The summer has not been kind to hockey.

In May, New York Rangers left winger Derek Boogaard mixed alcohol and oxycodone and died. Earlier this month, Winnipeg Jets forward Rick Rypien killed himself, and now, just yesterday afternoon, 15-year NHL veteran Wade Belak has been found dead in Toronto. Foul play isn’t suspected and we don’t officially know the cause of death, but CBC is saying it was suicide. Three tragedies since May.

A 12th-overall draft pick in 1994, the 35-year old Belak spent his time in pro hockey with the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators. He retired in March, but had been named as one of the contestants for the upcoming third season of the CBC’s “Battle of the Blades” and was scheduled to be part of the Predators’ television broadcast team. Former Nashville Predators assistant General Manager Mike Santos (now with the Panthers) talked to the Miami Herald about Belak’s passing, and put it way better than anyone writing a blog about it could.

“He was as friendly and nice a person as I have ever met,” Santos said. “He would give you the shirt off his back. He did so much for kids and our community. He was wonderful. I’m shocked. I’m sad. I don’t know what to say. It’s a real shame. He’s the best.”

That’s it in a nutshell, really. You remember the kindness, and you don’t know why it was taken away. The Predators, the team with whom Belak spent his final three seasons, issued their own statement:

“The entire Nashville Predators organization and family is shocked and saddened by the sudden and untimely passing of Wade Belak. Wade was a beloved member of the organization, a terrific teammate and wonderful father and husband. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Jennifer and children Andie and Alex. We offer our full support to them at this very difficult time.”

If you visit our friends at Puck Daddy you can read comments from Gary Bettman, Donald Fehr and more as they come in throughout the day. Hopefully this is the last time hockey fans and families will have to go through this, at least for a little while.

This may come as a shock to some of you, but it’s hard for a hockey team to survive in South Florida. I have no idea why, but my guess is that it has something to do with the lack of snow and the citizen’s strong distaste for Europeans. Their ownership should have thought of that before they took the franchise’s talents to near South Beach, but they’ve managed to survive for the past 17 years. In their most clever way to fandangle some cash flow, Panthers management has started negotiating season ticket prices.

Florida Panthers announced their “Perfect Plan” on their website.
Take a look at the retail price. Then, just like Priceline, name your price. Within 24 hours, the team will get back to you to tell you if it was accepted or not.

The promotion is going for 10 days and it’s only 24 hours in. So far, team president Michael Yormark told me about 50 season tickets have been sold this way — just as many fan proposals have been predictably rejected. –CNBC

The Panthers play in Sunrise, Florida, which, last time I checked, is where old Jewish people go to die. Don’t be surprised if the local Country Kitchen Buffet adopts a similar business plan for their late night special. They haven’t been open after 5 in decades.

I don’t get these guys that get off on damaging equipment whenever they botch a play. Take Panthers defenseman Keith Ballard. Dude gets beat by a cherry-picking Ilya Kovalchuk and then inexplicably cracks his goalie right in the head. Then–while looking right at the fallen Tomas Vokoun–he just skates off. It’s just an amazing act of carelessness, and honestly, I wonder how Ballard was treated in that Panthers dressing room at the end of this game, which the Panthers lost. Turns out that Vokoun just suffered an ear laceration. He still did better than Ballard, who still apparently has a gash laceration. That’s not much of a takedown, but I’m still on my first cup of coffee… –Ramblings of the Unmotivated.

UPDATE: It’s just a GD viral marketing campaign. Well, good on them. Maybe for 2010-2011 they can drown Gary Bettman in the Gulf of Mexico.

If you’ve ever followed Drew Rosenhaus on Twitter, you realize that the “information” disseminated from his account is part PR, part Franchise Mode in Madden, and nearly all rubbish. But then Rosenhaus dropped some curious news today that should dissolve any proposal to ban the renown sports agent from social media completely:

I have been hired by the fans of the NHL’s Florida Panthers to negotiate lower season ticket prices. I will keep you posted on the outcome.

The Panthers seating map indicates that the cheapest season ticket is $9 for the upper end zone. Tickets by the glass run for $207; the cheapest seat in the lower bowl is $50. Andrew’s Stars Page reports that Florida’s average ticket price last year was the league’s 11th most expensive at $52.61, pricier than Chicago ($52.22), LA ($47.20), Detroit ($46.60), and even Pittsburgh ($51.45).

I don’t see what leverage Rosenhaus can muster here. Is he going to hold 10,000-plus season ticket holders out of training camp? Will he jog through the arena on opening night 30 minutes until puck drop with a megaphone, screaming, “Pack it up, people! We’re going on strike!” I can’t see this going anywhere; as long as fans of mediocre teams are dumb enough to keep buying season tickets, ticket prices won’t be going anywhere, either.

Many times I’ve thought to myself, “Y’know, I really want to like watching hockey on TV, but there are just never enough bare tits for my liking.” And while that statement is actually true in any event, I have to give credit to the camera man and producers responsible for showing this busty Panthers fan flashing the crowd (Sorry, the clip is censored).

“Hey boss, this girl keeps rubbing her breasts real sexy.  Should I cut away?”  “No no, let’s wait and see what happens.”  **leans forward, places chin on fist**

[Total Pro Sports]

The Panthers’ Richard Zednik scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal by leaping over the Islanders’ Brendan Witt, then sliding the puck into the net — a series of actions that are apparently not easy to do while on ice skates. Total Pro Sports is calling it the “goal of the year,” which makes it approximately the tenth goal of the year in the year’s first 37 days.

In a related story, Richard Zednik is the same guy who just a year ago almost died on the ice after he got his THROAT SLASHED WITH A SKATE!!!! YEAHHHHHH!!!!! I mean, uh, it was a terrible accident. Glad to see him doing so well.