Hello everyone, I'm back from vacation, left in snow, returned to snow! Go figure… Anyway, did I miss much while I was away? In my absence, Johnny La was nice enough to write a wintry column of La Rants, so in place of the usual commissionary ramblings, I give you an extended dose of Johnny La…

Welcome to week 9 of the NHL season, it's good to be back and filling in for The Commish this week. Hoping everybody was full with the bird and than some on Thanksgiving. As for me I am as stuffed as a certain Japanese WWF person thanks to family and friends in Staten Island and Connecticut.

Speaking of Connecticut I decided to take in a game and check out the AHL League. So I took a ticket for the Bridgeport Tigers vs the Hartford Wolfpack, which is the NY Icelanders vs the NY Strangers in the farms. I was hoping to see a more open and faster moving game, WHAT WAS I CRAZY? What I saw reminded me of how many people use the BQE! Well those of you who do actually get that last reference to the infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the popular area always talked about is that from Atlantic Ave to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, often called the BOTTLE NECK. Which is exactly what kind of a game I was entertained with for 2hr 45min on Connecticut ice as the NY Icelander farmers beat the NY Strangers farmhands 3-0 with only 19 shots on net for the Strangers and 20 on net for the Icelanders. With the 20th being a open net goal! Doing the math, that is only about 6.1 shots per period. No wonder I was getting sleepy and hungry… Then a couple of fights broke out, maybe Don King could hire some of these players to fill out his undercard what with the boxing industry hurting just like hockey at the gate.

Well as we all know The Commish was headed to Florida, and with all the snow going on I hope the Commish made it out of town. You know, it's not fun sleeping on those chairs at the airport! Plus I hear rumors that the Commish is going to meet Wayne Gretzky. Knowing that the Commish is a big Devils fan The Great One was calling on his friends Mickey Mouse, Goofey and the others (Ken Linesman? Bruce Driver? who have been working at Disney World after their NJ Devils hockey careers ended. You all remember the Gretzky comment about NJ being a "Mickey Mouse operation", don't you? Anyway Commish, I hope you and the family are having a great time with Wayne, Mickey, Goofey and friends.

Back to snowy New York, I have to give credit to the 3,862 Icelander fans that went to The Mausoleum in 16 inches of snow and I have to give the owner credit as well. Misters Wang and Gupta were there passing out bright orange Icelanders hats and the goodwill worked as the Icelanders broke a 7 game losing streak! As for the Strangers, well Marky Mess said it best. They are a .500 team at best as evidenced by their blowing a 2-1 3rd period lead to the Tampa Bay Lighting. There is that team again (the Lightning), the one that likes things all tied up at 0-0. As for The Swamp well they were in Avalanche country having a 1-1 tie with the Colorado team that was likely more at home in the blizzard than the Devils were! And I hear during the periods one of the beat writers was saying that the sport should open up more in the middle and goalies should be tested with 60 to 70 foot shots like Hull's father did with the Chicago Blackhawks in the early 70's. My sentiments exactly… Well time to close up shop, speak to everybody next week. La out…

We'll catch up on my vacation stories next week. And no John, I didn't run into Gretzky while I was down there… Thanks for all the cooperation this week with the delayed stats. See you all again on Wednesday when we turn over another stats cycle. 'til next week…