31-9

Just because they didn't qualify him doesn't mean he won't be back with the Devils. Lou says as much in the link. Lowell's number 1 goalie (Frank Doyle) already said he wouldn't be back with the Devils and is expected to sign overseas, so there is room for Jordan but it means he won't get the automatic 10% salary increase which comes with the qualifying offer and thus may be signed for less money by the Devils if he doesn't get an offer from someone else.

That's all? I don't really know where I'm going with this comment, but . . . at the Devils Draft Party they auctioned off something uhh, "very personal" of Zach Parise's that was game worn and it brought in almost $3,000. That doesn't seem like as great a disparity in prices as it should be considering someone's gonna get to fly out for the day to meet Toews while the only thing the other person has is something that ummm, touched Zach.

BU released info about the Icebreaker to season ticket holders. For those thinking about coming out, tickets are $57 for the general public. Don't know when they'll be available though.

That's weak. Come on Parise, haven't you ever been fishing before. The US got hosed on the Finland game. Parise should've taken a swing at the ref with his stick. I'm sure his Dad wouldn't have minded.

The second entry of Adam Burish's Team USA blog is up: Team bonding Sounds like good times for the old roommates.

Team USA schedule via USA Hockey website. You can watch all the games online (if you're in the US) by registering here. It's $5/month so the $5 will cover the whole tournament and I'm told they use the same broadcasting system as MLB.tv so it should be pretty good quality.

Parise - 15 Greene - 5 Stafford - 33

That's what it seems like if you check out the pictures I posted earlier today; he has his teeth out for the game. They showed him and Dustin Brown smiling on the bench after his goal and with all the teeth those two are missing between the two of them it was not a pretty picture.

I'm watching the World Championship exhibition game between the US and Sweden and Zach Parise is wearing an "A" and has an assist on the 3rd goal.

Pics from Melissa Wade's USA WC team practice pictorial: It's like a family reunion; look who got his teeth fixed. And look, they're removable. Greener in blue Zach collides with Matt Gilroy ass first

It is sung in Montreal during the PP. In French, the verb "aller" means "to go" and so they sing "Allez . . . allez allez allez." Basically it's a "hey, go team" type of thing. With soccer being popular with Spanish speaking countries, it is sung as "Ole" instead of "Allez". At least that's how a French Canadian explained it to me. And for random NCAA trivia: UMass Amherst has a player named Martin Nolet (rhymes with Ole) and whenever he has the puck, they chant "Nolet . . . Nolet, Nolet, Nolet." So there really is a logical basis for its occurrence, whether people like it or not.

We don't really have any "roach motels" in the city, but beware as sometimes search engine type sites will list a hotel as being in "Boston" but don't specify what part of Boston (Back Bay, Kenmore, Financial District, Waterfront, Downtown, Copley = good parts) and that is important because more often than not that hotel is in an unsafe part of the city (Roxbury, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Dorchester, Hyde Park = bad parts). Another tip, many hotels here will charge you just to cancel your reservation, some have a flat cancellation fee and others will charge you a percentage of your bill. It's easy for us to say this because we live here, but Boston is so expensive for travelers. Cheapest place I've been able to find is the Buckminster which is right in Kenmore Square next to Fenway and a 5 minute walk to the Grid.

Well, obviously book the cheapest flight you can get. Logan Airport is accessible by public transportation so no need to rent a car. For hotels, well, you have three options: cheap but safe, really expensive, where the team could possibly stay. Last time around the Sioux players stayed at the Hotel Colonnade but BU is in a different part of the city so I doubt they'd stay there again. More than likely they'll be at either the Holiday Inn at Brookline or the Cambridge Hyatt (which is where most teams stay when they come here). The Hyatt is across the river but you can still walk to the arena. The Holiday Inn is also a 5 -10 minute walk to the arena and is located directly on the T. For really nice hotels, BU owns and operates a 4.5 - 5.0 star hotel on campus, the Hotel Commonwealth. Rooms there will run you between $300 and $650 a night but it is really nice (the university used to let the athletes and band members stay there free if we had games over school breaks). A few other historic hotels in Boston include the Fairmont Copley Plaza (they have a dog that stays in the lobby that you can book for walks or runs), The Taj (used to be the Ritz Boston), and the Omni Parker House (oldest hotel in Boston and inventor of the Boston Creme Pie). For cheap and safe, there's the Midtown Hotel down the street from Northeastern or the Hotel Buckminster around the corner from Fenway Park. Boston also has the normal chain hotels Sheraton, Marriot, Westin, Raddison, Hilton. These recommendations are based on places my family or I have actually stayed, there are lots of other hotels in Boston obviously. Personally, when I have people come visit me in the city, I use hotels.com to check out prices and then I cross reference rates on the hotel's actual website because sometimes they have special deals (my family came up for Easter and I got them a ridiculous rate on a room at the Fairmont through the hotel). Direct links if you want to check them out: Holiday Inn Brookline Cambridge Hyatt Hotel Commonwealth Fairmont Copley Plaza Taj Boston Omni Parker House Midtown Hotel Hotel Buckminster

That's Sports Illustrated for you. I have no idea who this Matt Girly is for BU. There is nothing girly about Matt Gilroy. And it's already been confirmed that he'll be back next season and he'll most likely be named captain tonight. Way to research your articles guys; they'd fit in great covering hockey for ESPN.

Travis just notched his first point of the playoffs. An assist on the Devils first goal. More please. And he's still beardless, poor boy.

I would like to caution anyone thinking about coming out to the Icebreaker that it might coincide with Parents Weekend at BU so be sure to secure hotel accommodations early because when any local college has such a weekend prices are high and rooms are scarce.

Sioux will be playing BU and UMass. Per the Boston Herald, the Icebreaker has been reformulated to an East vs. West tourney. So no matter who wins the matchups are already set: BU vs. UND / UMass vs. MSU BU vs. MSU / UMass vs. UND Winner determined by points I guess.

Icebreaker is either Oct. 10 - 11 or Oct. 11 - 12, but I'm pretty sure it's the first one, so starting on a Friday.

I'm too lazy to look back to see if anyone mentioned this, but I was reading a running blog from the last Calgary game and the writer commented that the Flames fans yell out "Hale" when they get to the "what so proudly we hailed" part of the Star Spangled Banner. That's pretty awesome.

Parise scored his first goal of the playoffs tonight in the Devs 4 - 3 OT win. Parise talks about his teeth (Had to have another root canal). Watch Parise lose his teeth. Parise welcomes you to The Rock on Inside the NHL.

I was at the Devils game tonight and watched Zach Parise get his two front teeth knocked out courtesy of a cross check to the mouth. He picked them up, and came out for his next shift. They called the play a double minor for high sticking; it should have been a cross checking major. Devs lost 2 - 1.

Sioux please win . . . this is all I want for my birthday. And I don't want to have to listen to BC's band any more than necessary. . . they're awful.

Well, while we're discussing hockey players and baseball . . . Source: AP

Just in case anyone's looking for a new desktop background . . . I love pictures like this. Oh, and there's an article on NHL.com about Chicago's James Wisniewski. He's the resident prankster for the Blackhawks and recently got caught drawing whipped cream hearts all over Toews' new SUV.

I see the myp2p link has already been posted here. I use sopcast a lot, but it's been having issues for a couple of weeks. Just restart the player if you're having problems. I've got the Sioux gear on here in Boston and I'm getting dirty looks from people. Good luck tonight . . . Let's Go Sioux.