* On VACATION *

AN update ...

HILTON HEAD _ Eleven people on HHI had their license plates stolen Friday night.

All 11 - including ME _ had, unique, out-of-state plates. Mine is a Pennsylvania Zoo plate which is green with a tiger on it. And the NHL logo in the upper left-hand corner of the plate. Very unique.

Police tell me they figure a group of kids were out last night collecting unique plates. Fortunately, Marriott's Grande Ocean has insurance. It's going to be expensive to replace vanity plates that are reported as stolen.

I was the only one hit on Grande Ocean. Because my plate stood out, I guess.

Could have been worse. I told C.B. they could have stolen the entire Benz ...

Did I mention I saw some big gators today during my bike ride through Sea Pines?

**




**


First off, I don't share Dan Tolensky's empathy for either Petr Nedved and especially, Alexei Yashin.

Like Steve Carlton ... it's time to recognize when you're done. It may even be time for Peter Forsberg to do the same, although he and his entourage are so secretive, we don't know his true medical status.

That said, Nedved's heart has not been in the game during the past 16 months and that was reflected by his subpar play on the ice. Even allowing for his divorce, he didn't get his act together. And I like him as a person.

Yashin made the mistake of having Mark Gandler demand an unreasonable amount for a guy that has a lot of baggage in the league and has not been able to live up to his billing and past contracts.

**

I want to say this about the entire Nashville situation ... A lot of folks in Canada are angry that the Preds are going to get a reprieve. They're gonna stick around for a while.

If I were sitting in Hamilton, I'd be angry, also ... to a point.

Before anyone passes judgment on the league or the Preds as to why Canada continues to get screwed on the issue of expansion or relocation, understand this: it's not about the team that is "suspect" but rather, the team that is "embedded."

For decades, the Toronto Maple Leafs have held a hammer over the NHL on territorial rights. You want to get angry about expansion or relocation? Go dig up Harold Ballard's bones and rail on him.

Or better yet, go rant on Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, the current owners of the Leafs.

There is no reasonable reason why the Greater Toronto area can't accomodate a second team. There are three in New York. Is Toronto two-thirds less a metropolitan area than New York? I don't think so.

It's not about "reason." It's about $$$.

The Leafs have never wanted competition in their market. There are simply too many issues to be resolved and therefore, it makes moving into that market that much more complicated all around.

I'm not going to disagree with those of you who say the Preds would draw more in Hamilton or some other Canadian territory than Nashville. I think they would.

My argument is that the Leafs have successfully (and historically) made this proposition a long shot over the years w/in the confines of the NHL's rules of engagement. No one can challenge that market.

It may not be fair to the residents of the Greater Toronto area, but it's life as we know it.

And that can't be laid at the feet of Nashville.

**

It's time to for another glass of Sangiovese. I'm on VAC.


P.S. Those of you wondering about ASF ... I saw him the other day during a special project Ek and I have going ... ANT hasn't changed. He's as cranky and argumentative, as the day he was born, kicking and screaming about the injustice of child birth.

Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment

» Hextall on Post Free Agency, Cap, Kids' Chances

» Sign a Goalie, That's It.

» My take on Weal signing

» They Are What They Are

» Hextall's Take on the Benchings