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Ok, yeah it's summer and things have been slow here. After free agent frenzy, I klutz-ly deleted a copy of my Kris Letang season recap (and it was a good one too) so it's been bum city lately. That'll change next week with the remainder of the recaps and some more fun things to keep us occupied through the rest of the long summer. (Check back later today for more). Until then, some links.
Geoff at BSH with a great survey on bias. 83% of NHL fans think the league actively favors certain teams and 85% of that sub-set believes the Pittsburgh Penguins are the recepient, the run-away winner. (Flyers blog and mainly Flyer fans, so not unexpected). Still, crazy the numbers are that high, and even crazier that Gary Bettman needed to rig a draft to put the best player in his generation in Pittsburgh and not LA, Toronto, New York or Montreal. And then continue rigging things so the Pittsburgh market could win a Cup. [Broad Street Hockey]
The Penguins are the favorites in Las Vegas to win the Cup last year. A lot of people are freaking out about this, apparantely not realizing Vegas can be driven by the amounts of money placed down on certain teams. They're not around to lose money, so of course they're not going to give great odds to a team that a lot of people are plunking down money on. (The Pens were the favorite in Vegas last spring too, after Crosby's return). [Post-Gazette - Anderson]
Quietly, Lokotmotiv Yaroslavl soldiers on and is about to rejoin the KHL next month. [Puck Daddy]
Not quietly, Wayne Gretzky's daughter sort of likes attention. [The Score]
It's pretty cool that the Kings gave Bernie Nicholls, one of their all-time greats, a chance to have a day with the Stanley Cup. [The Score]
Brooks Orpik lends his support for the You Can Play movement. If you have a problem that he doesn't have a problem with having a gay teammate, put your skates on and meet him at center ice and tell him out there. (Or turn your back at the last second in the corner). [The Pensblog]
AEG is taking over the Consol Energy Center from SMG. But Aramark will still be providing the food/beverage. [PG]
A flashback to Mike Lange talking about how some of his famous catchprases came to be. [Penguins.com]