This Entry has no Title because I can't Think of One

It's 7 am and I'm only half awake. I must have been totally asleep when I decided a crab cake on an E-Muffin was a suitable breakfast. One tea down, one more should poke my brain into a semi-alert state.

There were a few things I was kicking around yesterday, but couldn't find the inspiration to generate thoughtful, researched posts. I still can't so here are this morning's Cliff Notes.

1) Cam Fowler: The draft prospect that fell to 12th overall after being tauted as going in the top three has signed his first 3-year entry contract with the Anaheim Ducks. (or is it the Ducks of Anaheim? I always mix that up.) Fowler is already 18 years old. Nino Niederreiter will not be 18 until September 8th. I was wondering if he would get the same treatment because of his talent level. But as noted, Nino was actually one of the youngest draftees because of how his birthday falls. My hopes of seeing him on the Coliseum ice this season are dim.

2) Kirill Kabanov: I found it interesting that the highly talented Russian bad boy that fell to 65th overall, where the Islanders took a chance on him, is STILL here. Yes, Kirill has NOT returned to Mother Russia but is enjoying some time here on Long Island. Okay, that makes me wonder why. Perhaps it's harder to get in and out of Russia right now with that whole "spy" thing going on and they want to just keep him around for training camp in September. Perhaps they have high hopes for him come training camp and he's working towards his goal of getting to the NHL fairly quickly. Whatever the reason, he was right when he said he needs to gain weight. Seeing him in shorts and a tank, you can see how immature his lean muscles are. You can also see that his arms aren't the only place he has decided to "decorate."

3) The Coliseum has received high marks for food safety when compared with the other sports venues in North America. Savor: I applaud you. Especially considering that my first year at the blog box I went around the coliseum taking pictures of violations myself. Having owned a restaurant years ago, I knew what it was like to have to pass food-safety inspections. There were many in 2006. But I see all that has changed and that makes me very, VERY happy. Now -- could they just bring back the Chicken & Broccoli with Brown Rice at the Sushi stand? Please?? That was my favorite! And I miss the pizza ovens downstairs on the lower concourse. You can still get pizza, but when you watched it come right out of the pizza oven -- it was different. More -- Brooklyn-like.

4) AOL's Patch.com websites are cropping up all over the place and at first I didn't think I would like them. But I must say they are very informative and well done. Here's an article on Bobby Nystrom's son, Eric, written in the Plainview Patch.com website by Brendan Manley. Give it a read.

5) Yesterday was Zach Parise's birthday. It was also General Manager Garth Snow's and my friend @IceCreepsMike from the website IceCreeps.com. I hope they all had a great day. I also hope that the Devils can't find a way to keep Zach Parise under the salary cap because they spend so much on Ilya Kovalchuk that the Islanders can make him an offer he can't refuse and Lou can't match and that one day I will see the name Parise on the back of an Isles jersey once again....

Okay, maybe I should switch to coffee. It's obvious the Tea isn't cutting it because I'm still dreaming.