Scouring The Interweb

As we inch towards the 2008-09 hockey season, I am always looking for new websites and blogs to speak about in order to bring the most comprehensive coverage of hockey to everyone who stops by this site. While I'll never be the Google of hockey sites, I do appreciate other writers' opinions, and hope to gain a better understanding of the hockey world by reading these opinions. While I may have some hockey knowledge, I enjoy expanding my knowledge base, and there are some very reputable sites out there. Along with some of these highly-informative sites comes the blogs that write informative and entertaining pieces, and that's what I want to highlight today.

First off, for anyone who enjoys seeing hockey history at its finest, I'm going to direct you to Steve Dewing’s site which has a ton of classic hockey pictures. This might be one of the finest collections of old hockey photos that I have ever seen online, and is certainly worth checking out if you're looking for anything.

Since I am all about the charitable donations this summer, I want to shine some light on a fund-raising effort by one of our own bloggers. Christy's blog, known as Behind The Jersey, has always been a place I've gone to in order to get as much info on the Detroit Red Wings as possible. She's a fabulous writer, and she now needs our help.

She has started her own campaign, Kneed 4 Relief, to help raise funds for knee surgery next summer. Her insurance company has denied her attempts to get her needed surgery three times. Her previous nine surgeries have not relieved the pain she's currently in, so she needs our help. If you're a fan of Christy's writing, please donate what you can to help her out. Or, alternatively, please contact her if you'd like to donate memorabilia to the auctions she is planning to help raise funds. I plan on making a donation this week to help her cause.

Cassie from Bolts Blog has some interesting reading regarding how the NHL has missed the boat when it comes to marketing. I think she is right, although this is a topic that could be explored to so many more depths, and should be reviewed by the NHL sooner rather than later.

Bubba from Canes Country has had a pile of stuff going on, from taking on Canadian media to introducing a new writer for his blog. However, his piece on fan rivalries was very interesting, and is certainly worth a read.

Alanah from Canucks And Beyond looks at a reasonable solution to the KHL-NHL contract mess regarding Alexander Radulov. Personally, I like the idea of having the contract frozen, but there's no way for a team to prevent a player from walking away if they were offered more money. I'm not sure what the answer is, but the IIHF will rule on the situation in the next two weeks.

Sean over at Going Five Hole has a funny article on why you should stop being a sports fan. The lead picture alone is worth 1000 words about why people should stop being sports fans. Those cheesehead hats are probably one of the most ridiculous creations every devised.

Jibblescribbits has decided to be David in the story of David vs. Goliath in his response to Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski. I'm joking in that reference as these two have a good relationship, but Jibble puts up some solid facts regarding Greg's ideas on updating the Avalanche's logo and jersey.

Speaking of Greg, Mr. Wyshynski has a great article on the NHL working to reduce goalie padding again in an effort to boost scoring. While I'm never against having more goals, why can't the NHL start looking at standardizing their rinks to international sizes? You don't need to tell me about how the costs of this would sink some teams, but if players are getting bigger, why can't the ice surface get bigger? And why can't North American hockey be like every other league on the surface of the planet and play at international sizes?

Kirsten at Land of Lakes and Hockey has some serious rage going for Minnesota Wild GM Doug Risebrough over the buyout of fan favourite Mark Parrish. She also has a few words, en francais, for head coach Jacques Lemaire. Nothing is worse than a woman's scorn, gentlemen. Especially when she's a hockey fan.

Aneesa of Love The Game, Don't Like Puck Bunnies is looking for female sportswriters and bloggers for her blog where she'll feature you in an article. If you're interested, head on over there and check her space out.

Sarah of Neutral Zone Trap has been busy with a site re-design, getting invited to write with The Hockey News, and doing some general housekeeping on her site. Congratulations on The Hockey News gig, Sarah!

The always-entertaining Pens Blog has whipped up an excellent post on the rejected features in EA Sports' NHL '09. Classic comedy ensues. I was hoping that they would have included the "Holdout Till Christmas" feature that Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne used, or even the "Holdout Till Trade Deadline Day" feature that Peter Forsberg used, but they covered off enough. Great post!

Alright, I'm off to get some housework done. Just saying that word makes me cringe, but the piles of laundry and vacuuming that haven't been done cannot be put off any longer.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!