Hello September!!

So quietly the page has turned on the calendar once again and we find ourselves in September. September I tell you! It's just nuts. In a whopping 17 days my little corner of NEPA will be THE place for Penguins fans. September 19 the big boys from Pitt come to the Baby Pens home turf and they play a game. But it's not AHL versus NHL, its random drawing for the Black and Gold game so essentially Jordan Staal can be denied a goal by Marc-Andre Fleury. Pretty cool if you ask me. They have been alternating the past few years who hosts this kick-off to the preseason which is awesome for our area since it's a huge draw. Of course getting tickets is open first for season ticket holders and from there on out who knows how it really works. I honestly didn't really attempt to do much research on it. Shocking I know, but c'est la vie.

This last week we seem to have picked up the pace in hockey news, but it's still the off season so some ridiculousness must be reported. Enter Dustin Byfuglien and BWI. It's like a DWI but instead of driving, it's boating. Yup he was drunk and boating on Lake Minnetonka. I wish I could make this up. Of course he refused urine and blood tests and was released a few hours later. He also has apparently gained approximately 40 pounds since the Thrashers became the Jets this off season, which is only the size of a kindergartener. No biggie though.

I, being the special person I am, am fixated on 2 details that have sprung endless questions from my little brain, which are the boat and the weight gain. How exactly do you pull a boat over on a Lake? What happens to the boat, since I'm guessing they don't have a boat impound (or do they). It's not like you can just call a relative to go dock the boat, you have to have a boating license for this task. Also this 40 pounds of weight gain in a few months time. How is that possible? As a professional athlete you are paid to work out. I can see 10-15 pounds since they drop the intensity for a period of time to recover, but what was he eating, all of the McDonalds he rolled upon. Was he eating his feelings about having to move to Winnipeg from Atlanta? I'm just baffled. I understand Buff is built more like a typical NFL linebacker than hockey guy but still. I hope he has an amazing trainer to whip him into shape because time is ticking and he's a good player.

Back to serious news, Wade Belak, a former enforcer who had only just retired, is reported to have committed suicide. Today his mother came forward and said that her son struggled with depression and she thought he was getting help. Belak had signed on to work with the Predators, his most recent NHL team, as a broadcaster for this upcoming season and was slated to compete on CBC's Battle of the Blades. Sadly this is the 3rd death of a player who was known better for his stats on hockeyfights.com than goals and points this off season. Many people are trying to tie them all together somehow, but I am hoping that it's all just a bad coincidence.

Derek Boogaard died from a toxic overdose of pills and alcohol, but could he have been somewhat depressed after an injury ended his season early? As an enforcer your role on the team is limited and rather specific. You don't make the lineup each night because you can score a goal or 3 each night, you are in to patrol the ice and ensure your teammates aren't messed up. Rick Rypien, another enforcer, did suffer from depression and had taken time off from a number of seasons to seek help. Sadly those demons got to him this summer just when many thought he was finally in control. The NHL and NHLPA released this joint announcement on the tragedies and their hope to revisit all avenues in place to ensure players have any help needed.

While I'm sure what they have in place is decent, I wonder if many players just don't use it because they think they are just having a bad week and it will pass. These guys are some of the toughest athletes out there and have dedicated their entire lives to play the game, and maybe they feel admitting something is wrong is a sign of failure. The average person off the street has a a hard enough time admitting problems, so multiply that by a hundred and put the pressure they face to be the best and you have a recipe for disaster. Many of these players don't know a life without playing hockey and that could be an issue. Interestingly enough, blogger/writer/former player Justin Bourne wrote this column for Yahoo's Puck Daddy this week and it's rather fitting and worth a read. I wonder if they mandate psych evaluations as they do with physicals because maybe they should. Someone to talk to isn't the worst idea the NHL could enforce.

One more piece of sobering news to pour out of the NHL this week: Marc Savard has been ruled out for this season and training camp hasn't even opened. Those concussions seem to be saying career over to Savard at 34. Another player who was forced out at 34, Eric Lindros, the original concussion poster child. As sad as this is, lets hope the newest poster boy (Crosby) doesn't lose his season as he is a full decade younger than his concussed friends. I wish Savard the best if he decides to call it a career and hope that the rumor his name will be included on the Cup is true. Savard can decide to not retire and collect his salary by having the Bruins' exam him each year through the end of his contract (through 2016-17) and declare him unfit to play. Personally I think he should just retire instead of doing that dance each season but it's all up to him.

The end of summer is upon us as it's Labor Day weekend, which is the unofficially the final weekend of summer. Instead of attending one last cookout this weekend, it seems I will be trying to find my voice and breathe through my nose once again. It hasn't even been 24 hours of my illness and I'm already annoyed by it. Thank god for Netflix. I received Soul Surfer in the mail and am excited to finally see it! Hope everyone has a better and more fun weekend than me :)