octopusonice

You could probably tell if something is autopenned by sending two copies of the same item separately and seeing if the autograph was an exact duplicate. I always thought a lot of celebrities, including athletes, had an assistant sign autographs for them. Never heard of the autopenner. I once mailed a letter of sympathy to a former MLB player, Pete Harnisch, who pitched for the NY Mets. He was on a leave of absence from the team because he was trying to kick the addiction to chew tobacco and was suffering from depression as a result. A few weeks later, I get a letter back postmarked from somewhere in Florida with no return address. Inside was an autographed card from him along with the word, "Thanks!". I'm pretty sure this was not autopenned or signed by an assistant.

I like him because he's a Wing, but I really liked him when he scored the game winning goal against Pittsburgh in the SCF.

The stuff he does just defies the laws of physics. Happy birthday Pavel!

This is exactly what I like. A throwback that doesn't overdo it with the stripes and shows respect for the history of the team, especially with uniform numbers without last names on the back. These would sell better than hotcakes.

If the Wings want to do a third jersey, make it look like the ones from the Gordie Howe era. Use the red color from that era with the white winged wheel and the older style numbers without the names on the back. Red Wings fans are traditionalists, so a modernized third jersey is just going to piss everyone off. This would sell well while still respecting the team's heritage or looking too obnoxious like the really old Falcons/Cougars jerseys with the goofy stripes.

In the end the Wings won the only award that really mattered, but I have to agree with those who argue that the Wings were #1 start to finish and should have won the ESPY. Since the name of the award is Best Team then the Wings should have won it because they meet the definition of best team better than anyone else does. A more appropriate name for the ESPY Best Team award would be "People's Choice Award" or something along those lines. But whatever. ESPN is a goldbricking vacuum.

That 'Hockey Scores' song is just wrong! ROFLMAO!!!

1. Lidstrom 2. Yzerman 3. Datsyuk 4. Zetterberg 5. Shanahan 6. Fedorov 7. Holmstrom 8. Osgood 9. Draper 10. Maltby

I don't count Chicago. Besides, we already have the Winter Classic with them, so we already have the nostalgia/tradition angle with them covered.

I know that the Hossa angle is compelling, and I don't have a problem with facing Pittsburgh because of the interest from the SCF, but I would like to see some home and homes with some original 6 teams.

Maybe I shouldn't be, but I'm surprised that anyone could become a sportswriter at this level without knowing about Jackie Robinson or Henry Aaron and what they had to endure while playing baseball. If Emery had to endure 1/100 of that kind of racism, he'd wet his pants. Besides, if he was to goaltending what Robinson and Aaron were to their positions as ballplayers, he would still be in the NHL.

Not necessarily. I always bristle at these kinds of questions, because I don't think it's fair to the athletes. This year is an Olympic year and those of us who watch the Games are probably going to see a handful of sports where an individual or team is heavily favored and that anything less than a gold medal is a failure. That's pure rubbish. There may be a few exceptions like the 1972 US basketball team, but outside of anything like that, anyone who wins a medal in the games should be honored. No matter how good you are, no matter how hard you work or train, there are factors beyond your control that can keep you from getting the prize. Injuries, bad officiating, the yips or even an upstart competitor who catches lightning in a bottle or who may be the new king of the sport emerges. No one is guaranteed a championship. On paper, there is no team better than the Wings right now. They have no significant player losses, plus they pretty much got what they wanted out of the offseason when they retained Stuart, signed Hossa and should have Flip signed by the end of the month. The problem is, the game is not played on paper and the old saying, 'That's why they play the game' has never been more true. If any team knows what it's like to be better on paper, yet come up short between the lines it's the Wings. If we were to judge solely on predictions, the Wings should have at least three more Cups than they do now. This team is poised to win a championship, but neither they nor the fans should treat it as a failure if they don't get the Cup. As long as they go deep into the playoffs and don't totally lay an egg if they were to be eliminated, then I would say it was a successful season. If it is something like the times we got eliminated by Anaheim or the Kings back in 2001, then that would be a failure, IMO.

It's especially nice to see a player go out on top when there's irony in his name. It's one thing to win, but to do so with irony is something that only the most fortunate of athletes pull off.

It's hard for me to feel sorry for him, but as a hockey fan, it's ultimately none of my business whether Sergei gets in financial trouble or not.

I know what you mean. I'm suffering Red Wings withdrawal and the Padres do not provide much relief from it.

The topic is about best sports cities, so you have to define what you mean by that. In terms of athletes from the area, San Diego has supplied numerous athletes to the various professional sports leagues. If it's about the fans, I don't consider San Diego a strong sports fan city. Pretty much it's all Chargers out here right now with some recent excitement over USD and SDSU basketball. The Padres' season can't end soon enough. We have had two NBA franchises which both left town. Anyone who cares about the NBA roots for the Lakers. Our minor league hockey team, the Gulls, ceased operations in 2006. NHL fans are hard to find. No one goes to SDSU football games, not even the students. The program has continued to go downhill since Marshall Faulk left. There are a lot of transplants that live here and come to games, so the home field advantage is not as strong.

Hollweg has a poor work ethic and he inhales vigorously.

I second that. When the Lakers are in the playoffs, the number of purple and gold car flags goes up exponentially. Even in San Diego. In Orange County it's definitely all Angels and USC. The two hockey teams get less support. On a side note: one interesting thing about the Angels is that they are eating into the Dodger fanbase a little bit. Everyone likes a winner.

Interesting theory. Hossa definitely upset a few apple carts by signing with us.

I could be wrong, but it looks like this contract could have many of the same problems that NFL contracts would have. At the time you sign a long-term deal, it seems exciting and all, but it often leads to a couple of problems: 1. If the going price for similar players goes up over time, then the person locked up in the long-term deal will feel jilted when his peers are making more money. It leads to holdouts, complaining, talk of restructuring etc. 2. If the player 'jumps the shark' then they are the first one to be targeted when salary cap cuts need to be made. As a result, almost none of these contracts goes to completion with the original team. I'd like to hear some thoughts on this. I'm still learning about the contract side of the NHL. How much of these contracts is guaranteed? If I sign a player to 7 years and $60M and they get a Jiri Fischer-like condition after one year, is it like baseball where the contract is guaranteed and I lose all that money, or am I only partially on the hook?

I have to add Tampa Bay to my s*** list. ThunderBug has gotta go. I do not want to see that on my TV ever again. That's worse than when the Mighty Ducks showed Disney cartoons at the Pond all the time. To their credit, they got rid of that image. Now they are the other extreme with a bunch of goons who can't score, but I digress. If you have to have a mascot, use something that strikes a little fear into people's hearts. Get someone who looks like they workout a lot and are on the juice and make them look like a pissed-off Thor, the god of thunder. Now there's a mascot we can all appreciate. Now if you have to market to the kids, then let 'ole Thor crack a smile while he hands out freebies in between periods.

Found it!

One thing I'll knock about LA fans is that they are notorious for arriving late and leaving early from games. I know the article wasn't listing with this criteria, but I think some of the best sports fans are Green Bay Packers fans. No matter how good or bad the team is, they are there to support them.

I liked Manny Legace's mask when he was still a Wing. Showed a lot of respect for the history of the team. There was an LA Kings mask from the erly 90s that had a king from a deck of cards painted on it. Not sure if it was Hrudey or someone else.

Ducks, Kings and after I come home from my trip to Aspen in August, the Avs.