The NHL got it right by moving the Atlanta team to hockey’s rightful home in Canada. Winnipeg to be specific.  And the Winnipeg franchise got it right by naming the team the Jets, honoring Winnipeg’s hockey history and their original team’s name before they were unceremoniously moved to Phoenix and renamed the Coyotes.

As a sports purist, I think there need to be hockey teams in key Canadian cities and I see Winnipeg as one of those venues. Beyond those important cities, Canada also has some of the most unique and colorful names of cities and towns anywhere on Earth. Imagine the possibilities for team names if the NHL moved some of its other Sun Belt teams to places like Medicine Hat (Alberta), Lucifer Mountain (Alberta), Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan), or Ebenezer (Saskatchewan).

Logo image via Creative Guise

OK, I admit it. I am the epitome of a ‘front runner’/bandwagon/show up late to the party Bruins fan. I don’t think I watched a Bruins game all year until the playoffs. I’m the first to admit that I lost interest in the team and the sport of hockey.

Growing up in New England, I actually watched the Bruins as much as the Red Sox – Bruins teams that included Rick Middleton, Wayne Cashman, Ray Bourque, Terry O’Reilly, Peter McNab, Stan Jonathan, and on and on. So seeing them compete for the Cup and actually win it for the first time in almost 40 years just brought back a flood of childhood memories. Beyond that, watching this Stanley Cup Final series was just an amazing spectacle of hockey by both teams. Hockey gets a bad rap for being the “4th sport” in the US, but the athleticism and speed at which hockey players can do things on the ice is just amazing.

So now, as I look back at the past 10 years from a personal sports fan perspective, every single one of my teams that I regularly follow – Syracuse basketball (2003), the Red Sox (2004, 2007), the Patriots (2001, 2003, 2004), the Celtics (2008), and a certain hockey team that I irregularly follow – have won championships. Good times, good times!

Frank J. Zamboni & Co. still cranks out over 200 Zamboni ice resurfacing machines a year and is the standards bearer for the ultra niche market of resurfacing ice skating rinks.  The first Zamboni machine took ten years to build, but today they can crank out a custom ordered one every six months.  For anyone who has skated, played or attended hockey games, the Zamboni machine is as much of the experience as throwing squids on the ice:

The Zamboni machine’s hypnotic mission and captivating name have made it a cultural icon, something the Zamboni family finds both gratifying and a bit puzzling. The first ice-resurfacing machine was built in 1949 and its form, function and sales output have remained consistent for decades.

You would think that this company, which is so synonymous with ice skating and winter sport, would be based in a town like Medicine Hat or Saskatoon, but the harsh reality is that they are based in, of all places, Los Angeles.

via Yahoo Puck Daddy

Why am I bringing up these accidents? To call out the medical staffs in the city of Buffalo, NY. That’s right…Buffalo, NY. Not Seattle, not Boston, not Los Angeles…Buffalo, NY. Because in both of these cases, the medical staffs at these Buffalo hospitals performed and demonstrated their skill and professionalism at beyond the highest level. The sadness and horror of these two events were countered by the sheer brilliance of these two medical staffs. Kevin Everett may never play football again but he is walking and mobile, something no one thought could happen, because of the swift action of Dr. Andrew Cappuccino. Zednik appears to be on the road to recovery, and I can only hope that to be the case, and his recovery will be in no small measure to the work of Dr. Sonya Noor.

Buffalo, NY…a hot spot for all you burgeoning med students out there.