The NHL Enquirer

As I look at the headlines on hockey news sites all over the internet a common theme keeps popping up. With the preseason about to begin, training camp battles heating up and while some UFA's still remain unsigned, there is a great opportunity for some quality journalism. Alas, half of the headlines I see are regarding off ice activities. The Staal Brothers, Ray Emery, Mark Bell and Jay Bouwmeester are just some of the names currently in the news for the wrong reasons.

Until recently the NHL was known to be home to the "good guys" of sports, with athletes who are too humble for a good Chad Johnson like interview. Leagues like the NFL and the NBA are full of the "bad boys" who have tattoos, beat their wives and serve jail time. That is no longer the case, the media coverage has heightened and journalists will report on anything that is spicy and will get readers. Mark Bell has pulled a Mike Vick as the league has just suspended him indefinately. Jay Bouwmeester has done his best Leonard Little impression and been arrested for DUI. Ray Emery had a little road rage and Jordan Staal was caught for underage drinking (oh my god!!!!!).

While I am doing nothing to help the cause by writing about it, all of these incidents have sent a message out to the players that people are watching their every move. Even Ray Emery has acknowledged this by trading his Escalade in for something less flashy. I believe that true hockey fans have little consideration for off ice activities and care little for what type of alcohol Jordan Staal drank on the weekend or if Tie Domi is or isn't schtupping Belinda Stronach.

The newspapers are obsessed with showing the negative, blogs like Good News In Sports are dedicated not to showing the latest steroid scandal or DUI, but for showing the goodness that comes out of sports. Some recent events buried in the back pages are the Carolina Hurricanes annual 5k fun run or Ducks defensemen Joe Dipenta bringing the Stanley Cup to the chidlren's hospital. It would be a great change for sports instead of seeing Jay Bouwmeester trying to touch his nose with right hand in the newspaper, but Sidney Crosby delivering tickets to lucky Penguins fans

It could be just the off season, but once the season begins, it would be nice to get this bologna out of the papers.

Morning Musings: It's about time

On Wednesday afternoon, the Montreal Canadiens announced that they will be retiring the jersey numbers of both Bob Gainey and Larry Robinson during this upcoming season. After hearing this announcement, my first thought was, what took them so long? Both of these players have been out of the game for well over ten years now and both were easily voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Now, I understand that Les Habitants have retired more jersey's than any other team in the league and, therefore, are very particular about whose jersey's they send up to the rafters; but these are two players who should have had their numbers raised to the rafters long ago.

On to the morning papers:

• With two open roster spots up for grabs at Calgary Flames' training camp, there are sure to be some intense battles between the organization's prospects writes the Calgary Herald's Scott Cruickshank.
• Hurricanes' star-forward Eric Staal tells Luke Decock of the Charlotte News & Observer that he never expected his arrest would garner this much attention. Does anyone else agree that this is simply much ado about nothing?
• Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune, details the maturation of the first overall pick from the 2007 Entry Draft, Patrick Kane. It looks like Kane spent the summer in the gym bulking up.
• Apparently David Vyborny's wife hasn't had enough of Columbus and was, in fact, the main reason why Vyborny has told the club he would like to sign a long term contract that would keep him in Columbus for the next few years.
• Coming off back-to-back 30 goal campaigns, Michael Ryder may cash in after the 2007/08 season writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette.
• John Glennon of the Tennessean brings to light the possibility that one of the Predators' young guns, such as Shea Weber, may receive an offer sheet next summer.
• According to Pierre Lebrun of the Canadian Press, the Senators are still hot after Peter Forsberg. However, Forsberg's agent Don Baizley says his client is no closer to making a decision on if he'll return to the NHL, and if so, which team he will suit up with.
• There is never a dull moment in the life of Ray Emery; Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen has the story.
• The Penguins are excited for their rookie tournament and with their young talent, who wouldn't be?
• Newest St. Louis Blues' winger Paul Kariya would like nothing more than to play well enough for his newest team to earn a spot representing his country in the 2010 Olympic Games.
• Tim Taylor of the Lightning may very well have played his last NHL game.
• Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun has an interesting piece on the questionable workings of the NHL-NHLPA substance abuse policy.
• Curtis Sanford of the Canucks says he isn't worried about the numbers of games he plays during this upcoming season, which is good because he won't be playing in many while backing up arguably the league's best goaltender in Roberto Luongo.