Dater’s Daily: Joe Thornton to Florida, Colorado Avalanche in bottom third of NHL revenue

Good Friday to you all. I took a couple days of R ‘n’ R. Well, not quite all rest and relaxation. I’m in the process of getting my back looked at more, so there were a couple of appointments. I could be headed for a pretty serious surgery, but we’ll see. Take care of that back, kids. DBLA – Don’t be like Adrian. … Let’s do some hockey links, starting with Joe Thornton finding work again.

• Joe Thornton, a Florida Panther. That’s a weird one, but it became reality today. Our George Richards has all the details (Florida Hockey Now)
• So, the Colorado Avalanche are ranked 22nd in the NHL in revenue – and projected revenue (Bookies.com)
• Jaromir Jagr is STILL playing hockey (SI.com)
• Sportsnet: What a scene at Fenway Park in Boston Thursday when Calgary Flames Asst. GM and Melrose, MA native Chris Snow, who has battled ALS for two years, threw out the first pitch prior to the Boston Red Sox-Tampa Bay Rays game.
• Vancouver: Our man at VHN, Rob Simpson, pays homage to the late, great Tony Esposito.
• San Jose: San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane is on the NHL trade market but who wants the troubled Kane right now?
• The hockey writing community is in mourning today, after the passing of Jay Greenberg at 71. I knew Jay, and he was not only an excellent writer, but a very good person. Nice tribute to Jay here from Lance Hornby (Toronto Sun)
• Captain Anders Lee seems ready for a full return to the Islanders this coming season (NYI Hockey Now)
• The “liking” of some politically-charged tweets got a newly-hired minor-league goalie coach in the Maple Leafs organization canceled (TSN}
• The top 10 fantasy rookies to watch for the coming season (NHL.com)
• Book recommendation: “Alright, Alright, Alright” – an oral history of the film Dazed and Confused. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies, and so far, the book is great. Lots of juicy inside details from the whole cast and crew (Barnes and Noble)