Shrapnel - 7/18/11

Good morning, and welcome back!

If you haven't seen it already, I'll direct your attention to this amazing look at what a torn pectoral injury really means for Kristian Huselius, thanks to Jo Innes of Puck That Hurts.

With the blatant self promotion out of the way, let's get a look at a few tidbits from Sunday...

The NHL's next R&D camp is set for August, and shallower nets will be tested as a way to give players more room to work with the puck. (The article headline says "smaller", but they're talking about reducing the depth, not the width.) Would it make a difference? Well, check out this old picture from Sarah of The Neutral Zone Trap of Nik  Zherdev in "Gretzky's office." Imagine giving him an extra foot or so of room to work with - maybe a bit more. You have to wonder.

At CBJ Blog, Andy takes a look at R.J. Umberger's potential for an extension, and works out ideas for both "short term" and "long term" deals.

Apparently the Atlanta Spirit Group is dragging their feet on refunding season ticket deposits to Thrashers fans. Shame on you. Don't drag this out. Man up and give them their money back. Don't hesitate, don't try to offer them Hawks tickets, don't offer them concert passes, don't make this any more painful than it already is. Be honest and return the money. The fans deserve the closure.

Icethetics is continuing their NHL uniform ranking polls, and it's Columbus's turn in the barrel (along with Chicago, Buffalo, Detroit, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh). Go take a look!

A really tough break for Nathan Horton, who lost part of his day with the Stanley Cup due to the hardware being checked in late for a flight. That sucks, and it's a shame that he wasn't able to share it with his hometown as he planned. On the other hand, about 600 or so players in the NHL would have traded with him in a heartbeat, so let's not shed too many tears.

Some neat reports from the Blackhawks' now annual fan convention, including some entertaining interviews with Patrick Kane and Daniel Carcillo. Still wish the Jackets would do something like this. 

Last but not least, a cool story from Sunday - Joe Sakic sank a hole in one at the American Century Golf Championship - and won $1 million bucks for charity. Good on ya, Joe.