"Hockeytown vs The Center of the Hockey Universe"

That quote, along with the fact that Brian Burke never does his tie or top button of his shirt reaffirms that he's one of my favorites in the league. Either way though, it's official now. Leafs vs Red Wings next year for the Winter Classic.

One bummer for now though, is that there's currently no deal for HBO's 24/7. Granted, they have 10 months before they would start filming, but dang. Get that done, that's gonna be the best series yet. If 24/7 ends up being an annual thing, I have a good feeling it's just going to get progressively better; at least that's how it appeared this season. I didn't think it was possible to get better than the Penguins/Capitals series, yet HBO showed themselves up and the Rangers/Flyers was outstanding.

I'm basically just repeating myself here from last night/earlier this morning (that's what happens with minimal sleep, I suppose), but I'm really excited for the alumni game. Kris Draper said he's for sure playing. Even Shanaban said he would do it and he would try to convince Stevie Y to join (!!!!). I have one request, however: The Grind Line. If Draper's in, Maltby and McCarty have to do it. At the very least, Joe Kocur. Maybe Burke can put Colton Orr in for the alumni game so Joey has someone to dance with. What? Orr has to be retired first? Oh. Well, sorry, Joey.

The press release quoted Bettman and the bunch (that sounds like some awful TV show: Bettman and the Bunch) that there will be 115,000 tickets available and that they hope to push the attendance record and such. Holy crap. Also, there is/was a pre-sale site for the tickets, but I read on Twitter at one point that it crashed. How much you wanna bet tickets sell out within an hour?

Take that, Winnipeg.