LongHanded - Hockey rants somewhere between Don Cherry and someone coherent.

I’ve been slacking off. I won’t lie, after the first round went… well, how nobody expected, I got a little busy with other things and was a little apathetic as to what happened from then on. For the first time as a hockey fan, I was actually more concerned with rooting against teams that I didn’t like than cheering for others. It was almost as if I was watching a NASCAR race; very little interest in who wins, just waiting for a fiery crash.

Now just because I was watching most games because it was an excuse to drink during the week rather than out of interest, that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been interesting stories around the league since my last article. There have been. I was just too lazy to write anything about them. So it’s time to play catch-up; here’s some things that you may have missed if your sole source of hockey news is my blog. Which would be weird. But flattering.

The Los Angeles Kings Won the Stanley Cup

After an incredibly dominant playoff run, the Kings won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. You would think that the LA media would make sure they covered this great story as best as they could. But they didn’t. They barely even tried.

Boston Sports Fans Acted Inappropriately

Shocking, right? After Joel Ward scored the winning goal to eliminate the 2011 Stanley Cup champs, Bruins fans responded with a flood of racist remarks on Twitter. Apparently having one player who was reportedly kicked out of a bar for urinating on the floor, and another who snubbed President Obama, wasn’t enough bad publicity.

Peter DeBoer Was Looking the Wrong Way

The Media Went Crazy Over a Player Who Hasn’t Even Played an NHL Game

I’m not sure if the media and hockey bloggers are just bored in the days between the NHL Awards and the beginning of free agency, but this seems a bit excessive. Sure, Justin Schultz is a great prospect in a unique situation, but reporters were tweeting about this more frequently than a 13 year old girl when Justin Bieber gets a haircut.

“OMGzzzz! Teh Oilers GotZ wayne GRETZky to call Shultz! Dat’s SOOOOoooo CRAY CRAY! Dey’ll TOTES get hIm nowwwWW!”

LongHanded Had Over 250 Comments Submitted

Although pretty much all of them were like this:

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Right. Um, thanks?

Martin Brodeur Hired an Agent…

…and then immediately signed a two-year deal with New Jersey, setting a record for the easiest money ever made by a sports agent.

The Edmonton Oilers Drafted First Overall Again

Apparently Steve Tambellini has no interest in D-men, as he used the first overall spot to pick a young, offensively talented forward. Again. The Oilers are quickly becoming a team that could score 10 goals in a game and still lose.

July 1st Came and Went

Parise didn’t sign anywhere. Neither did Suter. Luongo is still in Vancouver. Ditto for Nash and Columbus, and Bobby Ryan is still on the team that Gordon Bombay made. Now I understand why names like “Steve Ott” and “John Scott” were trending on Twitter. (Up to date free agent signing info here.)

That pretty much covers it. Stay tuned for an agonizingly slow summer that will likely only get exciting if we can somehow convince the Winnipeg Jets to leave and come back again.

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