It's 10:24 a.m. in beautiful Coral Springs, Florida, and as far as I can tell, Bryan McCabe is still a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Of course, that is expected to change any minute.
Coming to you live from Incredible Ice where a good number of current and past Panthers have taken to the ice for their daily workout. McCabe and Mike Van Ryn -- who will be traded for each other very soon -- are not here.
Some of the guys who are: Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, Wade Belak, Radek Dvorak, Anthony Stewart, Alexei Semenov, Andreas Lilja, Craig Anderson, Ville Peltonen, Tomas Vokoun, Shawn Matthias and Viktor Kozlov.
Word is, Bryan arrived in South Florida on Monday and was pretty busy on Tuesday. He's expected to join the informal workouts later this week.
-- One interesting tidbit gleaned from today's talks: Wade Belak has tossed McCabe's name into the ring for the team's vacant captaincy. Some may remember me writing last year that it may be best for Florida's next captain to be someone from the outside. I still agree with that. While Stephen Weiss and Bryan Allen are terrific leaders, it might be good to have a newcomer -- one with a solid veteran presence -- put that C on from the onset. My favorite remains Cory Stillman, but McCabe is an interesting option for the new coach to mull over.
DAILY LYNX
-- Some guy named Peter DeBoer is getting ready for the hockey season. Me too.
-- According to one report out of Montreal, the Habs plan to retire Patrick Roy's No. 33 sometime this season during the franchise's 100 year celebration. Course, that's news to him.
-- Speaking of retired jerseys, the Capitals plan on honoring fan favorite Mike Gartner prior to a game against Toronto in December. Gartner was one of the early stars of the Caps, leaving the team as its leader in most offensive catagories. He'll now always be No. 11 in Washington.
-- Those of you who didn't stay up to watch the Tennessee-UCLA game last night really missed a classic. After a slow first half, things really picked up in the second, UCLA winning in overtime when the Vols miss a short field goal. Good stuff.
Almost 1PM, any word? I really wanna know what else is going both ways.
Posted by: YearOftheRAT | September 02, 2008 at 12:41 PM
No "C" on Horton eh George?
:P
Well good, if you can remember my story from last seasons end, Im glad.
Posted by: YearOftheRAT | September 02, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Yeah man, what's the haps? We thought we'd hear something by 11am.
Posted by: EJ | September 02, 2008 at 12:59 PM
THIS WAS A LIE!!!
Posted by: robbie | September 02, 2008 at 01:55 PM
Who'dve thunk that I could have gone to school, and missed nothing :P
Posted by: YearOftheRAT | September 02, 2008 at 02:05 PM
Yeah sure Robbie, the entire hockey world was lying. (shakes head)
What is the holdup? Any updates GR?
Posted by: Laus723 | September 02, 2008 at 02:18 PM
MUCH better hockey coverage George, keep up the good work!
Posted by: Hockey Guy | September 02, 2008 at 02:57 PM
Hey george, can you help me out here??
What time do these practices start at Incredible Ice?? I called but the lady told me they weren't practicing and i'm like ok??? But i knew they WERE because it was also posted on the message boards...
Thanks :)
Posted by: guibenette | September 02, 2008 at 03:45 PM
The trade is not gonna go down till tomorrow because the NHL is investigating into the $2 million bonus.
Posted by: philip | September 02, 2008 at 03:58 PM