Everybody Gets One for Free

Hey now now. Just throwing a little midweek blogification at ya. A couple more days of work before I fly out to lovely Orlando on Saturday for a conference; should be nice and sweltering.

Big ups to the Carolina Hurricanes for prevailing over the Edmonton Oilers in game 7 Monday night to win the Stanley Cup. I was rooting for the Oil to complete their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit, but it wasn't to be. The seventh game was a hell of a battle, though. The Canes took a 2-0 lead, but the Oilers scored early in the third and kept coming until Carolina scored an empty-netter with a minute to go. The hitting was ferocious, the goaltending spectacular. I'm happy for guys like Glen Wesley, Rod Brind'Amour and Bret Hedican, grizzled veterans who had gone Cupless until now. NBC did a nice job with its coverage, despite the fact that the ratings were predictably paltry. Now on to the offseason: The NHL awards are handed out tomorrow, the draft is Saturday, and on July 1, the free agent derby begins.

Woohah! Got you all in check:

• When I get back from the land of Disney, I will be doing a little guest blogmatizing for my good buddy OJ, who will be off partying it up in Jamaica at a wedding next week. His Clicky Clicky music blog is always an interesting read for anyone interested in the indie rock and such. I will drop some rock knowledge on the CC next Wednesday, in case you want to check it out.
• I read Pitchfork every day, but its "indier-than-thou" 'tude doth grow tiresome at times. Still, I must bow down with respect to its awesomely awesome feature, 100 Awesome Music Videos. It's a collection of YouTube clips compiled by the Pfork staff and it is truly inspired: everything from Talking Heads to the Super Bowl Shuffle to Journey's amazingly craptastic "Separate Ways." Don't try watching them at work, because you'll never get anything done.
• This story came across the digital transom last week, but I wanted to mention it. Boston Globe sportswriter Chris Snow, a 24-year-old covering the Red Sox beat, was named director of hockey operations for the Minnesota Wild of the NHL. Cue spit-take. Snow covered the Wild for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune before getting the Globe job last year, and apparently he impressed GM Doug Risebrough. One of the last stories he broke before leaving for the Globe was one during the lockout in which he got a copy of the NHL Players Association's proprietary database; maybe that knowledge peaked the Wild's interest. Whatever the case, congrats to him for landing a sweet gig.
• Alert the media: The two Coreys are back together again, this time trying to get a sitcom off the ground. What, no Dream a Little Dream 3?