OMG I am so happy! I was just looking sadly @ all my Red Wings memorabilia that was packed away thinking I may not be able to display it proudly this year! I'm so happy! Now let's hope the players don't get screwed. And BTW let's get rid of Bettman!!!!

HOCKEY IS BACK!!!!

Back on ice: NHL and the union reach a deal in principle to end lockout

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

BY IRA PODELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS


NEW YORK - The NHL and the players' association reached an agreement in principle Wednesday on a six-year labor deal, ending a lockout that wiped out last season.

The sides met for 24 hours starting Tuesday afternoon to hammer out the collective bargaining agreement that will return the NHL to the ice on time in the fall. In February, commissioner Gary Bettman canceled the season, making the NHL the first North American sports league to lose a year because of a labor dispute.

"It's a new day," Philadelphia Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock told The Associated Press. "It's pretty exciting."

Both sides still need to ratify the deal, a pact that is expected to contain a salary cap - something players' association executive director Bob Goodenow never wanted. That process is expected to be completed next week, the league and the union said in a joint news release.

If all goes according to plan, a scaled-down draft is expected to be held later this month and training camps will open from Vancouver to Miami in September. Real NHL games will be back on the schedule come October.

"It'll be a great thing to get the game back up," Columbus Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said.

It took all night and then some for the final round of negotiations to produce an agreement.

The sides met for 10 straight days in New York, and it became clear Wednesday morning - the 301st day of the lockout - that they weren't going to leave the room without an agreement in hand.

The expected salary cap will likely have a ceiling approaching $40 million and a minimum somewhere between $20 million and $25 million.

Player salaries will not exceed 54 percent of league-wide revenues.

Some players in recent days have voiced their displeasure over what will be included in the new agreement.

Bettman warned in February that the offers the union passed up were better than any it would see once a year of hockey was lost.

Just days before the season was wiped out, the players' association said for the first time it would accept a salary cap if the league dropped its desire to link player costs to revenues.

That started a wild week that included the cancellation of the season on Feb. 16 and a false hope three days later that it would be saved. Even Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux - superstars turned executives - couldn't resurrect it during an emergency bargaining session in New York.

Negotiations resumed in mid-March.

Bettman promised "cost certainty" in the form of a hard salary cap to the owners and he has gotten it.

The landscape of the NHL will be quite different than it was back in June 2004 when the Tampa Bay Lightning skated off with the Stanley Cup in the league's last game before the lockout. For the first time since a flu epidemic in 1919, there was no Stanley Cup champion in 2005.

Now when the league relaunches in the fall, it will do so with a brand new salary structure that keeps high-spending teams such as Toronto, Philadelphia and the New York Rangers in line.

The first order of business after the deal is ratified will be to get a majority of the players signed. The belief is that last season's contracts will be wiped from the books, leaving many players without deals.

Those who are still under contract will have their salaries reduced by 24 percent, a concept first proposed by the union last December. Some expensive players will also be on the market as teams pare payrolls to get down to the cap.

There will also be several rules changes that could run the gamut from the size of goaltender equipment to the installation of a shootout to eliminate tie games.

"Our focus right now, from the coaches standpoint, is we're waiting to see what our roster is going to look like and what the playing rules are going to look like," Hitchcock said in a phone interview.

The draft was supposed to be held last month in Ottawa, but the Canadian capital might get to host the event soon.

Canadian phenom Sidney Crosby is the consensus choice to be the No. 1 pick. Where he goes will be determined by a draft lottery that will give each team an opportunity to snag him.

He will certainly be part of the NHL's campaign to win back fans that were disenchanted by the lockout.

The deal finally came down during sport's biggest lull of the year - the baseball All-Star break.

The NHL probably won't hold such an event until 2007 as next year's All-Star game is expected to be replaced by an Olympic break, allowing for players to represent their countries in Turin, Italy.

AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

OH! About the Pool!

So, yesterday we go thru the whole process of bringing out the filter to the pool and hooking up the pump just the way Mark (my dad's naighbor) showed us and it was just about perfect, but then the pump doesn't work. It made a sound for about 2 seconds then just stopped. So we start freaking out "OMG the pump broke we need a new one" blah blah blah but the filter said something about a power switch which we can't find anywhere. So we figure we'll go to the pool store nearby (Pooltown) and check out they're pumps and stuff and see if maybe there's something we forgot...like a pwer switch we couldn't see. Pooltown was a huge mistake. They suck donkey doo...at least the one here does. The service sucked, the employees were not friendly OR helpful in the least....but we did get something out of it. 2 things actually. One was that this guy came in with a pump that looked like something we had in the garage that wasn't hooked up to anything. We asked him what kind of filter he had and he said "earth" so we knew right then that we could probably hook that one up the our sand filter! YAY! The other thing was a lady came in that had to buy algicide and complained that her pool was cloudy and the guy said that was normal. (We used that bit of advice today) We also got an over the side skimmer cuz our pool doesn't have one. We still have to figure out how to hook it on the edge securely.

So we got home and switched the pumps (lots of work...poor kevin...he'll be a handyman yet lol) turned on the switch to the "new" one and.....NOTHING! We were devasted. But then kevin gets smart and decides to check inside and see if there's a switch that controls the outside outlet or something...and wouldn't you know that the first pump tripped the circuit breaker. That's why it buzzed for a short second and then stopped making noise. So he reset it and the pump went to work! We did as it said...set to backwash until it comes out steadily then switch to filter...well when we did that we got a hole in the host leading from the pump to the filter. SO....off to the pool supply shop again...this time the one on 6mile NOT Pooltown. (B&B Pool Supply I think it is) There they had models of the filters set up (Pooltown did not) and we were able to tell the sales guy "we need THIS hose" and he got it for us...he even helped us out by suggesting a less expensive hose that would work just as well. So we brought it back, hooked it up, got the pump primed and VOILA!!! It was beautiful!!! And we figured it out all on our own (with help from Mark showing us his filter and explaining how it worked)

So we pumped that sucker full of shock (2 bags) and half a bottle of algicide and let it go. Today when i woke up i went out to check it and it looked surprisingly clean (but cloudy...which was to be expected with the algicide) I poured another bag of shock in it tho just to be sure and the other half of the algicide bottle. The filter has been going for about 31 hours straight now... they say to give it 48. Tomorrow I'll have to skim it and vaccuum and maybe try to get the skimmer hooked onto the side of the pool. and around evening I'll check the levels and see how it is. Then it's just a matter of maintaining the sucker...and i can pick my cousin's brain on Sunday for that lol.

We also had a "bon fire" in our fire pit last night. It was hot as hell but so nice! I can't wait until Sunday to share it with other people! That should be so much fun!

WOW! I just checked and I've been online for about 2 hours now. I've been taking breaks from the computer and moving boxes around, but still that's a long time! Kevin should be home soon, so I'm going to end this blog and sign off I suppose.

LOL I've never blogged so much as I have this past week or so. Funny.

After a Week

Well today marks a week since we've been moved in. There are still boxes everywhere and we are having a party on Sunday, so it should be interesting lo. As long as I can narrow down the boxes to be able to fit into the closets and the extra room downstairs by sunday I should be good. I really wish I didn't have to work this weekend so i could for sure get more done. Right now I'm trying to wake up and eat and get myself organized ( i know it's really late..i woke up around noon ... was up late watching Glengarry Glenn Ross last night...I love that play and the movie was phenomenal to watch...altho i don't recommend it if you are easily offended by profanity...it's all over the place) I have to get the bathroom done today, lots of laundry, the living room clear of boxes, i already took care of the pool (which is another story hang on) and maybe start arranging the boxes in the computer room. I also have to take a shower (lol) and rearrange the furniture upstairs. OH! and i need to call DishTV cuz we were supposed to get a dvr upgrade free with installation and we didn't and i wanna take off the hd programming cuz i thought we were going to get the VOOM package and we didn't.

Just got an email from one of Larry's friends. Wishing me well. Used to be one of mine awhile ago. We haven't talked since March when they invited me as an afterthought to a bday party. Apparently things I said on my blog hurt her. I never meant to hurt her, but lemme ask this? isn't this MY blog? My thoughts? My feelings? My views on life and the world? If i hurt or offend it's not malicious. I apologize. But maybe if i hurt or offend I'm not a person you should associate with. And regarding this specific person, in the end you are still friends with Larry. I'm not making you choose, but I also know that he's never going to stop talking about people and i'm sure this includes me, and I don't think I can be friends with someone who is friends with someone who hates me. I don't hate larry. I think i did for a brief moment. I think i also felt kinda sorry for him for about a minute. Now I feel nothing. Maybe eventually we'll talk again. Who knows. I just sent you an email back. But for now I have a house to get ready for a party on Sunday (it will be a miracle lol).

Okay....time to stop procrastinating.