Monday’s Hot Coals: Now, We Wait

It’s astounding how much time hockey fans spend waiting in the off-season, simply hanging in the balance. Flames fans waited a month from the end of the season to hear about the fate of Jay Feaster and any other significant news pertaining to the team; Canucks and Bruins fans and all those with a rooting interest who continue watching playoff hockey after their team has been eliminated must wait until Wednesday for the Stanley Cup Final action to begin; and Atlanta Thrashers fans as well as Winnipeg hockey fans eagerly await official confirmation on the fate of an NHL squad in a state of flux.

We wait for the Draft, for the initial thrill of free agency. We wait because we love the game and all (or most) that surrounds it. So here's to those long days when hockey news is as hard to come by as a consistently warm Canadian summer; when October seems as far away as your next vacation. They are both frustrating and wonderful, and we endure them for the sake of the sport we hold dear because they make opening night that much better. Here's to the off-season, and here's to hockey. 

Your daily links after the jump. 

• Amidst Canucks mania, a case for rooting for the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup final that I think most Flames fans can get behind [The Edmonton Journal]
• According to multiple reports, the end could indeed be near for the Thrashers, as True North Sports and Entertainment is expected to make an announcement as early as tomorrow about the future of the NHL in Winnipeg [CBC Sports]
• This story might just make you like Olli Jokinen a little bit more [The Calgary Sun]
• In other feel-good Flames news, Jarome Iginla joined the Prime Minister on a surprise trip to Afghanistan today [CTV News]
• An interview with Rutherford Seydel of the Atlanta Spirit Group about why ventures to keep the Thrashers in Georgia have been unsuccessful thus far [11 Alive News]
• Just who is to blame for the failure of the NHL in Atlanta? [Houses of the Hockey]
• Finally, SBN’s mock draft is underway; swing by Hockey Wilderness to find out who the Wild‘s representatives will select with the 10th overall pick and check out their Draft page.

by Hayley Mutch