Holiday Cleanup

The tree is still standing in my house, and there's no plan to take it down early. So while the Grinch is cleaning out Whoville on TV, I'm cleaning out my inbox tonight in order to prepare for the new year. There are a number of things that I haven't even touched in my inbox due to being insanely busy during this time of year, so I feel it's only appropriate that I bring to light some of the emails that you, the readers, have sent me. And let me just say before we get to the emails that I appreciate everyone who sends me email. For those who visit via the Manitoba Moose website and the Vancouver Canucks website, I thank you for stopping by and reading too. I appreciate your readership as well, and I'll continue to post there as well. Now let's get to those emails.

• We'll start with the good people at Pepsi who will be providing me some cool stuff for an upcoming contest. Pepsi ran their "Your Cheer" contest earlier this year, and now they're looking for you. Yes, you. Well, your name, at least. If you join Cheer Nation, you'll have the chance of having your name displayed at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto! Pepsi is trying to get 1,000,000 names added to Cheer Nation, and they are currently just short of 23,000. Get your name on the list, and have your name displayed at Hockey's hallowed Hall of Fame!
• Teebz's Book Club will have another book review before the end of the year, but I am also taking suggestions for books you'd like to see reviewed on this site. Send me an email with the title of the book and the author's name, and I'll gladly so my best to review it as soon as can get my hands on a copy. I already received requests for They Call Me Chief: Warriors on Ice, written by Don Marks, and Gretzky's Tears, written by Stephen Brunt. You can hear my good friend Michael Elves interviewing Mr. Brunt about his new book here. Both of these books will be featured on TBC in 2010.
• I'm super-excited about an article I am preparing for January 2010, and it has to do with a low-cost, brand-new piece of hockey equipment. Several NHL players are already wearing this piece of equipment in the NHL, and there are other players who have worn similar pieces that were extremely expensive in comparison. Thanks to an incredible man in Michigan, he's given me an exclusive look and a prototype, and I think they are the bee's knees. If bees had knees. But you get the idea. That will be coming up within the next month, so stay tuned. It might be something you want in your hockey bag.
• I received a great email from a reader named Kevin who asked, "do you know of any place that sells hockey jerseys that are made like old time hockey sweaters? I really want to do a DIY Kings jersey but make it like an older sweater style and have something that fits less ridiculous than an actual hockey jersey". My suggestion was this page on the Sierra Trading Post website for the Do-It-Yourself route, but perhaps one of you might know of a better resource? Roger Edwards also produces an acrylic knit sweater for some of the old-time teams. If you have a better suggestion, let me know via email, and I'll pass them on to Kevin.
• I need to know your thoughts: would you like me to keep this site advertisement-free? While the extra income would be nice, I've never been fond of ads simply because they annoy me. However, with the extra income, I would run more contests and offer more prizes. So I'm putting it to you, readers - ads for prizes, or no ads for aesthetics?

That's all for tonight. I do have several advertisement offers sitting in my inbox, so I'll make a decision soon, but I really want your opinions on this. Also, get your name in the Hall of Fame! Go! Do it! Stop reading this!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!