy drafts galore for the next 30 odd days. If your a nerd like me anyway. The month of August wasn't a total lost though, with a number of stories worth mentioning.
Patrick Kane:
Did he or didn't he? Most feel he did, but that seems to always be the case when a person of interest like Patrick Kane is involved. Myself, I'll admit that he put himself in a bad situation and he is lucky it didn't turn out worse for him then it did. Hopefully he really does learn from this just how quickly the "fame and fortune" can change if you don't take care of your own business. With that said, based on how the court process played out, my official opinion of the whole story is that nothing really of great malevolence played out here other then maybe a spoiled kid acting like a spoiled kid.
The Bolts Sign Tanguay?
It's assumed, barring some really crazy health issues, Ales Tanguay has finally picked a hockey team to play the season for. Now, the Lightning will be a better team with him if your asking me. In fact a line with Tanguay being play maker to Vincent Lecavalier could be what dreams are made of, but there is an issue that bothers me looming over this bit of news. If the Bolts are struggling as much financially as the rumors suggest, what the hell are they spending more money for? Maybe it's just me that gets irked when teams that are losing money, still get the UFA's to sign, it just doesn't make sense. Markets with fans that have paid through the nose to support thier team should be the ones seeing their teams winning the signing wars for the higer end skill players in my books.
Are The Canucks A Contender?
Gillis and the Vancouver Canucks fans had themselves a big day on Friday. In acquiring Ehrhoff from the Sharks and signing the silky smooth PP quarterback in Mathieu Schneider the Canucks not only addressed the teams weak points, they may have become good enough to consider a true contender for the Stanley Cup. The key to that past sentence is "may have", which pretty much means I want to see a bit more before I have the balls to say they are a contender. Last year the big question for this team was who was going to score other then the Sedins? A few players stepped up last year and goals for wasn't an issue, but having 1 good year happens all the time, having a career full of good years is the hard part. Can the likes of Kesler & Burrows follow through now that it's expected of them to score goals rather then everyone just hoping?
Then again, this is just another damned opinion.
