Does It Float

Just whiling away the hours waiting for the NHL deal to be announced...seriously, though, it does appear to be close. Teams are starting to make coaching announcements and talk about the draft and what they'll do when the CBA is signed, the cap goes into effect, and the mad scramble for free agents begins. Should be fun.

In sharp contrast to Jeremy Roenick's ill-advised rant, Sean Avery of the Kings offers up a mea culpa, apologizing to the fans for the lockout and claiming the players were "brainwashed" by union head Bob Goodenough. It's a great read from the L.A. Times. Give the guy credit for speaking his mind.

So how are teams planning to lure the fans back? Lower ticket prices would help, and this Canadian Press article talks to all 30 teams about whether they'll offer any discounts. Not surprisingly, the teams that struggling financially (Anaheim, Columbus, Pittsburgh) are already slashing prices, while the more established clubs (Toronto, Colorado, Montreal, Detroit, Vancouver) are taking a wait-and-see approach.

Phenom Sidney Crosby isn't waiting around for the CBA and the NHL draft to happen. The highly touted prospect has already signed a big deal with Gatorade and is in negotiations with Swiss League club Lugano on a deal that could be worth $10 million over three years. I don't expect him to go to Switzerland if/when the NHL returns. Maybe he's trying to encourage whichever team that wins the draft lottery to think creatively about its contract offer.

Congrats to Eric from Off Wing Opinion, who is the new cohost of the Bleacher Guy podcast.

London today was awarded the 2012 Olympics, edging out Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow. It may be a blessing in disguise for the losers. I remember when Montreal hosted the Olympics in 1976 and dramatically underestimated the costs of the event. The city ended up hundreds of millions in debt. But they'll always have Nadia Comaneci.

An update to my post the other day about the Live 8 coverage: MTV still sucks, but AOL made it a lot easier to check out particular bands who played the various shows by posting video clips of each song, searchable by concert and by artist. Nicely done.