In Glacialis Blog

Sarcalogos Bourque ustulo 18 secundus in permaneo nox noctis’ Ipsa Gero’ pre se ferre venatus obviam Norfolk, quod Gero would adepto calx ex quinque alius in 6-2 triumphus. Ipsa est iam 3-0 in preseason, quod amo Caps, proximus sicco preseason slate Sunday vesper procul 500:, per a Giant Center balanus per Wilkes Sterilis-Scranton.

An emerging storyline pro Gero tardus is mensis videor futurus Sasha Pokulok. Is added a calx quod an succurro Imbuo nox noctis, quod mane obvius week had three succurro in a venatus. Is follows his validus palaestra castra per Caps.

Nos have non suscipio persona vox ex Caput, tamenper Tarik El- Vercundus:

“tutaminis Jame Capitagium quod Josef Boumedienne quod porro Joe Motzko erant waived yesterday. Should they videlicet, they es specto iungo Gero. . . .”

Update @ 240pm:: Caput have renuntio they have attributa Joe Motzko ut Ipsa. Jame Capitagium est etiam audio in persona roster, tamen Josef Boumedienne est non.

Update @ 255pm:: ExCorey Masisaks’ blog:

“Joe Motzko quod Josef Boumedienne have videlicet waivers. Motzko mos suo Ipsa Gero, tamen Boumedienne has non. A team orator said “ amo Ipsa” pro Boomer, tamen is could constituo redeo ut Europe. Jame Capitagium est etiam in teams’ persona roster, quod opes is wasnt’ in waivers yesterday, tamen hes’ videlicet non inter, sic is est amo is eram inicio waivers hodie”

Update @ 520pm:: ExJohn Walton:

“ Caps quoque in Imbuo attributa Josef Boumedienne ut Ipsa secundum videlicet waivers. Boumedienne did non meditor per team Imbuo, tamen did supervenio in vestio cella procul GIANT Center tardus is meridianus quod met per cogo Boudreau quod Silva”

Channel 1000 papaver sursum, insolitus reus, infirmo calx- tendo, quod a vehemens comeback featuring 5 rectus calx — doesnt’ sanus amo vestri typical preseason venatus.

• Suus’ preseason, ut nos servo res told, sic is doesnt’ vilis quisquam in porro run, tamen Tom Venenum’ turnover plumbum ut Philadelphias’ primoris calx vultus aliquanto Goncharian.
• Is can exsisto difficilis subsequens a venatus in lectulus penitus fenestra, tamen ustulo ovis no is vel congelo. Forsitan suus’ baseless bene, tamen Spero panton ero straightened sicco nunc.
• Permaneo nox noctis eram prothoplastus nox noctis Ive’ seen nonnullus of chemistry inter Viktor Kozlov quod Alex Ovechkin ut Ive’ been lectio quod auditurus esse super. Is could iustus exsisto ut Kozlov est plurrimi ingeniosus obscoena cardo hes’ ludio ludius per in D.C., tamen is vultus amo illic eram quispiam illic.
• EGO etiam have nonnullus sollicitudo super Ovechkins’ stickhandling in angustus. EGO have haud talis sollicitudo super Alexander Semins’.
• Dave Steckel quod Mike Viridis persevero suum validus castra. Steckel est questus is perfectus per res constans, smart quod opportunistic, tamen Viridis est tractus eyes per suus proventus fiducia of suus obscoena venatus. Opus a tribuo- quod- vado, occasus sursum in obscoena puteulanus- versus, vel captus puck sursum sui in a vado, Viridis has ostendo emphatically ut is volo insum Oris Nox noctis versus- sursum.
• vox lascivio didnt’ vultus proprie bonus, tamen is eram nice video vidi visum vir- sursum squads validus ut retain possessio of puck in obscoena plaga.
• Neither team got stellar lascivio ex suum netminders quod Niittymaki, in proprius, vultus jumpy.

Solus vix moments of permaneo nox noctis erant prothoplastus duos periods quod Alexander Semin caput capitis ut scamnum per an malum. Mike Vogel opinio Semin mos non exsisto ex versus, sic haud sollicitus in ut frons. Prothoplastus duos periods, vero, mos forsit have Cogo Hanlon quod suus baculus verto a velico oculus versus suum squad.

Mathieu Perreault utor quis vos vires term a uber Friday nox noctis: 1 calx quod 5 succurro in Acadie Bathursts’ 9-2 mauling of Drummondville. Perreault has skated in three of Acadie Bathursts’ quattuor venatus in mane iens of novus Q season, quod hes’ recorded 3 calx quod 6 succurro. In duos of suus three venatus hes’ been nomen venatus’ primoris astrum.

Perreault, reigning QMJHL MVP, ustulo 50 calx quod 92 succurro permaneo season pro Titan. Nonnullus Q leaguers quicum Perreault est currently lodged in caput capitis 10 in ustulo have ludio ludius quot ut septem venatus.

Acadie Bathurst est 3-0-1.

2007 Lavatio Caput Palaestra Castra Roster

Hockey Novus textus columnist Insuadibilis Servo has been vitualamen a breakdown of sulum divortium per suus divinatio ordo of perago. Hodie, iseffrego down Inferus Divortium, qua is picks Caps 1st.

Quare 1st? Quoniam dammit, quis would a pre-season NHL divinatio serius careo utique unus offensus pick parumper novus, pessimus- ut- primoris divortium champ?

res est, in paper, Caput es recedentia ex basement habito they erant permaneo annus. voluntas nonnullus NHL video have super Caps est, dum they’re nondum sincerus Sto Vas contenders, they’ve got components ut speculum Atlanta’s 2006-07 campaign (i.e. via proeliator in ordinarius season, roadkill in playoffs).

Lego ceterushic.

XMs’ Neil Ostendo nuper interviewed quondam Lavatio Caput cogo Gary Viridis; optimus secui of piece est Viridis’ reminiscence of broadcasting Orbis terrarum Juniors in Helsinki, 1998. Click hic pro transcript.

Ex Nate Ewell, Presul of Interventus Consanguinei pro Lavatio Caput.

Addo ullus adsuesco assuesco vel novus D.C. Iunctus venatus ticket ut Quin Center pro Caput domus venatus is Sunday procul 5pm vs. Ottawa Orchestra quod vos ero donatus a complimentary ticket ut venatus.

D.C. Iunctus tickets() mos subsisto in vestri possessio quod must tantum exsisto tendo ut suscipio a ticket ut Caput venatus. D.C. Iunctus tickets mos non exsisto coadunati vel scanned.

Paul Lukas of Uni Vigiloposteri an article hodie ut focuses in NHLs’ novus similitudo. Suus’ a bonus read—particularly is excerpt contemplor “apron- amo” piping down latuseris of nonnullus novus jerseys ( comprehendo Caput’):

Pessimus res ut contingo hockey utpote Gary Melior quoniam mandatum. Verum, utpote is venio in suus vigilo quod videor prorsus panton ut’ absentis nefas per suus tenura, Uni Vigilo mos iam relatum ut piping ut Melior virga.

Quis plurimus caught meus intentio per permaneo nox noctis’ 2-1 pre se ferre damnum ut Flyers dum audio ut ‘Net dico of Kolbe quod Vogel eram vox ut odio an off- dies sequens dies, superstar porro Alexander Ovechkin quod Alexander Semin hopped in a car mane in dies quod iter itineris usque Philly ut vigilo suum castra- materia contendo in vesper. Illic es precious pauci off dies per castra, quod praeter satis rink vicis pro illa duos in septem-plus mensis ahead. Vogel eram infigo per factum. Sic eram Ego.

Is propono of emineo camaraderie evulsum intus a amplus contineo contigi dignitas recenseo. Tergum in medium- estas, ut procuratio commotus quod surculus roster sursum pro melior, nos primoris philologus of guys res intrepidus impetro tergum in suum apparatus quod sicco in glacies una procul Kettler Caput. Quod is vere venio, in infigo numerus, weeks ahead of persona satus of palaestra castra. Guys volo ut skate hic, una.

Procul castra’ kickoff, in Interventus Dies, caput Sarcalogos Expedio partis aliquantulus of suus transmaritanus incursus ut suus teammates spanned trans globe. Is volo lemma tergum in urbs mane, ut loco distractions of moving quod subsido secundum lemma ut suum contraho focus could exsisto in maximus novus season statim pro lemma. Is eram, is videor, an securus exigo.

Iam caput nimirum plumbum per exempoator, quod a Expedio, suus gubernatio is estas fundo ultra Northmanni. Is re- subcribo per Caps, procul mercedis quod pactum tractus irrefutably magis vercundus quam quis hed’ have arcesso in patefacio venalicium tunc estas. In a placitum dico dissero paciscor, is referenced suus expers futurus a secui of quis Caps erant aedificium edificium. “ego volo futurus a secui of is, [of] qua erant’ caput capitis” is said. Illic est haud guarantee of in- glacies prosperitas huic season vel illorum ahead, nimirum, atqui Expedio, suus somes memorably battered intus redivivus, volo protelo nixus.

“Weve’ got a valde cella” est verum a vulgaris refrain huic lusum quod singulariter is league, tamen illic has been quispiam ornamentum super Caps’ vindicatum of unus. Iens tergum copiose three seasons, tergum usque ut mane hora of dispiriting exigo quod roster incumbo, nos primoris auditus vindicatum ex nonnullus of aedificium edificium clausus quod vel nonnullus of roster placeholders super caliber of Caps’ cella. Ut species eram certainly subpono ut haud vegrandis inhonestus per Olie Kolzig. Tamen is quoque has potuisse enhanced per a manus manus of repens draft ordo, plures of members quorum consuefacio themselves ut orbis terrarum of pro hockey una, in repens annus, in Portland, Pelagus, quod Ipsa, Pennsylvania.

Vel magis ingens, chemistry has been enhanced per solvo procurator acquisitions emineo pro suum team- primoris ethos: Res Bradley, Ben Clymer, Vepres Pothier, quod iam, is videor, universus of 2007 solvo procurator ordo. Solvo procurator in parcus tempus of pro lusum typically supervenio portans caritas tags quod magnus egos quod rare meld seamlessly in suum novus environs. Nos pulvis’ auditurus esse ullus illius in D.C. illa dies. Verum, ut Caps subolesco ex basement habito ut impleo, incrementum portatus nonnullus alio acerbitas: nonnullus of gluten of preteritus iugo of seasons ero abicio, facio cella pro maioribus talentum. Is palaestra castra, nos es eruditio quoque quam is animadverto est motum motum.

The chemist est nomen George McPhee. Ultimately verdict in suus tentorium in urbs ero effectus in wins versus damnum, ocius quinymo quam laxus. Tamen ut GM hes’ successio in a vitally maximus si sub- opinio super frons: contraho smiling visio quod trado collectivism in partis car veho quod estas crus.

Illic’ an ferrum ut chemistry instituo in NHL obfirmo cella: haud alius U.S. lusum teneo global varietas of NHLs’ athletes recolligo in a singulus team, atqui haud alius lusum teneo suus Ive’-got- vestri- tergum- procul- totus- vicis ethos, primoris per quartus versus, ex Proicio Flon-ner ut Finn. Suus’ a criterion nunquam agnosco in fantasy leagues ( moneo nos of suum superficiality), atqui nusquam est magis maximus ut a team.

Caput ludio ludius a validus 44 minutes tonight, redemptor a infirmo tertius period per Nicklas Backstroms’ OT gamewinner. In addition ut teams’ domus- glacies debut, fans quoque got a sapor of Phone Tabernus’ novus HD screens quod multimedia propono.

Bonus

• Ut EGO ingredior in Section 426 quod saw screens, meus primoris infigo eram simplex, “Wow.” Universitas incumbo propono vere carpo vestri intentio quod est absolutely breathtaking in suus expedio. Illic erant vicis EGO instituo myself astrum procul venatus onscreen quinymo quam factum in glacies. EGO vere cant’ adequately effor quam vivid statua es; suus’ a magnificabiliter enhancement ut hockey pulvis usus.
• Supremus pelagus screens es quattuor 5- pes, 3-inch altus per 25- pes 6-inch prolixus LED video matrixes ut ostendo in- venatus notitia amo super vicis, poena, quod offa in calx. Illa propono es ingens lenimentus super vetus bulb- substructio testimonium, utriusque pro aesthetics quod readability.
• Fans vires volo insequor plumbum of television personalities in HD tempus quod satus taedium susicivus makeup—the turba offa ostendo sulum retineo, utriusque bonus quod nocens. Procul unus cuspis a 10-ish parvulus eram ostendo jumping sursum quod down, quod is felt amo is eram super 15 feet absentis; ut EGO said pro, expedio est attonitus.
• ribbon propono procul frons of 400 campester iam wrap a plenus 360° inter pulvis; ones in summitto campester videor futurus super idem eadem idem amplitudo. statua es articulus quod perspicuus quam pro. Forsitan is eram partim due ut plerumque- cassus preseason turba ( vel iustus quispiam quibus puteus’ nunc consuefacio), tamen velociter-moving statua interdum ostendo in ribbons erant aliquantulus distraho. Fortunate, per gameplay ribbons’ statua erant universe non alacritas.

Opus- In- Progressio
Amo team ipsum, nonnullus elementum of pulvis es etiam in pre-season vultus. Potissimum illa items mos amo exsisto amplio/ rectus pro ordinarius season suscipio, tamen es dignitas prolatio nonetheless.

• verus- vicis clock est absentis. Ut meus fiancee video, “ suus’ amo a Vegas casino—you have haud informatio quis vicis is est in foris universitas” vetus sicco-of- urbs scoreboards es absentis pariter. EGO suspectus a clock & ustulo mos reverto in nonnullus vultus, aut per latuseris vel in incumbo screens.
• Nonnullus of venit adsuesco assuesco pro per-- tabula visum quod turba offa es nondum excipio HD video; statua ostendo via illa venit es “ contentus” apto HD screens’ vultus ratio, iustus amo non-HD signum es contentus apto domus HD televisions.
• Illic’ a spinning Caput logo ut zooms in propinquus in unus of astrum, tunc traho tergum exhibeo universitas logo. Is eram ludio ludius secundum utriusque Carolina calx. Pro nonnullus causa colo colui cultum est via off: rutilus est fervens pink, quod puteulanus est teal. Colo colui cultum est perficio pondera ( ut meus oculus) pro alius proprius presencia quod venatus/ turba offa.
• An odd pars presencia of impendo quod brightened ribbon propono orbis pulvis: Ut they predominantly propono a singulus colo colui cultum (e.g., rutilus Quin logo, vel a perspicuus crocus verus ad), illic’ a tenuis tamen noticeable change in colo colui cultum of glacies superficies. EGO admiratio. . . mos ut glacies tint exsisto promptus in television broadcasts pariter?

Super novus video propono ratio est verum groundbreaking—when vos primoris animadverto is, EGO reputo youll’ exsisto honeste infigo. Nunc satis fans mos simplex take is pro tribuo . . . insquequo they vado animadverto a venatus in alius pulvis, ut theyll’ amo exsisto pulsatus per quam pupillus-league suum screens videor. Nice opus per Mitsubishi, ANC Lusum, quod Quin Center vello is universi.

Illi ut ero unable ut famulor domus preseason venatus, vestri’ in fortuna. Lavatio Caput have renuntio ut totus domus preseason venatus mos have utriusque celebratio quod video in suum broadcast inWashingtonCaps.com. broadcast ero accersitus per radio vox vocis Steve Kolbe quod quondam Caput Ken Sabourin.

Ceteri via preseason venatus ero an celebratio tantum broadcast per factum accersitus per Kolbe quod WashingtonCaps.com senex writer, Mike Vogel.

Yesterday, I participated in a media conference call with Alex Ovechkin. I figured that if a blogger was participating in a media press conference, it would be appropriate to ask a blogging question.

Gustafsson:

You recently started a blog. Granted, it won’t help too many of us, as it’s in Russian. Is this something that you did on your own, and how often do you plan on updating it throughout the year?

Ovechkin:

“Well, I make decision to make my blog because the Russian fans want to know something about me and it gives some questions. The Russian media call me and this is an answer for these questions.

I think it’s nice when you are on the ice and you do some talking with the fans, because, you know, I love my fans and I love Russian fans. They are asking lots of things and I just try and answer.”

Mike Vogel has the complete transcript at his blog, Dump and Chase.

November will see the release of the latest line of Todd McFarlane’s NHL figures. Die-hard hockey fan McFarlane’s new line of 3″ figures will include Alex Ovechkin sporting the new Reebok EDGE white Capitals uniform. No word on whether the gloves and skates will come pre-soaked.

NHL players and equipment managers might have tolerated their new unforms being unsightly relative to their predecessors, but what if they not only don’t work as marketed (repelling moisture, making players more comfortable) but actually make player performance worse? That would appear to be precisely the case. Last week’s Pittsburgh Post Gazette alerted its readers to the disconcerting development that some Penguins have nearly drowned while dressed in Reebok’s new threads.

“They do what they were designed to do, as far as repelling the water,” defenseman Mark Eaton said. “But we’ve found, the last three or four days of wearing them, that, when the water’s repelled, it has nowhere to go but into your skates and gloves.”

Water that is repelled has to go somewhere. Apparently it’s all going from uniform tops into players gloves, and from the form-fitting socks directly down into players’ boots. “By the end of the second [period] or the start of the third, your skates are sloshing around and you have to change your gloves because they’re [soaked],” Eaton added.

Here’s Gary Roberts’ take:

“My hands are soaked, my feet are soaked,” he said. “I feel like it’s May, in the playoffs, I’m sweating so much. That seems to be a complaint with a lot of guys.”

Mark Recchi also isn’t being quiet about the new mess. He noted that the remarkable amount of moisture now inundating players’ skates is likely to lead to their breaking down sooner, requiring replacement. Elite boots commonly worn by NHLers cost more than $500 a pair.

“Recchi suggested that, although some complications caused by the new sweaters will be evident immediately — like how some players will have to alter their in-game routines to deal with unduly wet equipment — others might not be apparent for a while.

“My gloves never got soaked like [they do now],” he said. “They’re literally drenched by the end of an hour[-long] practice.

“I’m going to have to have two pairs of gloves ready [for games]. I’ve never done that. I’ve always used one pair a game. Some guys are used to that, but that’s going to be different. Maybe I’ll have to change my socks between periods, which I don’t like doing. You start sloshing.

“I think you’ll see skates break down quicker because of it; they’ll absorb more [perspiration], because it’s all going down into your skate and your socks.”

Back in the good ‘ole days of tradition, hockey equipment managers had heavy lifting to do at games’ end each night loading and hauling wet gear from arena to bus to airport back to arenas in new cities — in the middle of the night. So from the sounds of things this fall, Reebok has actually managed to make the jobs of some of the hardest working men in hockey harder. If Mark Recchi’s right, equipment guys could soon be faced with a doubling of their gear packing gigs each night. Additionally, the increase in moisture about gear and rooms is an increased health risk to the players, especially in winter.

It’s a day of rest not only for Washington Capitals’ players and coaches — well, the players at least — but for the team’s frenzied communications staff as well. Being out at Kettler as much as I have been the past 10 days, I gained a deep appreciation for the commitment of Nate Ewell, Julie Petri, Paul Rovnak, and Mike Vogel, among others. Their days during camp begin early and end late, and at this time of year they’re not only facilitating one of the heavier media flows following camp in years but also putting together the in-season communications products, such as the Media Guide. It’s forecast to be a stunning late September Sunday today, and I hope they’re all out having fun in the fun and recharging their batteries.

The pause in on-ice action is a good time to take stock of what the Caps have achieved thus far in what I believe is the most important training camp in the organization’s history. I made a point during my visits to survey the hockey-savvy heads also taking in the daily doings at Kettler, from print and broadcast reporters to fellow bloggers to fans in the stands, and herewith I’m blending their leading storylines of camp to date with my own.

• Proud Papa. I’ve regularly seen Owner Leonsis as training camp spectator during the past 10 days, and while it’s true he’s no longer involved with the day-to-day operations of AOL, he remains a busy communications man. I think what’s happened with his training camp interest level mirrors that of the rest of us: the quality and depth of the organization on display is so impressive you are fairly compelled to make the trip out there and simply revel in the turned corner of the team’s competitiveness.

• Nylander to line 2. Two years ago Michael Nylander left Washington as a very good hockey player. This fall he’s returned but done so appearing to be more a star. He’s a dynamic playmaker, in supreme condition. And while almost everyone in hockey this summer forecasted an Ovechkin-Nylander top-line pairing, way back in July Head Coach Glen Hanlon very publicly stated his intention of experimenting with top-6 forward combinations, and thus far in camp, the conspicuous chemistry appears to have melded among Alexander Semin, Michael Nylander, and Nicklas Backstrom as Hanlon’s second unit.

• Slick Swede Part II. Speaking of Backstrom, he is irrefutably gaining comfort on the North American-sized sheet of ice — making progress “on a daily basis,” to quote my friend Mike Vogel. At the World Championships in Moscow in May, former Cap and Swedish National Team Head Coach Bengt Gustafsson told us that Backstrom would make that transition successfully and reasonably swiftly, and he was right. Tim Leone up in Hershey thinks it in Backstrom’s, and the Caps’, best interest for him to have a cup of coffee with the Bears this season. Ain’t happening.

• It’s my puck, and I’m keeping it. The Caps don’t (yet) have a dominant shut-down defenseman, so Glen Hanlon’s strategy for improved defensive play this season rests with his club maintaining possession of the puck more often than in the past two seasons, when often they chased it around the rink in futile fashion. If you have the puck more often than your opposition, your goalie isn’t get apt to face 40 or 50 shots each night, and surrender five or six goals most nights. So far, this strategy appears to be taking hold. In training camp’s scrimmages and through the Caps’ first three preseason games, you can see more puck possession and fewer netminders collapsing from fatigue.

• Captain, My Captain/Son of Kono-Dahlen-Halpern. I’ve changed my views on cloning, because of Chris Clark. Meaning no disrespect to Dale and his retired sweater, but should Clark captain the Caps to a Stanley Cup title in one of the next three seasons, he will have to be regarded as the best and most important captain in team history, having guided the team from the barrens of an unprecedented bottoming out to the promised land. And sitting here in September 2007, I wouldn’t stand in line to wager against it. (See Carolina ‘05-06, Tampa ‘03-04.)

It is Chris Clark’s team-first, two-way versatility that has Glen Hanlon fantasizing about a two-way, impact third line along the lines of the great Steve Konowalchuk, Jeff Halpern, Ulf Dahlen trio of a few years ago. That line, you’ll recall, was so dominant that Ron Wilson opened just about every game with it. It was also one that was a lynchpin to the Caps’ postseason participation. The coach has told the media that he’s looking for 60 goals from his third line this season, and given the defensive acumen of Clark and Boyd Gordon, and Matt Pettinger’s offensive pop, it’s natural to invoke the KDH comparison.

I’m also not wagering on Clark’s offensive production diminishing, dramatically, by virtue of his dropping down to line 3. As he noted himself on Media Day, he’s spent the past two seasons taking shifts against the likes of Zdeno Chara and top defensive pairings. Less so, it would appear, beginning this season.

• Deep Depth. The Caps this weekend have 35 players battling for spots on the opening night roster. It’s reasonably easy to forecast another five cuts, but the leap from about 30 to 23 is another matter. To put it charitably, the Caps’ are in uncharted territory, post-lockout, in terms of the skater quality they’ll be showcasing out at Kettler in week two of camp. This is the most basic and encouraging sign of the overall success of the rebuild.

• Three games, three leads. Through three exhibition games, the Caps have only once fielded a fairly veteran lineup — last Thursday night in Ottawa. They opened in Carolina, against a comparatively veteran Hurricanes’ lineup, dressing only John Erskine and Mike Green on the blueline as guys with significant NHL experience from last season (and with BJ in net). In all three games the Caps have played significant stretches with a lead (twice with two-goal leads). There remain mistakes (penalties) and concerns (penalties) aplenty, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Coach Hanlon’s strategy of playing a more puck possession game is abundantly evident. In order to win more often, a team must first establish competitiveness, then achieve leads in games. The Caps have accomplished both early in this preseason.

The next step is to close the deal once you have the lead.

• When did Toronto’s print media come to work in Washington? For the first time in my hockey life, I wake each day knowing that with my morning coffee I need to visit the web sites for both of Washington’s big newspapers in order to follow coverage there of Caps’ training camp. There are files there basically every day. And good ones. Additionally, blog files there. This is as it should be, but to our print guys — and most especially the Times’ Corey Masisak, who’s only taking on the beat of a departed legend — good on you.

• Sharp-dressed men. It’s not anywhere near as important as the talent upgrade, but in this the autumn of uniform mischief, the Caps have showcased the best-looking new threads in the entire league. And it’s not even close. I’ll be particularly grateful when those snazzy white uniform system tops are rightfully returned to wearing on home ice.

The Washington Capitals announced they have assigned Frederic Cassivi, Daren Machesney, Jason Morgan and Kyle Wilson to Hershey (AHL) and Michal Neuvirth to Plymouth (OHL).

Yesterday my stress was not related to wedding planning (I’m getting married in November), but rather provided courtesy of Comcast. I took the day off work to be home for the switch to Comcast’s Triple Play digital television-Internet-phone package — partly because it’s cheaper than what I had with RCN, partly to get a DVR, and partly because Comcast carries Versus & NHL Center Ice.

Friday, 8:00 AM—The phone rings; I awaken and fumble for the receiver. I muzzily hear someone talking about Comcast, so I press “9” to buzz them in, impressed they showed up so early. Doesn’t work. I press “9” again, to no avail. Finally I’m awake enough to understand what the caller is saying: it’s Comcast HQ calling to make sure I’ll be home in the 8-11 AM installation window—not someone downstairs waiting to be let in. D’oh. I sheepishly apologize and say yes, I will be here.

Friday, 10:45 AM—The installation technician arrives within the originally scheduled time window, which was a nice surprise. However, while my name and phone number are on the work order, everything else is wrong: the address is a different unit in my building; the order is for a Comcast service upgrade rather than a whole new installation; and they didn’t start the process to port my existing phone number to the new account.

As I type this he’s been here over an hour and a half, mostly on the phone to his headquarters. From what I can gather it seems they’ll be able to install everything, but they won’t be able to port my phone number today. So for a few days I’ll have a new phone number with Comcast, yet I’ll have to continue paying RCN to keep the other phone line active otherwise I risk losing the phone number I’ve had for eleven years. Wonderful.

Friday, 1:30 PM—After three long hours, the technician has finally gone. Most of a day wasted, but at least my high-speed Internet is back up (as evidenced by this post). The tech was very polite, and installed my DVR, cable box, and cable modem successfully . . . well, for the most part he did—I had to configure my own wireless router, as he was stumped by my pretty typical LINKSYS router. He did stay until it was working though.

This cable installation play-by-play is on OFB for two reasons. First, venting makes me feel a little better. Second, I was unable to get to the Kettler rinks today as I planned, so I apologize for being unable to provide coverage of the day’s events as I’d hoped.

So my cable service installation is only 2/3 complete, yet it consumed most of a day. Now all I have to do is wait five days for the number port to be complete, then schedule another technician visit to switch my phone lines. In the meantime, I have to continue paying RCN to keep my existing phone number active.

Thank you, Comcast, for perpetuating the well-deserved stereotype of disorganized and indifferent cable company service.