Ironically miscellaneous scalpage

In a move that not only surprised no one but also left people asking "what took them so long", the Los Angeles Kings have finally told Sean Avery to take a hike. I guess they were embarrassed by the little drekhead getting verbally eviscerated by a rival team's broadcaster.

There's irony in that.

My favorite defensively-challenged defenseman has won the AHL's Eddie Shore Award. There's irony in this, too. At least I think so.

In other news:

Some segments of the Caniac Nation (est. 1997) are a little up in arms over a letter that's accompanied everyone's playoff strips. The letter from North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper reminds fans of North Carolina law regarding scalping of tickets, that fans had trouble getting tickets in later rounds four years ago because of professional scalpers errr ticket brokers scarfing up all the tickets, and of course the usual "Go Canes" rah-rah stuff.

I can see both sides of the story. I can see why the Hurricanes asked the AG to pen that letter, and I can understand why the folks that are complaining feel like they're being treated like common criminals--but people need to chill the hell out and look at the larger picture. Four years ago, there was a bit of a scandal involving scalping agencies in Charlotte, several Hurricanes ticket agents, a group of unscrupulous (in my opinion) fans that wanted to make a buck or five, and a whole mess of tickets*. It really pissed off a lot of fans, and the Hurricanes want to avoid something like that this time.

Personally? I'd love it if they grabbed a few scalpers and tossed them in the clink for 30 days or so as an example to others (especially the ones that think that they can get away with wandering the parking lots asking people if they have tickets to sell, even after the RBC securebots make them go back across Hurricane Alley where they're supposed to go)--but then I also support the orbital bombardment of the Detroit Metro Area under the guise of "urban renewal", so feel free to take that for what it's worth.**

Hurricanes take on the Lightning tomorrow night at the RBC--and I'll be up in 332 again to watch the carnage live and in person.

Go Canes.

*: I was told once that the team's then-President Jim Cain (now US ambassador to Denmark) was in on the deal too--but considering that the person who told me that has also accused me of personally profiting from the high price of gas even though I only make single digits per hour, I think it's pretty safe to toss that bit of "information" in the trash where it belongs.

**: Note to people from Detroit: I'm kidding. Not that it'll stop some of the more intellectually-challenged members of the city's population from claiming that I'm somehow "jealous" of the Red Wings and cracking the same tired "Mayberry" jokes while telling me to "get new material".

Ouch v.my ass

Darren McCarty files for Chapter 7

Wow. 6.2 bills in debt? That's pretty impressive, really--time to start clipping the ol' coupons, I guess.

I kid, I kid--but this really is indicative of the problems that have plagued the guy over the years. Hopefully he can get his life put back together and get everything back on track.

Tomas Vokoun out for remainder of season + playoffs

This is really bad news for the Preds, especially if they're going to rely on Chris Mason to carry them through the playoffs. Don't get me wrong, I like Mase--but dudeman's very hot-and-cold. Unless he gets hot and stays hot (and the rest of the team helps him out), the Predators are one and done.

Congratulations to the Red Wings on winning the President's Jinx Trophy, thus ensuring that I will no longer have to listen to the idiots on fanhome that whine about it like it's more important than the Cup that gets handed out in June.