Dater’s Daily: Jarome Iginla, Man on the Street

Please, Father, allow an NHL schedule to come out this week, so that we can at least have something to look forward to soon. And, amen.

On to some Monday links, observations and other NHL flotsam and jetsam…

• This is probably one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. It’s a “man-on-the-street” interview on a local Boston TV station the other day, after a big snowstorm. You might recognize the guy being randomly interviewed. (Boston.com)
• Yes, that’s former Av Jarome Iginla, man on the street. He and his family live in Boston these days, mostly because his kids are playing prep school hockey there.
• I just love the “we’re from Canada, so it’s not too crazy” line.
• I always like a good Larry Brooks rip job column, and in this one, he carves up NHL owners pretty thoroughly (NY Post)
• The more I really think about this, the more I have to believe the NHL will scrap its “every team plays games in their home rink” idea for a 2021 season in favor of a few hub cities, playing two weeks’ worth of games at a time. Do we really think NHL teams will fly from city to city for single games and avoid possibly large coronavirus outbreaks? I mean, we had 20 guys from the Tennessee Titans test positive recently. Not to mention, the costs of travel from city to city – playing games with zero spectators quite probably, at least at the beginning – would be staggering.
• I still think Denver would be an idea city as a hub, but one thing continues to hurt that cause: No huge hotel right next to the Ball Arena. In Edmonton, the JW Marriott was/is literally connected to the rink. That was a major factor in why that city got the playoffs.
• There is an Av on this “10 players with the most to prove in 2021” list (Hockey News)
• My next podcast will feature the great Elliotte Friedman.
• Why have youth and amateur hockey become labeled as ‘Super Spreaders’ and suddenly been put on hold again in so many states and provinces across North America? (Washington Post)
• Would you pay a million bucks for a Wayne Gretzky rookie card? (Toronto Star)
• I give the new AC/DC album a B-.
• Has everybody ordered their Kiss-in-Dubai, New Year’s Eve show yet on pay-per-view?
• Martin Kaut’s stats so far playing for MODO in Sweden: eight games, three goals, two assists (Hockeydb)