Good morning. There was no NHL hockey last night, and that was weird. Reading fodder to fill that vast, empty void:

• More signs pointing to Brent Thompson getting an NHL assistant gig with the Islanders?
• Eric Belanger, fourth-line center, grouped with poor wingers. Can he recover? Is he a Marty Reasoner?
  
• The U.S. survived a scare and beat Belarus, staying in the top four of their group. | Russia beat the Danes | "Mike Babcock knows how to think." And clap.
• Compilation of sour Torts.
• It's summer, so time to follow Patrick Kane's drinking escapades. And Photoshop. And tell him to stop.
• It's also time to look at UFAs: Unrestricted Free Agents: The Atlantic Division - Canes Country
• And the Draft: 2012 NHL Mock Draft - Early May Edition | NHLNumbers.com

Playoffs are a welcome tonic for the Devils' finances.

Couple of good looks at the Kings in terms of possession and line matching.

Two things from this: Another GM expecting the cap to go up to $69 million (!), and ... where do you suppose Jaromir Jagr will want to play next?

Heh. Chatting with Ilya Bryzgalov about Year 1 with Philadelphia Flyers: ‘People only see the bad in me’ | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports

Fun: Melrose's Place: Top Goalie Masks Video - NHL VideoCenter

The Blues finally have a new owner, er owners, and it's a group of local millionaire fans coaxed into buying the team. That's a lot of egos, which always makes me nervous (best intentions often end in divorce), but they have a promising attitude from the outset anyway:

"The legacy is made up of the players who have worn the Blue Note ... the players who have won games and lost games and played their hearts out over the last 44 years," Stillman, 60, said. "As owners, I see us as guardians of that legacy that these men have created."

Also:

"We're all involved in other charities and civic organizations. But the Blues are just one more local gem that we have to protect and keep here.