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Why do I love the great game of hockey so much, and this country so much, because only in Canada can the “Theme to Hockey Night in Canada” become a NATIONAL CRISIS? Hey I like the song as much as the next guy and I admit it will be a little strange not hearing it on Saturday, but I was a huge fan of Seinfeld and I survived it leaving Thursday night. I love the fact that it was TSN (actually CTV for TSN) swooping in and picking it up right from underneath mother corps nose, now that’s a bloody story. Plain and simple that was another example that the gloves are coming off in the sports media in our country, no longer will political correctness rule when it comes to dealing with your competition. With no disrespect to Rick Brace who was on Sportsline on Monday declaring that he and his company bought the “theme” to save it for Canadians, the President of CTV bought the song because he can. CTV is an 800 pound gorilla, and when it comes to sports media in Canada their offshoot TSN is the Bona Fide Silverback, this coming from a regional Orangutan. At the end of the day not one extra person in this great country will watch hockey on TSN because they have CBC’s song, not one, and at this time next year we will sit here reminiscing about the times we spent chasing our tails on this story. One thing I would watch over the next couple of weeks or months is how CBC responds, I am convinced Scott Moore the president of sports is pissed and will likely take a run at something that TSN holds near and dear, is Maggie the Monkey safe?

Darren Dreger was also on the show today, funny just seconds after Rick Brace said he wasn’t going to talk about how much they paid for the “Theme”, Dreger told Boomer and I that he was hearing some where around $2 million or maybe more, now Darren he is a pro.

Boomer also asked Dreger what he was hearing about the Flames heading into the draft, and while he noted nothing specific he did bring up rumor de jour around here, Ollie Jokinen might be leaving Florida. You know what that means, if Jokinen is on the move he must be coming to Calgary right? I remain skeptical yet intrigued, the thought of two number 12’s is pretty exciting but that rumor has been thrown out so often I am not sure it will ever actually happen and if does then what we do every year before the trade deadline?

Two other related Flames notes; I expect that one of the announcements that will be made soon by Calgary will be the signing of back up goalie and local hockey product Curtis McElhinney. It would also not shock me if this deal is one way, meaning that come hell or high water a healthy Curtis will be the back up in October. Why hasn’t Damon Langkow’s deal been announced, the player, the GM, and the Coach all pretty much acknowledged that the deal was put to bed at the end of the season. I wouldn’t panic, I am sure Langkow is going to be back but it maybe a harbinger that some other things are to come. Next years salary cap hasn’t been announced yet, there fore the Flames budget hasn’t been set, and the 2008/09 clock doesn’t start ticking until July 1st.

Some of you may have noticed that I made a mistake on an earlier blog (hey there well be more then one) when I tried to explain buy outs. The way it was explained to me was that 48 hours after the Stanley Cup final a team could buy out players up until July 1st. I am gathering that rule only applies if the final goes beyond June 15th. I anticipate that Calgary will use this method of riding themselves of some blueliners, let me preface this by saying this is just a guess (again most of things written here are guesses).

I really believe Darryl Sutter is going to be busy this summer, I have a picture in my mind of what the Flames should look like this fall, I think we all do, younger with somewhat lower expectations. Everything I hear is that Flames owners and management want to win now, to do that they are really going to have rework the roster outside of the 4 core guys. That is easier said then done.

Just a couple of programming notes for the rest of this month: Tuesday June 10th I go one on one with Bob Nicholson the President of Hockey Canada, he shares his view on the World Championships, the 2010 Olympics, grass roots hockey, and he gives some insight into the volatile international hockey landscape. Next week Boomer and I will be in Ottawa with more coverage then you will find any where else in the hockey world, Friday and Saturday we will be live from the draft floor, and with Boom a long for the ride this year we are going to be able to keep you updated on the draft for the Flames, on Hitmen and area players, and better then ever before on the trades and deals taking place in and around the draft. Then on July 1st we will have coverage of the NHL’s first day of free agency, although I don’t anticipate it to be a bust day for the Flames in the past couple of years we see nearly 30 significant signings from around the NHL.

Todd McLellan, new friend of the program, has a pair of interviews this week for vacant head coaching positions. The Red Wings assistant is in San Jose to interview for the Sharks job, and Wednesday he will be in Atlanta to interview with the Thrashers. From what I hear the Sharks are really interested in Todd, having held their job open until the Wings finished the play offs.

Talked to Flames coach Wayne Fleming late last week, Wayne had traveled to Belarus to interview for a head coaching job in Minsk. The team is an expansion team in the Russian Continental Hockey League, and according to Wayne it would be a quite a challenge to build a successful team this year. Fleming didn’t take the job because they couldn’t come to terms on the contract, in the end it is a business. Wayne told me that he would have to open camp in about a month, the season would start September 2nd, and the team has just 9 locals signed to play. Wayne is a good coach and quite honestly is wasted by not being behind a bench, I am sure he will get another chance as a head coach down the road.

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