Friday Grab Bag

Not much to write about today other than a few random notes:

• Tonight's preseason game at St. Louis is on KSTC-45 in standard definition only. There is absolutely no excuse for this.


• The only Wild players ranked in the Top 20 by position in this week's The Hockey News were Mikko Koivu (#19 Center) and Nik Backstrom (#16 Goaltender), and as much as I'd like to argue that they missed some other Wild players, I tend to agree. Although Mikko should be Top 10.


• This is definitely chili season. Spicy chili season.


• I see no reason why I can't wear lounge pants AKA pajama bottoms to a youth soccer game. Comfy as hell.


• I think I'm really going to enjoy watching the Edmonton Oilers this season; they appear to be a collection of young talent who are bound to be in a bunch of 7-4 games.


• The NHL Center Ice package at $170.00 is still the best bargain on television.


• I am completely jinxing the team by writing this, but the UMD Bulldog hockey team seriously has a shot at a national title this year if Kenny Reiter plays well. Not even Stalock-good, just be decent, Kenny.


• Last night's season premiere of "The Office" was horrible. I hope this isn't a trend, but most great series tend to peak in their 3rd season.

Over and out.

NHL App for iPhone MIA

Since purchasing an iphone a few weeks ago I've discovered several decent applications that I use almost every day. I have also found several that I used once and then deleted. Most of the major sports leagues seem to have their own apps, for example, MLB.com has a terrific application that lets you listen to all of the live games in addition to providing live boxscores.

Much to my chagrin, the NHL doesn't seem to have one yet. It would seem like the logical place to promote their GameCenter Live package, let alone promoting the league as a whole. They could list schedules, statistics and even include links to prominent independent hockey blogs like Kukla's Korner and Wild Puck Banter. I for one would buy the app and even offer this website for free.

Maybe something's in the works, I don't know, but I think the league is missing out if there isn't.

NAHL Showcase Hockey

Once again it's time to watch some good September hockey, and what better forum to do so than the NAHL Showcase Tournament in Blaine, Minnesota? I intend to be there every day and take a look specifically at the Minnesota-born prospects. Look for posts and frequent tweets starting on Wednesday, September 15th.

Kurt Russell Film Festival

Part of my kid's education involves watching great cinema. Thanks to Netflix and TNT I've been able to expose them to forgotten films like "Strange Brew" and "Exorcist III". In this vein this weekend we started a film festival devoted to a great, underrated film superstar Kurt Vogel Russell.

Logically we started with his early Disney movies in which he and a group of frat buddies torment poor Dean Higgins. He experimented with various recreational drugs in these films that enabled him to win weightlifting competitions and/or become invisible.

Next up we moved into Kurt's John Carpenter period. After "The Thing" we watched "Escape from New York". His portrayal of Snake Plissken (pictured above) holds up against any action hero before or since. Quick question: why are Carpenter's movies titled "John Carpenter's The Thing" instead of just "The Thing". Ego?

Then we watched a few comedies including the very underrated "The Best of Times" with Robin Williams and his classic "Captain Ron" in which he again dons an eye patch over his left eye.

Unfortunately the weekend is drawing to a close and we haven't even been able to watch such great films as "Miracle", "Big Trouble in Little China" and "Stargate". I had also meant to include Kurt's appearance as a jungle boy on Gilligan's Island, but didn't get to it.

All in all I think my point has been made. Kurt Russell is an American cinema icon.

Wake Me Up...

...when September ends. Yes, it's time for my annual post done in early September whining about the fact that we've got another month of no hockey. I've tried hard this off season, dear readers, to watch different sports like soccer and The Bachelorette, but just couldn't make anything work. I've managed to pick up a few non-hockey books also, but they just didn't cut the mustard. Here are 10 non-hockey things I've learned this summer:

1. Boneless wings are not a substitute for buffalo wings. They're just big, misshapen chicken mcnuggets. Stick with wings.

2. I cannot sit through an entire baseball game without a beer every 3 innings.

3. Speaking of beer, Grainbelt Nordeast rocks.

4. It's not a good sign when the girl behind the counter says "cool, I've never poured a Guinness before."

5. Make sure you stretch out before riding an elephant. They're wide animals and it's very easy to pull a Gaborik.

6. English Premier League football is fun to watch.

7. I now like T-bone steaks better than ribeyes.

8. Entertainment Weekly should be renamed "Vampire Weekly". They devote too much space to True Blood and Team Edward and not enough to Brooklyn Decker.

9. Giada can make some wicked antipasti.

10. There is no substitute for puck.

Having said that, we're almost there. The Wild open the season in Lapland on October 7th against the Carolina Hurricanes.