I've mentioned before that John Cusack and Chris Chelios are friends.
I'm captivated by their friendship.
SI had a Q&A with Cusack and posted the leftovers online. Cusack is a good guy:

SI: Are you friends with any athletes?

Cusack:Chris Chelios is one of my oldest and dearest friends.

SI: But you stopped being a serious Blackhawks fan the day they traded Chelios, right?

Cusack: Yeah, I'm very old-school and loyal to my friends. If he ever goes back to the Blackhawks I'd be happy, and I'd root for the team again. But as long as he is still playing, I'm with Cheli. It's the only time I ever turned my back on a Chicago team.

Of course, it's pretty easy to give up being a Blackhawks fan. It's kind of like quitting competitive Roshambo.
Exhibit A: The team might be shopping goalie Nikolai Khabibulin with the idea of using Patrick Lalime as their number one goalie. Because Lalime worked out so well for Ottawa. Does The Hockey News not deliver to Illinois?

Wow. This Keith Tkachuk thing is more complicated than I thought.
Atlanta, which traded Tkachuk's exclusive negotiating rights back to St. Louis is actually still in the Tkachuk hunt. By trading his rights back to the Blues, the Thrashers won't have to give up a first-round pick if they sign him.
If you listen to the Blues, though, it seems they want to sign him. So who knows?
Also, Martin Brodeur stepped down from the NHL's competition committee, saying the league isn't doing enough to protect goalies. Which they aren't. This season basically made it officially OK to throw picks at goalies and/or to take them out moments before the puck entered the crease. It's crazy how little the NHL cares about its goalies. Plus, no one likes committee work. That's kind of a fact.

Seconded.

Did anyone else know the Leafs were talking to Scotty Bowman? That's kind of random. And what was the position? Higher than GM? I like how the Leafs have an organizational chart by M.C. Escher.
Damien Cox wonders why anyone would sign with the Leafs (as a player or as management), given this crazy structure.
Also, the Blues waived Dallas Drake to open a roster spot. They also got the rights to negotiate with unrestricted free agent Keith Tkachuk from Atlanta. Truthfully, given what Tkachuk will cost, what Tkachuck will contribute, and how he utterly failed the Thrashers in the playoffs, I'd be inclined to keep Drake and his tiny salary and not blow the money on Tkachuk.
The Blues drove to Michigan to tell Drake in person, though, which is classy. He'd make a great Star, don't you think?

The Bruins have new uniforms.
Also, I love how psyched the Panthers are to have goalie Tomas Vokoun (login info.). After all, the missing piece of the Panthers' puzzle has been goaltending for quite a while now. They've just never been able to have a quality goalie.
What?
Are you sure?
Roberto Who-ongo?
The Panthers have had franchise goaltending before? And it hasn't helped?
Oh wow. My bad.
Good luck, Panthers.

OK. Islanders Army has a great screen grab of ENTOURAGE's Kevin Connolly sporting his Isles pride. I didn't see last night's episode, so I can't confirm the rumor that Mike Bossy is going to join the cast as Vince's life coach.
Speaking of the Isles, Larry Brooks says they basically let Ryan Smyth name his own price and he's not biting. He also says Calgary might make a run at Smyth, probably to annoy the Oilers as much as anything else.
As Scott Burnside reports, with the Scott Hartnell/Nathan Horton contract signings, a lot of free agents, like Smyth, can only benefit from waiting for the market to drive contract prices up even more. It's a good thing the owners got a cap. Otherwise there would be a lot of bad contracts floating around out there.
Oh wait.
In Boston, it seems the media are already trying to pit new coach Claude Julien against high-priced defenseman Zdeno Chara (login info.). Chara can always play for the Celtics if things get too uncomfortable, though.
The Caps have new uniforms that are kind of retro. I'm not a huge fan of the all red style in hockey, though. It often makes the players look like they're wearing their pajamas. I'm thinking more Coyotes than Detroit, though. The Blue Jackets got new uniforms, too. I'm going to be honest. They kind of look the same to me.